Category: Pharmaceuticals
Roche’s Tecentriq-chemotherapy combo now approved for treating aggressive type of lung cancer
The Singaporean Health Sciences Authority (HAS) has recently approved of global pharmaceutical giant Roche’s new immunotherapy treatment: Tecentriq® (Atezolizumab) will be used as first-line treatment of adults with extensive-stage small cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC), after reports showed that the cancer immunotherapy helped patients live significantly longer compared to chemotherapy alone. Apart from Singapore, the immunotherapy […]
Stomach acid-withstanding peptide pills could be a new type of oral drug
Researchers at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Lausanne (EPFL) have recently developed a novel method of testing and creating peptides that can survive degradation by stomach acids – these could potentially make up oral drugs for chronic inflammatory diseases of the gastrointestinal (GI) tract, unlike current medications that must be injected or administered in […]
New Ebola vaccine effective against all four virus species dangerous to humans
Infectious disease scientists at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Centre (CCHMC) in Ohio, US, have recently tested a novel vaccine candidate for Ebola in animals, which seems to be effective against all four species of Ebola that infect humans. The new vaccine candidate doesn’t contain live vectors and instead uses spherical virus-like particle (VLP) – made […]
International team finds trial drug that blocks early COVID-19 infection
A trial drug that appears to block the cellular door SARS-CoV-2 – the virus responsible for COVID-19 – uses to infect its hosts has been identified by a team of researchers from Canada, Spain and Sweden. The drug could very well stop early infection of the novel coronavirus and provide important information as to how […]
Australian scientists find possible coronavirus treatment in FDA-approved drug
A present-day anti-parasitic drug has been shown to kill the SARS-CoV-2 virus, which is responsible for the COVID-19 pandemic currently, in just two days. As observed by scientists at Monash University’s Biomedicine Discovery Institute (BDI) and the Peter Doherty Institute of Infection and Immunity (Doherty Institute) in Melbourne, Australia, the drug, Ivermectin, stopped the coronavirus […]
Australian agency starts “milestone” testing of potential COVID-19 vaccines
The Australian Commonwealth Scientific and Industrial Research Organisation (CSIRO) has begun animal testing of two potential COVID-19 vaccines, which will determine if they would be safe to use on humans. The vaccines, one by UK’s University of Oxford and one by US company Inovio Pharmaceutical, have been cleared for animal testing by the World Health […]
Duke-NUS scientists to start testing COVID-19 vaccine this year; other vaccine developments
As the search for a vaccine for the new coronavirus progresses, scientists from the Duke-NUS Medical School in Singapore are planning for testing to begin as soon as this year – Duke-NUS has teamed up with the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) and other international partners to plan a clinical trial. Other countries are […]
New, additional substance seen to alleviate side effects of strong antidepressants
The antidepressants used today block the return transport of serotonin and thereby also the removal of active serotonin, a chemical that plays a major role in regulating our levels of happiness. Such a blockage would require large doses of the antidepressant, which can consequently bring risks of their own such as weight problems, drowsiness, dry […]
Alleged antibody against coronavirus found amidst potential therapeutic agents, vaccines
At least 7,500 people across the globe have died from a new coronavirus outbreak while some 188,790 others have been infected by the coronavirus, known as SARS-CoV-2, as of March 17. The virus primarily attacks the lower respiratory system to cause viral pneumonia and may also affect the heart, kidneys, gastrointestinal system, and central nervous […]
German study finds potential drug to fight SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19
A team of scientists led by infection biologists from the German Primate Centre in Goettingen have isolated a commercially-available protease inhibitor that could protect against COVID-19. The protease inhibitor could also be a potential target for therapeutic intervention. COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by a new type of coronavirus that was transmitted from animals […]
