COVID-19
A day after it was announced remdesivir had received Orphan Drug designation for treatment of COVID-19 from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, Gilead Sciences submitted a request for the regulatory agency to rescind that offer after an outcry was raised over the potential for exclusivity for the experimental pandemic treatment.
The lead antibody’s ability to neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 live virus has been confirmed in two different laboratories.
The same day that New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced the initiation of a clinical trial using blood plasma from patients who have recovered from COVID-19, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced wider support for the practice.
A summary of daily biopharma industry news. Please check out stories that are trending on March 25, 2020.
“These kinds of situations remind people how important diagnostics are,” Hawkins told BioSpace in an interview.
Rocket Pharmaceuticals CEO Gaurav Shah said the remote-working policies that have resulted from the global COVID-19 pandemic have created a challenging time for the pharmaceutical industry, as well as the rest of the global community, but believes a silver lining will be forthcoming.
To combat the growing number of cases, the state is pulling out the stops in testing the use of antibodies from the plasma of recovered COVID-19 patients.
“The industry is increasing capacities, but at the same time infection rates are even increasing faster,” said Roche CEO Severin Schwan. “At the moment, capacities are limited. That is why we have to prioritize testing to higher risk patients.”
Organizations should plan for the worst and hope for the best, ensuring critical research can be continued without risking the safety of employees or the continuity of the company.
Four separate research groups in the U.S., Australia and China analyzed how temperature and humidity affect the coronavirus and they predict that hot summer months could decrease the presence of the virus in the Northern Hemisphere.
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