Infectious disease
Studies found that AstraZeneca’s EVUSHELD was still effective against the Omicron variant. EVUSHELD is a long-acting antibody combination made up of tixagevimab and cilgavimab.
New real-world studies from Scotland and England shows that Omicron does not lead to as much hospitalization as Delta. This is consistent with the latest reports from South Africa that say Omicron causes milder disease.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization to Pfizer’s Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir and ritonavir tablets) for high-risk adults and pediatric patients 12 years and older to treat COVID-19.
In the last week, Omicron is credited for 73% of new COVID-19 infections and is accounted for 12.6% of positive cases, making it the most rapidly spreading variant the country has seen yet.
Going through the most newsworthy stories of the year, BioSpace found trends more than one big story, topics that just kept rising again and again. Here’s a look.
Nasal spray vaccine delivery for COVID-19 has been explored by multiple companies since the beginning of the pandemic.
Moderna has decided to drop the patent application to “allow more time for discussions with the NIH”, which will be aimed at an amicable resolution.
As the spread of the Omicron variant of COVID-19 picks up speed, vaccine makers are rushing to test their shots against the new mutation, with mixed results.
After their latest trial delivered disappointing results, Pfizer and BioNTech are ready to test if a third dose of their COVID-19 vaccine would trigger an immune response in very young children.
The findings may have far-reaching consequences for any COVID-19 vaccines in development that are based upon targeting the well-conserved SARS-CoV-2 nucleocapsid (N-) protein.
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