Efficacy News and Research

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3-dose vaccines deemed ultrapotent against diverse and highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and other variants

A new study found that the presence of a subset of antibodies with broad neutralizing activities against all circulating variants of concern in the three-dose vaccines' memory B-derived antibody repertoire suggests that the Omicron/future variants infection may elicit selective and rapid recall of humoral responses, conferring secondary protection directed by memory etched in the immune system.

29 Dec 2021

Exploring immunogenicity and safety after a homologous booster dose of SARS-CoV-2 recombinant spike protein vaccine

Research suggests that a single booster dose of NVX-CoV2373 given approximately six months after the primary series induced significant increases in humoral antibodies, while also exhibiting an acceptable safety profile.

29 Dec 2021

Booster dose of mRNA vaccines found crucial in protecting against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants

A new study shows that Omicron is more infectious than any of the other variants and that booster vaccines, especially mRNA vaccines, are capable of neutralizing Omicron variants of pseudoviruses.

29 Dec 2021

Combination of rifampicin and resveratrol helps stop dementia, finds study

Dementia is thought to occur when proteins called amyloid-β, tau, and α-synuclein accumulate in the brain and form oligomers. A research group from the Department of Translational Neuroscience, Osaka City University Graduate School of Medicine, had previously shown in a study using mice that the antibiotic rifampicin removes oligomers from the brain and improves cognitive function.

29 Dec 2021

Study demonstrates increased effectiveness of third BNT162b2 dose against SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalization

Researchers assess vaccine effectiveness of two and three doses of BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2 infections and COVID-19-related hospital admission.

28 Dec 2021

Third BNT162b2 dose effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 Omicron pseudovirus

The findings reveal that the Omicron neutralizing titers induced by the third vaccine dose are comparable to that achieved against the original Wuhan strain (wild-type SARS-CoV-2) by the two-dose regimen. The study is currently available on the medRxiv* preprint server while awaiting peer review.

28 Dec 2021

Double-dose mRNA COVID vaccines effective among dialysis patients

Researchers assess the impact of lesser initial vaccine response and subsequent waning antibody levels on clinical outcomes among maintenance dialysis.

28 Dec 2021

Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 manifests striking antibody evasion

A new study from Columbia researchers, in collaboration with scientists at the University of Hong Kong, adds more evidence that the omicron variant can evade the immune protection conferred by vaccines and natural infection and suggests the need for new vaccines and treatments that anticipate how the virus may soon evolve.

24 Dec 2021

Schools account for a small, but important part of young person's mental health

A study in the Journal of the American Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry (JAACAP), published by Elsevier, reports in adolescents 11-14 years old, that schools account for a small, but significant part of a young person's mental health.

23 Dec 2021

Ad5-nCoV vaccine safe and effective against symptomatic, severe COVID-19, trials shows

One dose of Ad5-nCoV (Convidecia), a COVID-19 vaccine developed in China, is 57.5% effective against symptomatic COVID-19 and 91.7% effective against severe COVID-19 disease beginning 28 days postvaccination, according to a phase 3 randomized controlled trial published in The Lancet.

23 Dec 2021

Cryo-EM of Omicron variant reveals antibody evasion by spike-ACE2 complex

Researchers compare the obtained binding affinities to wild-type and Delta spike proteins to determine the impact of Omicron mutations.

23 Dec 2021

Exploring immunity and severe disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

A new study describes the findings of a seroprevalence survey intended to establish the infection rates and the incidence of severe COVID-19 through December 15, 2021, in Gauteng, a crowded province that compresses a quarter of the country’s people into less than 2% of its area.

23 Dec 2021

Protein-based nanoparticle vaccines for protection against SARS-CoV-2

A recent review article discusses recent advances in protein-based nanoparticle vaccines against SARS-CoV-2.

22 Dec 2021

rVSV-based bivalent vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 delta variant and influenza

Researchers developed four distinct recombinant vesicular stomatitis virus (rVSV)-based bivalent vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and influenza virus.

22 Dec 2021

MHRA approves new formulation of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year olds

A new age-appropriate formulation of the Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (Comirnaty) for use in children aged 5 to 11 years old has been approved today by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) after finding that it is safe and effective.

22 Dec 2021

Study suggests nitazoxanide fails to reduce the severity of SARS-CoV-2

A new study shows that the optimization of nitazoxanide formulations may allow the review of the potential use of the drug for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection.

22 Dec 2021

Scientists identify a panel of nanobodies with good neutralizing efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

A team of scientists from Canada has recently characterized a panel of nanobodies against the spike protein of SARS-CoV-2.

22 Dec 2021

How can we increase confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine?

In this interview, we speak to Professor Rishi Goyal and Professor Dennis Yi Tenen about their latest research that investigated COVID-19 vaccine hesitancy.

22 Dec 2021

Researchers identify new mechanism that impairs cancer cell proliferation and induces death

UAB and Vall d'Hebron researchers identified the mechanism by which inhibitors of the ERK5 protein kinase impair the proliferation of cancer cells and induce their death. The results, obtained using human cancer cell lines, demonstrate that ERK5 inhibition activates cytotoxic autophagy, a process that triggers cancer cell death, without affecting healthy cells. A combination of ERK5 inhibitors and chemotherapy could improve cancer treatment.

22 Dec 2021

National U.S trial confirms effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines

In a recent study, published in the Annals of Internal Medicine, scientists conducted a target trial emulation study and documented that among the elderly in the U.S. (with significant comorbidities), the efficacy of messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines was much lower in terms of preventing infection, than previously reported. However, the effectiveness against death was found to be high.

21 Dec 2021

Efficacy News and Research

3-dose vaccines deemed ultrapotent against diverse and highly transmissible SARS-CoV-2 Omicron and other variants

Exploring immunogenicity and safety after a homologous booster dose of SARS-CoV-2 recombinant spike protein vaccine

Booster dose of mRNA vaccines found crucial in protecting against SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variants

Combination of rifampicin and resveratrol helps stop dementia, finds study

Study demonstrates increased effectiveness of third BNT162b2 dose against SARS-CoV-2 infection and hospitalization

Third BNT162b2 dose effectively neutralizes SARS-CoV-2 Omicron pseudovirus

Double-dose mRNA COVID vaccines effective among dialysis patients

Omicron variant of SARS-CoV-2 manifests striking antibody evasion

Schools account for a small, but important part of young person's mental health

Ad5-nCoV vaccine safe and effective against symptomatic, severe COVID-19, trials shows

Cryo-EM of Omicron variant reveals antibody evasion by spike-ACE2 complex

Exploring immunity and severe disease caused by the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant

Protein-based nanoparticle vaccines for protection against SARS-CoV-2

rVSV-based bivalent vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 delta variant and influenza

MHRA approves new formulation of Pfizer BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine for 5-11 year olds

Study suggests nitazoxanide fails to reduce the severity of SARS-CoV-2

Scientists identify a panel of nanobodies with good neutralizing efficacy against SARS-CoV-2 variants of concern

How can we increase confidence in the COVID-19 vaccine?

Researchers identify new mechanism that impairs cancer cell proliferation and induces death

National U.S trial confirms effectiveness of mRNA COVID-19 vaccines

Industry Focus eBook - Cell biology (5th edition) eBook

Bringing real-time analytics to downstream bioprocess monitoring

Designing fluidic architecture for scalable diagnostic platforms

Evaluating new approaches for rare disease genomics

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