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Hydroxychloroquine shown to slow recovery for COVID-19 patients

As researchers try to piece together a therapeutic strategy against the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic, a recent retrospective study from Cleveland Clinic Abu Dhabi, assessed the Hydroxychloroquine's efficacy in increasing SARS-CoV-2 viral clearance, finding that it appeared to significantly slow viral clearance in mild to moderately ill COVID-19 patients.

5 May 2020

Activation of estrogen receptor can impede growth of pancreatic cancer cells

Activating the G protein-coupled estrogen receptor - a receptor found on the surface of many normal and cancer tissues - has been shown to stop pancreatic cancer from growing, but may also make tumors more visible to the immune system and thus more susceptible to modern immunotherapy.

4 May 2020

RAND releases new COVID-19 tool to estimate effects of public health interventions

A new tool designed to help state and local officials estimate the effects of social distancing and other public health interventions used to combat the COVID-19 pandemic has been released by the nonprofit, nonpartisan RAND Corporation.

4 May 2020

Wyss Institute and Cytosurge collaborate to improve CRISPR multiplexing

Today, the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University and Cytosurge AG, a company manufacturing unique high-precision nanotechnology instruments, announced that they will collaboratively investigate CRISPR-based approaches to more effectively introduce multiple edits into the genome of single cells, while minimizing CRISPR-related toxicity.

4 May 2020

Researchers examine role of immune response in COVID-19 patients

A new USC study suggests that temporarily suppressing the body's immune system during the early stages of COVID-19 could help a patient avoid severe symptoms.

4 May 2020

Study reports cryo-EM structure of Remdesivir-bound RNA replicase complex from SARS-CoV-2

A team of Chinese scientists have reported the high-resolution cryo-EM structure of Remdesivir-bound RNA replicase complex from SARS-CoV-2, the infective virus of COVID-19.

3 May 2020

Study shows no association between prices and clinical benefit of cancer drugs

Do high prices of some cancer medicines have a higher benefit than those drugs with lower prices? An international UZH study has concluded that, in general, there is no correlation between costs of a cancer drugs and their clinical benefit.

2 May 2020

Combination of schizophrenia drug and radiation shows promise in treating glioblastoma

Researchers at the UCLA Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center and colleagues have found that adding a drug once commonly used to treat schizophrenia to traditional radiation therapy helped improve overall survival in mice with glioblastoma, one of the deadliest and most difficult-to-treat brain tumors.

2 May 2020

Hospitalized smokers six times more likely to quit with combination treatment, study finds

New research led by University of South Australia has found that smokers who receive the medication varenicline tartrate combined with Quitline counseling following a period of hospitalization due to a tobacco-related illness are six times more likely to quit smoking than those who attempt to stop without support.

2 May 2020

Researchers retrofit diving snorkel mask to make reusable PPE

A new study published on the preprint server medRxiv in April 2020 reports an innovative adaptation of a standard snorkel mask with a few custom-built parts and a filter, for use by hospital personnel as a reusable protective mask.

30 Apr 2020

Glasses to stop progression of myopia shown to work in multi-site trial

Glasses to stop myopia or nearsightedness in children have been shown to work in a multi-site trial of 256 children and will go on sale later this year outside the United States.

30 Apr 2020

Researchers test clinical safety of gene-based treatment for achromatopsia

People with complete color blindness are born unable to distinguish colors. They see less sharply and are highly sensitivity to glare.

30 Apr 2020

UK-based biotechnology firm discovers potential treatments for Covid-19

A UK-based biotechnology firm has announced the discovery of two separate novel treatments for Covid-19 patients before they are put on ventilators. They are now urgently seeking funding of £4m to accelerate safety studies and clinical trials.

30 Apr 2020

As coronavirus strikes, crucial data in electronic health records hard to harvest

When President Donald Trump started touting hydroxychloroquine as "one of the biggest game changers” for treating COVID-19, researchers hoped electronic health records could quickly tell them if he was on the right track.

30 Apr 2020

Newly launched clinical trial can help treat COVID-19 patients

Research by University of Iowa virologist Wendy Maury, PhD, has helped facilitate the launch of a new clinical trial in the United Kingdom of a drug that might help treat patients with COVID-19.

30 Apr 2020

Innovative approach offers kidney-sparing treatment option for upper tract urothelial cancer

Treatment of low-grade upper tract urothelial cancer usually involves radical surgery to remove the kidney and ureter, highlighting the need for improved treatments.

30 Apr 2020

Temple University Hospital is offering COVID-19 clinical trials, investigational treatments options

Temple University Hospital is now participating in a variety of clinical trials that are testing investigational treatment options for patients diagnosed with the novel coronavirus, or COVID-19.

30 Apr 2020

Remdesivir shows powerful activity against SARS-CoV-2 in Vitro

Remdesivir is an antiviral first developed by Gilead in 2014 as a treatment for Ebola and Marburg viruses. However, scientists explored its possibilities as a broad-spectrum drug when it proved effective against SARS-CoV and MERS-CoV, coronaviruses which were responsible for earlier outbreaks.

30 Apr 2020

Drug combo for untreated CLL approved by FDA based on E1912 trial

Patients with untreated chronic lymphocytic leukemia or small lymphocytic lymphoma now have a new treatment option--a combination of the targeted agent ibrutinib with the immunologic agent rituximab.

29 Apr 2020

Universal childhood vaccination could prevent antimicrobial resistance

A new study from the University of California, Berkeley, published in the journal Nature in April 2020, reports that extending vaccination to all children could help resolve antimicrobial resistance - one of the biggest obstacles to effective healthcare in low-income countries. This is the first study to look at how vaccination is related to the use of antibiotics in low- and middle-income countries.

29 Apr 2020