Immunomodulatory News and Research

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COVID-19 – researchers sum up the “Tsunami” of information

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS CoV-2) infection leading to COVID-19 is a raging pandemic across the world at present. It has infected 13 million and killed 571,000 individuals around the world as of today. The infection was first reported in Wuhan, Hubei Province of China in late December 2019.

13 Jul 2020

Fatalities are very rare in children with COVID-19

Children with COVID-19 generally experience a mild disease and fatalities are very rare, according to a study of 582 patients from across Europe published today in The Lancet Child & Adolescent Health journal.

26 Jun 2020

Pixatimod is active in lab studies against SARS-CoV-2

The severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) circulating the world has caused over 9.6 million cases and over 490,000 deaths as of June 26, 2020. With neither an effective vaccine nor therapeutic drug yet available, intensive and widespread research is ongoing to develop a pharmacological intervention that will halt the global pandemic.

25 Jun 2020

Study assesses impact of anti-SARS-CoV-2 convalescent plasma in COVID-19 disease

The current COVID-19 pandemic is still very much active in most parts of the world. In the absence of effective antiviral drugs or vaccines, scientists are studying the use of blood plasma from convalescent COVID-19 patients, banking on its neutralizing antibody content.

25 Jun 2020

C-Path's Transplant Therapeutics Consortium receives positive FDA response for its Letter of Intent

Critical Path Institute announced today that its Transplant Therapeutics Consortium has received a positive response to its Letter of Intent from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration detailing the decision to accept the Composite Biomarker Panel (iBox Scoring System) into the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) Biomarker Qualification Program.

17 Jun 2020

Antisense Therapeutics: Poster presentation on the Muscular Dystrophy Association Virtual Conference 2020 website

Antisense Therapeutics, an Australian biopharmaceutical company developing and commercializing antisense pharmaceuticals for unmet need in rare diseases announces a virtual poster presentation on the Muscular Dystrophy Association Virtual 2020 Conference website.

15 Jun 2020

Hydroxychloroquine suppresses 'trained immunity'

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in June 2020 shows that the drug hydroxychloroquine (HCQ) suppresses a form of immunity called ‘trained immunity,’ with repercussions for its potential use to treat COVID-19.

11 Jun 2020

Immune modulation can cure severe and often fatal fungal infection in children

In the June 11 issue of the New England Journal of Medicine, a team of UCLA physicians and scientists describes the first case of immune modulation being used to cure a severe and often fatal fungal infection.

11 Jun 2020

Examining the effect of smoking, nicotine and vaping on COVID-19 severity

Researchers at the University of Oxford say they will be conducting the most extensive study to date linking primary and clinical data for the assessment of associations between smoking status and the severity of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

9 Jun 2020

Novel compound shows promise for ANCA-associated vasculitis

ANCA-associated vasculitis (AAV) is a systemic disease involving the formation of special autoantibodies (so-called anti-neutrophil cytoplasmic antibodies/ANCA) and vascular inflammation.

8 Jun 2020

Antiviral effects for COVID-19: Early is better

A new study by an international team of researchers and published on the preprint server medRxiv* in June 2020 describes the possible reasons for inconsistent or null findings in clinical studies of antiviral drugs to date. It proposes a new approach to decide the sample size in light of its findings.

5 Jun 2020

Intranasal delivery of MSC-EVs shows promise for treating Alzheimer's disease

In the search for a cure for Alzheimer's disease, mesenchymal stem cells and their derived extracellular vesicles (MSC-EVs) offer much promise, thanks to their protective and anti-inflammatory properties.

4 Jun 2020

Explosion of immune cells in mouse lungs after birth may help protect against infections

An explosion in the number and types of immune cells in the lungs of newborn mice likely helps them adapt to breathing and protects them from infection, says a new study published today in eLife.

2 Jun 2020

A cytokine pattern that predicts adverse outcomes in COVID-19

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in May 2020 reports the discovery of a predictive pattern of cytokines in COVID-19 infection that could guide clinical management if validated.

2 Jun 2020

Newer treatment approaches may reduce risk of therapy-related hematologic cancers

While breakthrough treatments have emerged for several cancers over the last two decades, driving striking improvements in survival and other clinical outcomes, too little is known about the risk of therapy-related hematologic cancers following targeted and immunotherapeutic approaches.

29 May 2020

Can Chlorpromazine help treat COVID-19?

A new research paper published in the journal L'Encéphale in May 2020 reports on the planned ReCoVery Study, which will examine the possibility of repurposing the antipsychotic drug chlorpromazine for the treatment of COVID-19.

25 May 2020

IL-6 blocker use in severe COVID-19 increases risk of secondary infections

With many hundreds of thousands of deaths due to the current COVID-19 pandemic, there is a rush to find an effective vaccine or drug against the virus. A new study on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 shows that the use of some biologically plausible drugs may be counterproductive, and care should be taken when trying out unproven therapies.

22 May 2020

Study evaluates the effectiveness of interferon beta 1b in COVID-19 pneumonia

As the world struggles to overcome the current COVID-19 pandemic with non-pharmacological interventions, in the absence of an effective drug or vaccine, existing immunomodulators are being repurposed. A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv* in May 2020 shows no clinical benefit to the use of one such drug, called interferon beta 1b (IFN beta1b).

22 May 2020

Do parasites protect against SARS-CoV-2?

The world has rarely seen such a readily transmissible infection as severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) over the last century. Within five months, the virus has created a Tsunami of COVID-19 positive cases, comprising almost 4.88 million people and causing 322,000 deaths.

19 May 2020

Common cytokine profile in ARDS, severe COVID-19 and sepsis

Many lives have been lost to the severe pneumonic disease COVID-19 caused by the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), during the ongoing pandemic. The reason for the critical lung injury that results in a fatal outcome in a significant minority of patients has been supposed to be the dramatic oversecretion of pro-inflammatory cytokines and chemokines triggered by the virus.

19 May 2020