Drug Repurposing News and Research

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International consortium awarded SNSF Sinergia grant to improve treatment for pediatric brain tumors

SNSF Sinergia grant awarded to research groups in Switzerland and Norway to identify novel treatment strategies for children with aggressive brain tumors.

7 Jan 2021

Machine-learning method can crunch data to find new uses for existing drugs

Scientists have developed a machine-learning method that crunches massive amounts of data to help determine which existing medications could improve outcomes in diseases for which they are not prescribed.

4 Jan 2021

Early clinical data demonstrates the efficacy of existing drug in treating COVID-19

In what has the potential to significantly change how Corona patients are being treated and the severity of the disease, research spearheaded at Jerusalem's Hebrew University gathered early clinical evidence demonstrating the efficacy of an existing drug in treating COVID-19.

22 Dec 2020

Study: Specific class of drugs can be repurposed to treat genetic diseases

Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have published a study showing a promising approach to using drug repurposing to treat genetic diseases.

17 Dec 2020

Researchers use AI platform to identify best combination of available therapies against COVID-19.

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore (NUS) has utilized a ground-breaking artificial intelligence (AI) platform to derive an optimal combination of available therapies against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.

11 Dec 2020

Using AI to find optimal combination of available therapies against SARS-CoV-2

A team of researchers from the National University of Singapore has utilized a ground-breaking artificial intelligence (AI) platform to derive an optimal combination of available therapies against SARS-CoV-2, the cause of COVID-19.

10 Dec 2020

Molecular simulations reveal that remdesivir targets two SARS-CoV-2 enzymes

Remdesivir has been shown to target both RNA-dependent RNA polymerase and main protease of SARS-CoV-2 – resulting in a ‘double whammy’ effect.

7 Dec 2020

New initiative seeks to accelerate global collaborative research on COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, health care professionals and researchers have been confined mostly to using local and national datasets to study the impact of comorbidities, pre-existing medication use, demographics and various interventions on disease course.

3 Dec 2020

New insight into role of autophagy in controlling SARS-CoV-2 infection

A team of researchers at the University of Manitoba in Canada said that nanoparticle targeting of autophagy at the sites could be a potent tool to effectively overcome COVID-19 while preventing the common adverse effects of the drug.

2 Dec 2020

Several hepatitis C drugs can inhibit crucial protein in SARS-CoV-2

Experiments led by researchers at the Department of Energy's Oak Ridge National Laboratory have determined that several hepatitis C drugs can inhibit the SARS-CoV-2 main protease, a crucial protein enzyme that enables the novel coronavirus to reproduce.

17 Nov 2020

Genome-wide CRISPR screens reveal resistance and sensitization mechanisms of drugs used in COVID-19

By leveraging nucleotide triphosphate analog-induced cell death, Chinese researchers unveiled genes that affect the import, export, and metabolism of pervasively used antiviral drugs in the treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). This exciting study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

28 Oct 2020

Transcriptomics identifies possible COVID-19 therapies

By using a diverse set of transcriptomic SARS-CoV-2 signatures, US researchers put to use their previously developed drug repositioning pipeline to pinpoint potential drug candidates for the treatment of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The study is currently available on bioRxiv preprint server.

26 Oct 2020

CRISPR-based engineered cell lines can accelerate potential treatment targets for SARS-CoV-2

Synthego, the genome engineering company, has collaborated with The Krogan Lab, a world-renowned scientific research unit at the Quantitative Biosciences Institute (QBI) at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), to deliver multiple CRISPR-based engineered cell lines to accelerate the study of potential treatment targets for SARS-CoV-2, the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19 disease.

16 Oct 2020

CRISPR screening identifies human host pathways that facilitate coronavirus infection

The human coronavirus family consists of 7 known pathogens, for which there are no approved vaccines or specific therapeutic options. Although the seasonal human coronaviruses - OC43, HKU1, 229E, and NL63 – only cause mild respiratory infections, three highly pathogenic coronaviruses that emerged in the last two decades revealed the pandemic potential of this family of viruses.

27 Sep 2020

Study shows effectiveness of UV-C light for killing COVID-19 on N95 respirators

Dermatology researchers at Henry Ford Health System, in collaboration with a team at the University of Michigan, have demonstrated that certain N95 respirators tainted with COVID-19 can be effectively and safely decontaminated for reuse using ultraviolet-C light (UV-C), a method commonly utilized for treating rare skin diseases.

22 Sep 2020

Nanoparticle SARS-CoV-2 model could potentially speed the search for drugs

A team of scientists from the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences and Naval Research Laboratory in Washington, D.C., has developed a new tool that mimics how SARS-CoV-2 -- the virus that causes COVID-19 -- infects a cell, information that could potentially speed the search for treatments against the disease.

22 Sep 2020

In vitro testing suggests effective novel drug combinations for SARS-CoV-2

A recent study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in September 2020 shows the value of drug combinations to enhance the therapeutic and preventive efficacy of such repositioned drugs in standard antiviral therapy.

20 Sep 2020

Azelastine antihistamine inhibits SARS-CoV-2 infection in nasal tissue in vitro

In a study published on the bioRxiv preprint server, researchers from the University of Pécs, University of Vienna, and CEBINA GmbH, Vienna, show the ability of the antihistamine azelastine to inhibit SARS-CoV-2 infection in human nasal tissue in vitro.

16 Sep 2020

Can amodiaquine short circuit this pandemic?

A recent study by the US researchers highlights the value of the human organ chip technology as a more robust and physiologically relevant platform for rapid drug repurposing, and suggest that amodiaquine may be used to prevent the infection with the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2).

15 Sep 2020

Existing drug masitinib identified as potential inhibitor of SARS-CoV-2

Researchers in the United States have demonstrated that a drug originally developed as a treatment for cancer exhibits antiviral activity against severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), the agent that causes coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

2 Sep 2020