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THE HAGUE, Netherlands (AFP) — Swiss pharma giant Roche on Monday applied to market its anti-Covid-19 cocktail in the European Union, the bloc’s medicines watchdog said, the final step before it can be released to the continent. The application to the European Medicines Agency comes just over two weeks after the World Health Organisation also recommended the treatment, which Roche co-developed with US biotech firm Regeneron. The “EMA is starting evaluating an application for marketing […]
WASHINGTON, United (AFP) — The US Food and Drug Administration on Monday granted emergency approval to a synthetic antibody treatment against Covid-19 developed by Eli Lilly, after the drug was shown to reduce the risk of hospitalization and emergency room visits. Bamlanivimab at a dose of 700 milligrams was authorized for the treatment of mild-to-moderate Covid-19 in adults and children aged 12 years and older who are at high risk for progressing to the […]
GENEVA, Switzerland (AFP) — The antiviral drug remdesivir, considered one of the most promising Covid-19 treatments, turns out to do little to prevent deaths from the disease, according to a WHO-backed study. Remdesivir, which was part of the experimental cocktail given to US President Donald Trump when he caught the new coronavirus last month, was one of several reviewed in a large study of more than 11,000 people across 30 countries. The drug “appeared […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — French pharma giant Sanofi said Tuesday that international Phase 3 clinical tests of its Kevzara drug for serious Covid-19 cases had proved inconclusive and it was halting the trial. The Phase 3 test — normally the last before official approval for use — “did not meet the primary or secondary evaluation criteria compared with a placebo, and in both cases, compared with established hospital care,” it said in a statement. Sanofi […]
By Issam AHMED Agence France Presse The United States has issued an emergency authorization to use blood plasma from recovered COVID-19 patients as a treatment against the disease. Is it safe and effective? Has US President Donald Trump’s administration put political considerations ahead of the science? Here’s what you need to know. – What is convalescent plasma? – When a person has COVID-19, their body produces antibodies that fight the coronavirus. These proteins float in […]
WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US has begun late stage clinical trials into a drug formulated to fight COVID-19, officials said Tuesday. The medicine is an antibody against the new coronavirus called LY-CoV555, which was identified in the blood sample of a recovered patient by Canada’s Abcellera Biologics. It was then developed synthetically for mass production by US-based Lilly Research Laboratories in partnership with Abcellera. The Phase 3 trial will initially enroll some […]
by Patrick GALEY Agence France Presse PARIS, France (AFP) — An aerosol-based treatment could drastically reduce the number of new coronavirus patients dying from the disease or requiring intensive care, according to preliminary results released Monday by a British biotech firm. In a randomized trial of 100 patients admitted to hospital with COVID-19, those who received an inhaled formula of the protein interferon beta were at 79 percent lower risk of developing severe disease […]
by Dmitry ZAKS with Patrick GALEY in Paris Agence France-Presse LONDON, United Kingdom (AFP) — The steroid dexamethasone was shown Tuesday to be the first drug to significantly reduce the risk of death among severe COVID-19 cases, in trial results hailed as a “major breakthrough” in the fight against the disease. Researchers led by a team from the University of Oxford administered the widely available drug to more than 2,000 severely ill COVID-19 patients. Among […]
by Kelly MACNAMARA Agence France Presse Researchers in Hong Kong have found that patients suffering milder illness caused by the new coronavirus recover more quickly if they are treated with a three-drug antiviral cocktail soon after symptoms appear. Authors of the study, published in the Lancet on Friday, described the findings as “early but important”. They called for larger-scale research on critically-ill patients to ascertain if the drug combo could be a viable treatment for […]
PARIS, France (AFP) — The anti-malarial drug chloroquine can be administered in France to patients suffering from the severest forms of the coronavirus but only under strict supervision, Health Minister Olivier Veran said on Monday. Citing a ruling adopted after a meeting of France’s high public health council, Veran said the drug could not be used to treat milder cases of the illness. Some researchers have said chloroquine shows great promise as a treatment, though […]
A European clinical trial involving some 3,200 people has been launched to test four possible experimental treatments against the coronavirus. The four treatments to be studied are remdesivir, lopinavir and ritonavir in combination, the latter being administered with or without interferon beta and hydroxychloroquine, French public health research body Inserm said in a statement on Sunday. People taking part in the study will have been hospitalised with COVID-19 infection and are expected to be […]
by Issam AHMED WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — The US is fast-tracking antimalarial drugs for use as a treatment against the new coronavirus, President Donald Trump said Thursday, following encouraging early results in France and China. Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have not been given a formal green light in the US to fight the pandemic, but the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) said it would work with domestic makers to expand production as it studied their […]
