Infectious disease
Per BioSpace’s 2020 U.S. Life Sciences Salary Report and 2020 U.S. Life Sciences Diversity & Inclusion Report, men out-earn women by 19.3%, which climbs to 47.6% when looking specifically at health care. Also, only 14% of women felt that opportunities for promotion were fair compared to 23% of their male counterparts.
AstraZeneca reported that the U.S. Phase III trial of the vaccine, AZD1222, demonstrated an efficacy of 79% at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and 100% efficacy at preventing severe disease and hospitalization.
A COVID-19 nasal spray vaccine developed by Rokote Laboratories Finland Ltd., is preparing for Phase I trials in Finland…if it can win funding.
It was a relatively quiet week in terms of clinical trial news, but there were some significant releases. Here’s a look.
The results published in the NEJM state that pegcetacoplan met the study’s primary endpoint for efficacy, demonstrating an advantage over eculizumab with a statistically significant improvement in adjusted means of 3.8 g/dL of hemoglobin at week 16 (p<0.001). An impressive 85% of patients were transfusion free at 16 weeks, in contrast to only 15% of eculizumab-treated patients.
According to an interview with Soumya Swaminathan, the WHO’s chief scientist, the new investigational COVID-19 vaccines rely on alternative technologies and systems of delivery. Some include oral and nasal administration, while others use skin patches.
Every week there are numerous scientific studies published. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting ones.
The HHS will limit the use of Bamlanivimab antibody treatments developed by Regeneron and Eli Lilly due to concerns the medications are not effective against these new strains.
More than a dozen countries have suspended deployment of the AstraZeneca-Oxford University vaccine after cases of blood clots were reported.
To support the development of immunodiagnostic assay, Sino Biological has successfully generated biologically active and stable Spike and NP proteins of SARS-CoV-2.
PRESS RELEASES