ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — US-based Atea Pharmaceuticals said Tuesday its plans to develop an orally administered drug to treat coronavirus patients together with Swiss pharma giant Roche have suffered a set back in clinical trials. The drug “did not meet its primary endpoint, showing no significant reduction in viral load,” Atea said in a statement. When compared to a placebo administered to some of the hospitalised patients in the trial “no meaningful difference was seen […]
Tag: Switzerland
Nestle to trial plant-based eggs and shrimp
ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — Nestle is offering plant-based alternatives to eggs and shrimp as the Swiss food giant expands its menu in the growing vegan market, the company said Thursday. Nestle, owner of everything from chocolate to coffee and baby food brands, has for several years been reorganising its activities to focus more on health and wellness. The Swiss company has among other things been making a major push in vegetarian and vegan products. Its […]
Philippines imposes travel ban on nine countries under “red list”
Travel ban in effect from Sept. 12 to 18 (Eagle News) — President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the imposition of a travel ban covering nine “red-list” countries. Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said travelers from Azerbaijan, Guadeloupe, Guam, Israel, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Saint Lucia, and Switzerland within 14 days preceding arrival in the Philippines will be banned from entering the country effective noon of September 12, 2021 until 11:59 p.m. of September 18, 2021. Those […]
Swiss glaciologist bears witness to relentless Alpine glacier melt
by Eloi ROUYER Agence France-Presse SWITZERLAND (AFP) — After hiking for hours across the mountain and a vast expanse of white, Swiss glaciologist Matthias Huss crouches down near the middle of the massive glacier and checks the measurements. Analysis of the data gathered from Aletsch, the largest glacier in the Alps, paints a dire picture of the toll that climate change is taking on the behemoth. Aletsch glacier alone holds about a fifth of the […]
Swedish PM Stefan Lofven to step down in November
Sweden’s beleaguered Social Democratic Prime Minister Stefan Lofven said Sunday he would step down in November to allow a successor time to prepare for the country’s September 2022 general election. Lofven was reinstated as prime minister by parliament in early July just weeks after being ousted in a historic vote of no confidence. He told a political rally on Sunday he would “leave my position as party chairman at the party’s congress in November and […]
Swiss nationals evacuated from Kabul
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Three Swiss nationals have been successfully evacuated from the fallen Afghan capital Kabul and efforts are under way to extract their Afghan colleagues, Switzerland’s foreign minister said Monday. “We were able to get our three employees from the SDC (Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation) office in Kabul out of the country with the help of our partners,” Ignazio Cassis said in a tweet. “They are on their way to Switzerland.” […]
‘Bomb threat’ sent after plane diverted to Minsk: email provider
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The alleged bomb threat cited by Belarus as the reason why it diverted a plane to Minsk before arresting a journalist on board was sent after the plane was redirected, the email provider said. Proton Technologies, which is headquartered in Geneva and says it is the world’s largest secure email provider, said the sent time confirmed it came after the Ryanair passenger plane was diverted to Belarus. The Athens-to-Vilnius flight carrying […]
Switzerland’s Covid death toll passes 10,000
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — Switzerland’s Covid-19 death toll topped 10,000 on Wednesday as health officials gave cautious signs of optimism that the pandemic was coming under control in the wealthy Alpine nation. The landlocked European country, population 8.6 million, said 10,012 people had now died from the virus, while more than 664,000 cases have been registered. But the government’s Covid-19 expert group said the situation was currently stable and even slightly improving. “We have good […]
Swiss authorize Pfizer-BioNTech Covid-19 vaccine
by Robin MILLARD Agence France Presse GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine has been authorized for use in Switzerland, regulators announced Saturday, with immunisation set to start within days as the country battles rising coronavirus cases and deaths. The Swissmedic regulatory authority said it had given the green light following a two-month rolling review. It is the first Covid-19 vaccine approved in the wealthy Alpine nation, with rivals being assessed. “After a meticulous […]
Swiss urged to ‘hit the slopes’ to save ski season
by Agnès PEDRERO Agence France-Presse VERBIER, Switzerland (AFP) — The coronavirus crisis shuttered Switzerland’s ski resorts in the spring, but they are banking on tighter precautions and the Swiss love of the mountains to save them as the winter season kicks off. A cable car ride to the top of the slopes at Verbier, where staff wear plastic face shields, reveals the extent to which the pandemic has impacted even the furthest reaches of the […]
New restrictions as Europe surges past 250,000 virus deaths
by Agence France Presse Bureaus BRUSSELS, Belgium (AFP) — Belgium imposed a nationwide overnight curfew on Monday as Switzerland made wearing face masks compulsory in indoor public spaces, the latest desperate measures by European governments to fight a powerful second coronavirus wave. More than 250,000 people have died of the virus in Europe but the deepening crisis there stands in contrast to Australia, where the nation’s second-biggest city began easing a lockdown that kept […]
Roche rolling out high-volume rapid Covid-19 test by year-end
ZURICH, Switzerland (AFP) — Swiss pharmaceuticals giant Roche said Tuesday it would produce a new antigen test for Covid-19, allowing high-volume and rapid testing for the deadly disease, by the end of the year. The new Elecsys SARS-CoV-2 Antigen test is meant to be administered by healthcare professionals in a lab setting and allows the detection of the virus that causes Covid-19 in as little as 18 minutes, Roche said. It said the “highly accurate” […]
