Research

Drug linked to 45% lower risk of dying among COVID-19 patients on ventilators

Critically ill COVID-19 patients who received a single dose of a drug that calms an overreacting immune system were 45% less likely to die overall, and more likely to be out of the hospital or off a ventilator one month after treatment, compared with those who didn't receive the drug, according to a new study by a team from the University of Michigan.

New study supports remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment

The news about remdesivir, the investigational anti-viral drug that has shown early promise in the fight against COVID-19, keeps getting better. This week researchers at Vanderbilt University Medical Center (VUMC), the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and Gilead Sciences reported that remdesivir potently inhibited SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, in human lung cell cultures and that it improved lung function in mice infected with the virus.

Neutralizing antibodies in the battle against COVID-19

An important line of defence in the fight against the new corona virus SARS-CoV-2 is the formation of neutralising antibodies. These can eliminate the intruders and have great potential to be used for prevention and treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection. A team of researchers led by Prof. Florian Klein (Cologne University Hospital) and the German Center for Infection Research (DZIF) has further elucidated how these antibodies develop and has isolated potent SARS-CoV-2 neutralizing antibodies.

Using Epo against COVID-19

Erythropoietin (Epo) is actually a medication for anaemia. According to researchers at the Max Planck Institute of Experimental Medicine in Göttingen, the doping agent Epo could also be effective against COVID-19. The growth factor could mitigate severe disease progression and protect patients from long-term neurological effects when the Sars-CoV-2 virus attacks the brain.

Researchers identify multiple molecules that shut down SARS-Cov-2 polymerase reaction

SARS-CoV-2, the coronavirus causing the global COVID-19 pandemic, uses a protein called polymerase to replicate its genome inside infected human cells. Terminating the polymerase reaction will stop the growth of the coronavirus, leading to its eradication by the human host's immune system.

Whole-town study reveals more than 40% of COVID-19 infections had no symptoms

A study of COVID-19 in the quarantined Italian town of Vò, where most of the population was tested, reveals the importance of asymptomatic cases.

The authors of the new research, from the University of Padova and at Imperial College London, published today in Nature, suggest asymptomatic or pre-symptomatic people are an important factor in the transmission of COVID-19.

Existing drugs can prevent SARS-CoV-2 from hijacking cells

An international team of researchers has analysed how SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, hijacks the proteins in its target cells. The research, published in the journal Cell, shows how the virus shifts the cell's activity to promote its own replication and to infect nearby cells. The scientists also identified seven clinically approved drugs that could disrupt these mechanisms, and recommend that these drugs are immediately tested in clinical trials.

Research & Development

Drug linked to 45% lower risk of dying among COVID-19 patients on ventilators

New study supports remdesivir as COVID-19 treatment

Neutralizing antibodies in the battle against COVID-19

Using Epo against COVID-19

Researchers identify multiple molecules that shut down SARS-Cov-2 polymerase reaction

Whole-town study reveals more than 40% of COVID-19 infections had no symptoms

Existing drugs can prevent SARS-CoV-2 from hijacking cells

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