Supporting Science through COVID-19! 16th September 2020
Another week, another #SupportingScience round-up! At Baker, we continue to support science on a global scale. Let’s take a look at some of the key findings from the last couple of weeks…
1. New Drug Discovery for COVID-19
Researchers have recently discovered that the drug, Ebselen has anti-inflammatory properties.
The drug, that is used to treat both Bipolar Disorder and hearing loss is able to block the enzymes that the new Coronavirus needs for replicating within healthy host cells. In addition to binding at the catalytic site of the enzyme, Ebselen also binds strongly to a distant site, therefore interfering with the general catalytic function of the enzyme.
2. Mesoblast Scale Up Cell Therapy
Mesoblast are currently working to show that cell therapy is effective in patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) caused by infection with SARS-CoV-2. Currently running a Phase 3 Trial, the company believe they will be entering into ‘strategic partnership for manufacturing commercialization’ soon.
Like many other organizations targeting COVID-19, Mesoblast aim to partner to gain the scale needed to manufacture the quantities of Remestemcel-L it might need.
3. Immune Response for COVID-19
Immune cells, otherwise known as T-cells are responsible for recognizing pathogens and combating infections. During the study, researchers measured the concentration of two T-cell types in blood samples from each patient, helper T-cells or Cytotoxic T-cells. This found that patients with critical illness had a stronger/higher scale of immune responses compared with patients suffering from moderate cases.
4. Enzo BioChem Doubles Capacity
With molecular testing being one of the fastest growing segments in the diagnostic sector and with the demand for testing services increasing significantly, Enzo BioChem stated that they have expanded their reagent and supply manufacturing as well as doubling their capacity for molecular lab testing. Enzo BioChem is working on further steps to improve efficiencies within molecular diagnostic testing as well as offering products concerning immunology, cytology, immunohistochemistry and flow cytometry.
5. COVID-19 Statistics
August statistics show that the average number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in the United States (within the first week) averaged at 55,519 per day. This compared with an average number of 39,894 cases per day during the first week of September. This is a decrease of 28.14%.
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Sources
1. https://bit.ly/3321a4M, 2. https://bit.ly/32IXV1L, 3. https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/critically-ill-patients-have-robust-immunity-to-new-coronavirus, 4. https://www.genengnews.com/news/enzo-biochem-doubles-capacity-for-covid-19-testing/, 5. https://bit.ly/2DBxp1K
