Researchers at Ningbo Combireg Pharmaceutical Technology Co. Ltd. and Versitech Ltd. have described benzothiazole compounds reported to be useful for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19).
Novel effective antivirals against SARS-CoV-2 are needed because of the emergence of novel variants and the potential risk of SARS-CoV-2/MERS-CoV recombination. The SARS-CoV-2 main protease (Mpro) is a promising antiviral target. Mpro presents a His41-Cys145 catalytic dyad in the central part of its active site, which confers a natural advantage for developing covalent drugs.
Research at Medshine Discovery Inc. has led to the development of 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro; Mpro; nsp5) (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 virus) inhibitors potentially useful for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19).
Instead of the bivalent COVID-19 vaccines comprising both the original and omicron BA.4/BA.5 SARS-CoV-2 strains that have been in use in the U.S. since April, the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices voted 13-1 Sept. 12 to recommend the universal use of updated monovalent XBB-containing COVID-19 vaccines as authorized or approved by the FDA.
The U.S. FDA is keen on developing policies to guide testing regimes for future pandemics based on the experience with COVID-19, and the FDA’s Tim Stenzel said on a Sept. 8 advisory hearing that automated reporting of at-home tests would clarify questions such as the spread of the pathogen and how well the tests are performing. Stenzel, who is the director of the Office of In Vitro Diagnostics and Radiological Health at the FDA, said the U.S. government agencies have made a number of grants for development of automated reporting mechanisms for at-home tests, signaling an interest on the FDA’s part that automated reporting capabilities will be a priority when the next pandemic strikes.
If the modification to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc.’s $326 million contract with the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority is anything to go by, pricing clauses could once again become a common feature in biopharma contracts involving government R&D funding.
South Korean biopharmaceutical firms are facing a harsher climate and an uphill battle both domestically and abroad, amid the larger economic downturn that has slowed everything from new drug approval to dealmaking. At the Global Pharma Key Opinion Leaders (GPKOL) 2023 Symposium held at the El Tower on Sept. 7 in Seocho-gu, Seoul, officials from the industry, government and academia gathered to discuss strategies on bouncing back from the lasting effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, represents a relatively new class of therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat a wide range of diseases. A well-known success story is of the mRNA vaccines that controlled the COVID-19 pandemic, which has fueled enthusiasm for the field. But biotechs are also developing mRNA candidates for several other infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis and HIV, as well for cancer, autoimmune and allergic diseases. However, delivering nucleic acid therapeutics can be challenging, since mRNA cannot get into cells on its own.
Messenger RNA, or mRNA, represents a relatively new class of therapeutics with the potential to prevent and treat a wide range of diseases. A well-known success story is of the mRNA vaccines that controlled the COVID-19 pandemic, which has fueled enthusiasm for the field. But biotechs are also developing mRNA candidates for several other infectious diseases, including malaria, tuberculosis and HIV, as well for cancer, autoimmune and allergic diseases. However, delivering nucleic acid therapeutics can be challenging, since mRNA cannot get into cells on its own. “Nucleic acid therapeutics can be incredibly fragile,” Thomas Madden, CEO of Acuitas Therapeutics, told BioWorld. “When injected into the body without a delivery system, messenger RNA, for example, is rapidly destroyed.”
