Tag: trials

WHO mass-testing three potential Covid-19 treatments in “Solidarity Plus” trial

The World Health Organization on Wednesday announced major international trials of three drugs to find out whether they improve the condition of hospitalised Covid-19 patients. Artesunate, imatinib and infliximab will be tested on thousands of volunteer patients in more than 600 hospitals in 52 countries. “Today we are pleased to announce the next phase in the solidarity trial called Solidarity Plus. Solidarity Plus will test 3 drugs: artesunate, a treatment for severe malaria, imatinib, a […]

What are clinical trials and how do they work?

  by Ivan Couronne Agence France Presse WASHINGTON, United States (AFP) — To find out whether experimental Covid-19 vaccines are safe and effective, researchers design clinical trials involving thousands of volunteers, divided into groups that receive either the drug under investigation or a placebo. Data from such trials have shown that two vaccines — one developed by Pfizer and BioNtech, the other by Moderna and the US National Institutes of Health — are about 95 […]

Vaccine trials ‘can’t detect’ virus risk reduction: expert

by Patrick GALEY PARIS, France (AFP) — None of the trials of Covid-19 candidate vaccines can detect a reduction in serious outcomes such as hospitalization or death, a leading public health expert said Thursday. Writing in the BMJ medical journal, associate editor Peter Doshi warned that not even phase 3 trials under way in the race for a vaccine can prove their product will prevent people contracting Covid-19. In a sobering essay, Doshi said those […]

Arthritis drug shows ‘significant’ promise in severe COVID-19 cases: study

PARIS, France (AFP) — The arthritis drug tocilizumab has shown early promise in preventing extreme inflammation in gravely ill COVID-19 patients, according to a French clinical study. The treatment, which suppresses the body’s natural immune response, was found to reduce “significantly” the number of deaths or life support interventions compared with a control group of patients. The study, carried out by the Paris university hospital trust (AP-HP), looked at 129 people hospitalised with moderate or severe […]

US prosecutor: Honduran president received fortune in drug bribes

by Laura BONILLA NEW YORK, United States (AFP) — Honduran President Juan Orlando Hernandez took millions of dollars in bribes from drug lords including jailed Mexican kingpin Joaquin “El Chapo” Guzman, a US prosecutor said Wednesday at the opening of his brother’s trial. The president’s brother Juan Antonio Hernandez, a former Honduran congressman who also goes by the name Tony, was arrested at a Miami airport in November 2018 for conspiring to import cocaine into […]

Suspect in France police killing had been sentenced for jihad links: sources

PARIS, France (AFP) — A man suspected to have killed a French policeman and his partner in a terror-linked attack had been sentenced in 2013 for taking part in a jihadist organisation with links to Pakistan, sources close to the probe said Tuesday. They identified him as Larossi Abballa, 25, adding that he had been sentenced to a three-year term — six months of which were suspended — for “criminal association with the aim of […]