Category: News Commentary

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced that the Phase III IMscin001 study evaluating a subcutaneous formulation of Tecentriq® (atezolizumab) met its co-primary endpoints. The study showed non-inferior levels of Tecentriq in the blood (pharmacokinetics), when injected subcutaneously, compared with intravenous (IV) infusion, in cancer immunotherapy-naïve patients with locally advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) for whom prior platinum therapy has failed.

Vitamin K is well-known for its blood clotting and bone building properties but today a new study published in Nature reports on a novel function for vitamin K.

The researchers discovered that the fully reduced form of vitamin K acts as an antioxidant efficiently inhibiting ferroptotic cell death. Ferroptosis is a natural form of cell death in which cellular iron plays an important role and which is characterized by the oxidative destruction of cellular membranes.

Bayer has published a new paper, Science-Led Self-Care: Principles for Best Practice, that sets out five key Principles that should underpin all self-care products improving personal health and wellness. The paper is intended to spark a conversation within the industry and its key stakeholders around the need to promote science-led self-care for the benefit of consumers.

GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) announced it had signed a framework contract with the European Commission’s (EC) Health Emergency Preparedness and Response Authority (HERA) for the reservation of future production and supply of 85 million doses of its pandemic influenza vaccine Adjupanrix [pandemic influenza vaccine (split virion, inactivated, adjuvanted)].

When reports showed COVID-19 vaccination rates were lower among racial/ethnic minority groups, most discussions focused on mistrust and misinformation among these populations or their reduced access to health care facilities. But new research from University of California San Diego and collaborating institutions has identified an additional barrier to equity: whether or not each health care facility actually received and administered vaccines.

New research shows that a needle-free mucosal bacteriophage (phage) T4-based COVID-19 vaccine is effective against SARS-CoV-2 infection. The findings were published in mBio, an open access journal of the American Society for Microbiology.

In recent years, the Food and Drug Administration authorized mRNA- and adenovirus-based SARS-CoV-2 vaccines.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced that the companies have initiated a randomized, active-controlled, observer-blind, Phase 2 study to evaluate the safety, tolerability, and immune response of an enhanced COVID-19 mRNA-based vaccine candidate at a 30 µg dose level.

Glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) is an aggressive brain cancer with a poor prognosis and few treatment options. New and effective approaches for GBM treatment are therefore urgently needed.

Based on observation of elevated lactate in resected GBM, researchers from the Institute of Process Engineering (IPE) of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Shenzhen Second People’s Hospital have developed a

COVID-19 often leads to neurological symptoms, such as a loss of taste or smell, or cognitive impairments (including memory loss and concentration difficulties), both during the acute phase of the disease and over the long term with “long COVID” syndrome. But the way in which the infection reaches the brain was previously unknown. Scientists from Institut Pasteur and CNRS laboratories have used state-of-the-art electron microscopy approaches to demonstrate that SARS-CoV-2 hijacks nanotubes, tiny bridges that link infected cells with neurons.

The SARS-CoV-2 that causes COVID-19 has killed 6.3 million people worldwide since 2019, painfully highlighting the vulnerability of humanity to novel coronaviruses.

Researchers discovered a neutralizing monoclonal antibody that potentially acts as a potent universal coronavirus therapy against SARS-CoV-2 and all its variants of concern, including Beta, Gamma, Delta, Epsilon and Omicron.