Existing biologics such as Canakinumab (monoclonal antibody), Anakinra (monoclonal antibody) and Rilonacept (fusion protein) can be exploited as therapeutics that restrain inflammation in COVID-19 patients. In addition, designer monoclonal antibodies can provide passive immunity by neutralizing the SARS-CoV-2 virus...
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.,...
Spikevax Bivalent Original/Omicron Booster Vaccine, the first bivalent COVID-19 booster vaccine developed by Moderna has received MHRA approval. Unlike the Spikevax Original, the bivalent version targets both the original coronavirus variants from 2020 and the Omicron variant as well as...
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...
Use of nasal gel as a novel means to inactivate COVID-19 in a biological manner and prevent its entry into human body may help avert community transmission of this virus, thereby helping in disease control and management.
In an effort...
A plasmid DNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 has been found to induce immunity in animal trials. Few other DNA based vaccine candidates are at early stages of clinical trials. Interestingly, plasmid DNA vaccines can be developed in a short period of time....
Coronaviruses are RNA viruses belonging to coronaviridae family. These viruses display remarkably high rates of errors during replication due to lack of proofreading nuclease activity of their polymerases. In other organisms, the replication errors are corrected but the coronaviruses lack this ability. As...
Routine sero-surveillance of the population to estimate presence of antibodies to COVID-19 is required to understand the development of herd immunity in a population. Data from the sero-surveillance study of population in the Ischgl town of Austria throws light on this aspect...
In order to raise levels of protection across the population against the Omicron variant, the Joint Committee on Vaccination and Immunisation (JCVI)1 of UK has recommended that the booster programme should be expanded to include all remaining adults aged 18...
MicroRNAs or in short miRNAs (not to be confused with mRNA or messenger RNA) were discovered in 1993 and have been extensively studied in the past two decades or so for their role in regulating gene expression. miRNAs are...
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 recent study suggests increased risk of formation of coronavirus hotspots caused due to deforestation and livestock revolution leading to zoonotic transmission of coronavirus from bats to humans. The study seems to sow enough subliminal seeds in the minds...
Sotrovimab, a Monoclonal antibody already approved for mild to moderate COVID-19 in several countries gets approval by MHRA in the UK. This antibody was intelligently designed with a mutating virus in mind. A highly conserved region of the spike protein was...
2-Deoxy-D-Glucose(2-DG), a glucose analog that inhibits glycolysis, has recently received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) in India for the treatment of moderate to severe COVID-19 patients. The molecule has been extensively researched and used in clinical trials for its ant-cancer properties....
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...
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 containment scheme based on 'quarantine' or 'social distancing' has emerged as the main tool in fight against COVID-19. But, there are concerns about economic and psychological costs. A researcher offers ''social containment'' as an alternative which seems to...
The B.1.617 variant that has caused the recent COVID-19 crisis in India has been implicated in increased transmission of the disease among the population and poses a significant challenge with respect to disease severity and effectiveness of currently available...
