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Ortho introduces second COVID-19 antibody test with 100% specificity

Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, a global leader of in vitro diagnostics with a rich history of bringing critical tests for infectious diseases to market, today introduced and announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Emergency Use Authorization to its second COVID-19 antibody test—the VITROS Immunodiagnostic Products Anti-SARS-CoV-2 IgG Test. This test is one of only a handful of antibody tests to be granted Emergency Use Authorization.

From Ortho-Clinical Diagnostics, Inc. 29 Apr 2020

Epivax and Entos Pharmaceuticals to develop DNA-based vaccine for COVID-19

Entos Pharmaceuticals (Entos), a healthcare biotechnology company that develops next generation nucleic acid medicines using the Fusogenix drug delivery platform, today announced a collaboration with EpiVax, Inc. (EpiVax), a world leading informatics and immunology biotechnology company with a proven track record in vaccine development.

28 Apr 2020

COVID-19 could be causing potentially fatal inflammatory disease in children, doctors warn

Since the emergence of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in China in December 2019, health experts have cautioned that the disease is particularly serious in high-risk populations, including older adults, those with underlying diseases, and those who are immunocompromised. Now, doctors in the United Kingdom warn of a rare and severe inflammatory disease in children with COVID-19.

28 Apr 2020

Boston Children's Hospital launches two-pronged study of COVID-19 in children

Boston Children's Hospital has launched a two-pronged study of COVID-19 disease among children and youth up to age 25 across the country, with $2.1 million in funding from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

28 Apr 2020

Research on SARS-CoV-2 spike protein may lead to new vaccines and treatments

The virus that causes COVID-19 is studded on its exterior with "spike proteins," a key component in its ability to infect human cells. Two University of Georgia researchers, Rob Woods and Parastoo Azadi, are investigating the proteins and sugars on the surface of the virus with the goal of finding information that could lead to vaccines and therapeutics.

28 Apr 2020

Using neutralising antibodies in the fight against COVID-19

While many scientists and pharmaceutical companies are racing to develop a severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) vaccine, there is also an urgent need for a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) treatment. The potent virus has now spread to 210 countries and territories, affecting more than 3.04 million people. Now, a team of German scientists is working on using antibodies to prevent and treat COVID-19.

27 Apr 2020

Olfactory impairment linked with milder clinical course in COVID-19

Following an earlier study that validated the loss of smell and taste as indicators of SARS-CoV-2 infection, researchers at UC San Diego Health report in newly published findings that olfactory impairment suggests the resulting COVID-19 disease is more likely to be mild to moderate, a potential early indicator that could help health care providers determine which patients may require hospitalization.

27 Apr 2020

Discovery of new type of immune cell in breast ducts

Australian researchers from Walter and Eliza Hall Institute have discovered a new form of immune cells within the ducts of the breast that keeps the breasts healthy. The study was published this week in the journal Nature Cell Biology.

27 Apr 2020

SARS-CoV-2 readily infects human intestinal cells in a laboratory model

A new Dutch study available on bioRxiv uses differentiated human small intestinal organoids in vitro to demonstrate that intestinal epithelium supports the replication of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) and elicits a strong generic immune response.

27 Apr 2020

Consumer beware: Coronavirus antibody tests are still a work in progress

After hearing for months about serious access issues involving tests that diagnose COVID-19 based on swabs from the nose or throat, Americans are being inundated with reports about promising new tests that look for signs of infection in the blood.

27 Apr 2020

Mapping complex peripheral immune response to severe COVID-19

In a recent article publicly available at medRxiv, researchers from Stanford have presented a single-cell atlas of the peripheral immune response to coronavirus disease (COVID-19), highlighting pertinent immunological features associated with the severe forms of the disease.

26 Apr 2020

A new test for rapid large-scale testing of COVID-19

OU Medicine, the OU Health Sciences Center and the Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation collaborated to create a new test for COVID-19 using technology and reagents from Fluidigm Corporation, an innovative biotechnology tools provider

25 Apr 2020

UCLA scientists receive awards to pursue treatments and vaccines for COVID-19

Three researchers at the Eli and Edythe Broad Center of Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cell Research at UCLA have received awards to pursue treatments and vaccines for COVID-19 from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, the state's stem cell agency.

25 Apr 2020

New study indicates novel therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy

When an actor is unable to perform in the theatre, an understudy--ideally one with some practice in the role--can take her place on stage.

25 Apr 2020

Active ingredient from parasite larvae could help treat asthma

The larvae of the roundworm Heligmosomoides polygyrus bakeri (Hpb) need a very special environment in order to survive: They have to invade the mucosal layer of the intestine in rodents, the only place where they can then develop into adult worms capable of reproduction.

24 Apr 2020

Syphilis bacterium likely uses a single gene to evade immune attack

The bacterium that causes syphilis, Treponema pallidum, likely uses a single gene to escape the immune system, research from UW Medicine in Seattle suggests.

24 Apr 2020

Siemens Healthineers to expand SARS-CoV-2 testing to include a total antibody test to aid in the COVID-19 pandemic

Siemens Healthineers announced today it is significantly expanding its infectious disease testing capabilities to aid in the COVID-19 pandemic. Recognizing the critical need for accurate diagnostic testing to manage COVID-19, the company has developed a laboratory-based total antibody test1 to detect the presence of SARS-CoV-2 antibodies in blood.

From Siemens Healthineers Point of Care Diagnostics 24 Apr 2020

Seniors with COVID-19 show unusual symptoms, doctors say

Older adults with COVID-19, the illness caused by the coronavirus, have several "atypical" symptoms, complicating efforts to ensure they get timely and appropriate treatment, according to physicians.

24 Apr 2020

Goblet cells in the human nasal passage may play key role in enabling COVID-19 infections

Two significant international studies involving hundreds of scientists, including a human geneticist at the Translational Genomics Research Institute (TGen), an affiliate of City of Hope, suggest that specific cells in the human nasal passage shaped like a champagne glass, known as goblet cells, may play a significant role in enabling COVID-19 infections.

24 Apr 2020

NEC leverages its AI prediction platforms to design blueprints for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines

NEC Corporation today announced analysis results from efforts using AI prediction platforms to design blueprints for SARS-CoV-2 vaccines that can drive potent T-cell responses in the majority of the global population.

24 Apr 2020