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FIND and Unitaid launch call for EOI to fill major diagnostic gaps in COVID-19 detection

The Foundation for Innovative New Diagnostics and Unitaid announced today that the organizations have launched a call for expressions of interest to accelerate the availability and manufacturing scale-up of rapid diagnostic tests for the detection of SARS-CoV-2 antigens. Reliable, affordable Ag RDTs have been identified as key tools in the global response to COVID-19, as they could enable robust detection of active SARS-CoV-2 infection for both patient management and contact tracing purposes in decentralized settings.

10 Jul 2020

Pigs and chickens not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2

A team of researchers in Germany aimed to investigate the susceptibility of potential animal hosts and the risk of zoonosis spill-over infections, which are illnesses transmitted to humans from animals. On the other hand, reverse zoonosis pertains to infections in humans that jump to animals.

9 Jul 2020

Mapping immune landscape of hematological malignancies may help improve cancer therapies

Activating the immune system of the body is a promising form of treatment for cancer. Researchers at the University of Helsinki and Helsinki University Hospital as well as the University of Eastern Finland mapped out the immune landscape of hematological malignancies in a dataset covering more than 10,000 patients to identify drug targets and patient groups which could potentially benefit from immunotherapies.

9 Jul 2020

LGC acquires The Native Antigen Company, strengthening its offer to the IVD sector

Today, LGC announced the acquisition of The Native Antigen Company (NAC), one of the world’s leading suppliers of high quality infectious disease antigens and antibodies.

9 Jul 2020

PRMT5 inhibitors can help treat advanced melanoma

Scientists at Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute have demonstrated the therapeutic potential of PRMT5 inhibitors to sensitize unresponsive melanoma to immune checkpoint therapy.

9 Jul 2020

Research sheds doubt on the Pangolin link to SARS-CoV-2

A startling new study by researchers at the Broad Institute of MIT and the University of British Columbia and published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in July 2020 casts doubt on the hypothesis that the current severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) was transmitted from pangolins acting as the intermediate host. Instead, the authors suggest, the pangolins themselves were incidentally infected from other animals in captivity or from humans.

8 Jul 2020

A biomaterial vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 - quick and scalable

A recent 'tour-de-force' research endeavor, led by scientists from Harvard University, explored the propensity of a biomaterial vaccine based on mesoporous silica rods to spawn highly protective humoral responses against relevant antigens of the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

8 Jul 2020

New technology can rapidly disrupt existing biofilms that account for chronic diseases

Chronic and recurrent bacterial diseases are treatment-resistant due to the ability of the pathogens to establish biofilms, which act as fortresses built of extracellular DNA and proteins to protect populations of the bacteria.

8 Jul 2020

Research sheds light on mysterious COVID-19 related hyperinflammatory shock in children

The ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has cost hundreds of thousands of human lives, besides more than 11 million cases. Caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the disease was initially thought to be more severe in the elderly and those with pre-existing medical conditions. However, it started to manifest in children after the peak of the first wave.

7 Jul 2020

Scientists engineer natural killer cells that target tumors and their immunosuppressive allies

Scientists have engineered natural killer immune cells that not only kill head and neck tumor cells in mice but also reduce the immune-suppressing myeloid cells that allow tumors to evade the immune response, according to a new study in eLife.

7 Jul 2020

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein hidden as pH changes

Now, a new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in July 2020 reports the role of pH in helping the virus escape neutralization by antibodies, by inducing a key conformational switch.

7 Jul 2020

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trials move to stage 3 human trials

The technical name of the vaccine is ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 (AZD1222), as it is made from a virus called ChAdOx1, which is a weakened and non-replicating version of a common cold virus (adenovirus). The vaccine has been engineered to express the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein.

5 Jul 2020

Research suggests protective effect of influenza vaccine against COVID-19 severity and mortality

A new study involving over 92,000 patients with COVID-19 in Brazil shows that the odds of severe disease, ventilatory support requirement, and death are reduced with a recent trivalent flu vaccine. This seems to indicate that these vaccines should be used as widely as possible to reduce the risk of severe COVID-19, especially among high-risk groups. The study is published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020.

