Remdesivir News and Research

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Care pathways for pregnant women with COVID‐19

A recent review published in the journal Global Challenges in October 2020, sums up what is currently known about the treatment of COVID-19 during pregnancy and offers recommendations for how healthcare professions might better manage pregnant COVID-19 patients in the future.

16 Nov 2020

PARP inhibitor, stenoparib inhibits pre- and post-entry processes of SARS-CoV-2 in vitro

A team of researchers from the Northern Arizona University evaluated a new PARP inhibitor, stenoparib, which has recently advanced to Stage II of clinical trials to treat ovarian cancer. Their study, an initial report on in vitro stenoparib activity against human coronaviruses such as SARS-CoV-2, has been published on the preprint server bioRxiv*.

15 Nov 2020

Convalescent plasma in COVID-19 can be effective, especially early in disease

A team of researchers in the United States have conducted an extensive literature review looking at the usage of convalescent plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients to treat those with an impaired immune system. Their study, titled “Therapeutic use of convalescent plasma in COVID-19 patients with immunodeficiency: A systematic review,” has been released on medRxiv*, the preprint server.

12 Nov 2020

Common spike mutation may make SARS-CoV-2 more susceptible to a vaccine

A new study published in Science confirms that SARS-CoV-2 has mutated in a way that's enabled it to spread quickly around the world, but the spike mutation may also make the virus more susceptible to a vaccine.

12 Nov 2020

COVID-19 treatments for people with early infection should be prioritized

COVID-19 treatments for people with early infection are needed urgently, according to a JAMA Viewpoint article by National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) Director Anthony S. Fauci, M.D., and colleagues.

11 Nov 2020

Study suggests honey and Nigella sativa expedites viral clearance in COVID-19 patients

A team of researchers from various institutes across Pakistan, Chile, Canada, and the USA recently conducted a clinical trial to investigate the potential effectiveness of a combination of honey and Nigella sativa (HNS) in treating COVID-19 patients. Their study is published on the preprint server medRxiv prior to the scientific peer review process.

8 Nov 2020

Innate immunity key to limiting viral load in COVID-19 cases

As the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic continues to cause many difficulties for public health authorities, research is ongoing to understand how the virus can cause fatal effects on those infected and thereby suggest effective preventive and therapeutic measures against it.

8 Nov 2020

Reducing the airborne transmission risk for SARS-CoV-2

Rapid Reviews: COVID-19 (RR:C19), an open-access overlay journal published by the MIT Press that accelerates peer review of COVID-19-related research preprints, is currently soliciting reviews of the following COVID-19 preprints.

6 Nov 2020

Study shows brilacidin strongly inhibits SARS-CoV-2 in laboratory cell lines

A recent study by US researchers reveals that brilacidin, a small synthetic molecule with peptide-like properties, exerts potent in vitro antiviral activity against the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) – both as a standalone treatment and in combination with FDA-approved remdesivir. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv preprint server.

4 Nov 2020

Discoverey of four SARS-CoV-2 Mpro inhibitors, boceprevir, calpain inhibitors II and XII and GC-376

A team of scientists from the United States has recently revealed that small molecule inhibitors of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) main protease exhibit potent antiviral activity. These inhibitors show better efficacy when used in combination with antiviral medicine Remdesivir. The study is currently available on the bioRxiv* preprint server.

3 Nov 2020

Remdesivir metabolite GS-441524 inhibits SARS CoV-2 in mouse model, finds study

This new study titled, "Remdesivir Metabolite GS-441524 Efficiently Inhibits SARS-CoV-2 Infection in Mouse Model," was released online as a preprint on the bioRxiv* server, prior to undergoing the peer-review process.

2 Nov 2020

Research shows how remdesivir inhibits SARS-CoV-2 replication

In a recent bioRxiv preprint, a research team from Germany, Goran Kokic et al. study the molecular mechanism of remdesivir-induced stalling of RdRp - using synthetic RNA chemistry, biochemistry, and cryo-electron microscopy.

2 Nov 2020

Ethacridine blocks SARS-CoV-2 with a distinct mode of action

Now, researchers from the University of California, San Francisco, and Stanford University, California, USA, reported a safe and potent antiseptic for use in humans named ethacridine, which effectively inhibits SARS-CoV-2 even at very low concentrations of EC50 ~ 0.08 µM. Their work has is published on the preprint server bioRxiv*.

1 Nov 2020

Study examines link between SARS-CoV-2 genomic load and COVID-19 patient outcomes

A new study published online in the Annals of the American Thoracic Society examines whether the amount of RNA, or genomic load, of SARS-CoV-2 detected in swab tests of patients being admitted to the hospital with viral pneumonia is associated with more severe COVID-19.

30 Oct 2020

Remdesivir received FDA approval for treating COVID-19 patients: Benefits still not proven

The United States has become the epicenter of the world in the ever increasing pandemic of COVID-19. While public health prevention strategies of social distancing, crowd avoidance, masking and frequent hand washing are of proven benefit, effective drug therapies for treatment are sparse.

29 Oct 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

Researchers present COVID RdRp structure at 2.5A

In a recent bioRxiv* preprint publication, Christopher J. Russo et al. report the structure of favipiravir ribonucleoside triphosphate (favipiravir-RTP) in complex with the SARS-CoV-2 RNA-dependent RNA polymerase (RdRp) bound to a template: primer RNA duplex. They determine the structure by electron cryomicroscopy (cryoEM) to a resolution of 2.5 Å.

26 Oct 2020

Mathematical modeling study offers new insights into optimal timing of antiviral therapies against COVID-19

A new mathematical modeling study by Ashish Goyal and colleagues, informed by data collected from 25 patients hospitalized with COVID-19 in 4 different countries, offers some important new insights into the optimal timing of 4 different antiviral therapies to combat the disease.

23 Oct 2020

First antiviral treatment for COVID-19 receives FDA approval

Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the antiviral drug Veklury (remdesivir) for use in adult and pediatric patients 12 years of age and older and weighing at least 40 kilograms (about 88 pounds) for the treatment of COVID-19 requiring hospitalization.

22 Oct 2020

New model could help identify people at risk for long COVID

Researchers in the UK, United States, and Sweden have presented new findings that could help identify individuals at risk of "long COVID" – a protracted course of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) symptoms last for more than 28 days.

22 Oct 2020