For quicker lifting of lockdown, the innovators or entrepreneurs holding IP rights over novel technologies with potential to improve diagnostics and therapeutics for COVID-19, who may otherwise be unable to launch the products at scaled up level due to...
WHO has updated its living guidelines on COVID-19 therapeutics. The ninth update released on 03 March 2022 include a conditional recommendation on molnupiravir.
Molnupiravir has become the first oral antiviral drug to be included in the treatment guidelines for COVID-19....
Three adenoviruses used as vectors to produce COVID-19 vaccines, bind to platelet factor 4 (PF4), a protein implicated in the pathogenesis of clotting disorders.
Adenovirus based COVID-19 vaccines such as Oxford/AstraZeneca’s ChAdOx1 use the weakened and genetically modified version of common cold...
COVID-19 situation across Europe and central Asia is very serious. According to WHO, Europe could face over 2 million COVID-19 deaths by March 2022. Wearing masks, physical distancing and vaccination are key preventive actions that could help avoid reaching this...
To protect the NHS and save lives., National Lockdown has been put in place across the UK. People have been asked to stay home at home. This is in view of recent rapid increase in number of cases across...
A bill H.R.2316 - Fire Fauci Act1 has been introduced into the US Senate to reduce Dr. Anthony Fauci salary along with audit for his correspondence and financial statements linked to COVID-19 outbreak. During the initial days of COVID-19 outbreak, in March...
COVID-19 pandemic has caused a major economic impact all over the globe and has resulted in disruption of “normal” life. Countries across the world are battling to find solutions to this disease that includes strengthening the immune system and...
Several studies indicate that activation of NLRP3 inflammasome is responsible for acute respiratory distress syndrome and/or acute lung injury (ARDS/ALI) seen in severely ill COVID-19 patients which often result in death due to multiple organ failure. This suggests NLRP3...
Effective 27th January 2022, it will not be mandatory to wear a face covering or need to show COVID pass in England. The measures put in place under Plan B in England, to be lifted.
Earlier on 8th December...
The eighth version (seventh update) of a living guideline is released. It replaces earlier versions. The latest update includes a strong recommendation for the use of baricitinib as an alternative to interleukin-6 (IL-6), a conditional recommendation for the use of...
A novel mechanism to explain the different unrelated symptoms of COVID-19 has come to light by exploiting the second fastest Supercomputer in the world known as Summit supercomputer at Oak Ridge National Lab in Tennessee. The study involved analysing 2.5...
NeoCoV, a coronavirus strain related to MERS-CoV found in bats (NeoCoV is not a new variant of SARS-CoV-2, the human coronavirus strain responsible for COVID-19 pandemic) has been reported to be the first case of a MERS-CoV variant using ACE2....
Molnupiravir, a nucleoside analog of cytidine, a drug that has shown excellent oral bioavailability and promising results in Phase 1 and Phase 2 trials, could prove to be a magic bullet acting as an anti-viral agent against SARS-CoV2 in humans. Major...
The disease caused by the novel coronavirus (2019-nCoV) has been given new name COVID-19 by the international body WHO which makes no reference to any of the people, places or animals associated with this virus.
The disease caused by the...
The Lambda variant (lineage C.37) of SARS-CoV-2 was identified in Southern Brazil. This was found to have high prevalence in some south America. In view of high rates of transmissibility across south America, this variant was declared to be a variant...
A biotech firm, Moderna, Inc. has announced that ‘mRNA-1273’, their mRNA vaccine against novel coronavirus has shown positive results in the phase 1 clinical trials
In the race for the development of vaccines for the treatment of COVID-19, Moderna Inc.,...
Fluvoxamine is an inexpensive anti-depressant commonly used in mental healthcare. Evidence from the recently concluded clinical trial suggest that it can be repurposed to treat patients with COVID-19. It is found to reduce risk of severe COVID-19 symptoms, reduces need...
The assay time is considerably reduced from about an hour to few minutes by the newly reported RTF-EXPAR method which uses reverse transcriptase-free (RTF) approach for conversion of RNA into DNA followed by EXPAR (Exponential Amplification Reaction) for amplification at...
The B.1.1.529 variant was first reported to WHO from South Africa on 24th November 2021. The first known confirmed B.1.1.529 infection was from a specimen collected on 9th November 20211. Another source2 indicates that this variant was first detected in samples collected on...
A combination of biological and computational approach to study protein-protein interactions (PPIs) between the viral and the host proteins in order to identify and repurpose drugs for an effective treatment of COVID-19 and possibly other infections as well
The usual...
Following assessment and approval by the European Medicines Agency (EMA), WHO has issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for Nuvaxovid on 21 December 2021. Earlier on 17 December 2021, the WHO had issued an emergency use listing (EUL) for Covovax.
Covovax and Nuvaxoid thus become the...
One of unusual and most intriguing feature of heavily mutated Omicron variant is that it acquired all the mutations in a single burst in a very short span of time. The degree of change is so much so that some...
Molnupiravir, the world’s first oral drug (approved by MHRA, UK) against COVID-19 along with upcoming drugs such as Paxlovid and sustained vaccination drive has raised hopes that the COVID-19 pandemic may end soon bringing life back to normalcy. Molnupiravir (Lagevrio) is a broad-spectrum...
The recently completed UK-wide, ISARIC Study on analysis of 16749 patients with severe COVID-19 disease across 166 hospitals indicated that those with co-morbidity were at much higher risks while those with no significant comorbidity come out alive suggesting people...
In the practice of medicine, one generally prefers time tested proven path while treating and trying to prevent diseases. An innovation is usually expected to pass the test of time. The three approved COVID-19 vaccines, two mRNA vaccines and...