5 Jul 2020

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shows promise - virus neutralizing antibodies achieved

In a recent medRxiv* paper, a research group from the U.S. and Germany showed a robust immunogenic response and a promising safety profile of the novel BNT162b1 RNA-based vaccine against coronavirus disease (COVID-19) – actively encouraging its accelerated clinical development and potential rapid production.

2 Jul 2020

Tiny balls of minerals are better vehicles for promising mRNA-based therapy

University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers have developed a safer and more efficient way to deliver a promising new method for treating cancer and liver disorders and for vaccination -- including a COVID-19 vaccine from Moderna Therapeutics that has advanced to clinical trials with humans.

2 Jul 2020

Developing Vaccines and Therapeutics by Exploiting Structure in Spherical Nucleic Acids

An interview discussing the use of spherical nucleic acids (SNAs) and what they show about the importance of structure in pharmaceutical development.

From Pittcon 2 Jul 2020

Novavax SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate shows promise in animal models

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 shows that a candidate spike protein vaccine can induce neutralizing antibodies, antiviral T cell responses, and protection against infection.

2 Jul 2020

New NCCN guidelines explain how to recognize and manage immunotherapy-related side effects

The National Comprehensive Cancer Network today announced the completion of the new NCCN Guidelines for Patients®: Immunotherapy Side Effects series, with the publication of a book focused on chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T-cell therapy. This closely follows the publication of a separate book on immune checkpoint inhibitors, both created with support from the NCCN Foundation®.

1 Jul 2020

Researchers receive innovative grants to understand the biological underpinnings of blood cancers

Seeking to ignite the next major breakthroughs to treat blood cancers, The Leukemia & Lymphoma Society (LLS), The Mark Foundation, and The Paul G. Allen Frontiers Group today announced more than $6.75 million awarded to nine of the most exceptional scientists in the field.

1 Jul 2020

Striking CryoEM image of SARS-CoV-2

A new study by researchers from the UK and Germany and published on the preprint server bioRxiv in June 2020 reports the results of a detailed study of the S protein on the intact virus, using cryoelectron microscopy (cryoEM) and tomography. This could help understand the conformation of the S protein on the virion and how it interacts with neutralizing antibodies.

30 Jun 2020

Antigen News and Research

FIND and Unitaid launch call for EOI to fill major diagnostic gaps in COVID-19 detection

Pigs and chickens not susceptible to SARS-CoV-2

Mapping immune landscape of hematological malignancies may help improve cancer therapies

LGC acquires The Native Antigen Company, strengthening its offer to the IVD sector

PRMT5 inhibitors can help treat advanced melanoma

Research sheds doubt on the Pangolin link to SARS-CoV-2

A biomaterial vaccine for SARS-CoV-2 - quick and scalable

New technology can rapidly disrupt existing biofilms that account for chronic diseases

Research sheds light on mysterious COVID-19 related hyperinflammatory shock in children

Scientists engineer natural killer cells that target tumors and their immunosuppressive allies

SARS-CoV-2 spike protein hidden as pH changes

Oxford COVID-19 vaccine trials move to stage 3 human trials

Research suggests protective effect of influenza vaccine against COVID-19 severity and mortality

Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine shows promise - virus neutralizing antibodies achieved

Tiny balls of minerals are better vehicles for promising mRNA-based therapy

Developing Vaccines and Therapeutics by Exploiting Structure in Spherical Nucleic Acids

Novavax SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate shows promise in animal models

New NCCN guidelines explain how to recognize and manage immunotherapy-related side effects

Researchers receive innovative grants to understand the biological underpinnings of blood cancers

Striking CryoEM image of SARS-CoV-2

Achieving and maintaining ISO/IEC 27001 and BS 10012 certifications

Expanding research and clinical options for children with cancer

Examining how pain could play a direct protective role in the gut

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