The collection of nasal and throat swab samples to detect the presence or absence of the novel coronavirus SARS-CoV-2 has proven problematic on a few fronts, particularly in the U.S. The swabs themselves often have become scarce and difficult to obtain, while health care workers are routinely risking their own health commonly in the absence of proper protective equipment. In addition, sampling difficulties have largely been blamed for a very high false negative rate that could be as much as 25%.

“Vaccines, obviously, are the ultimate solution for pandemics,” Rino Rappuoli told BioWorld. They have, he added, “already eliminated a lot of pandemic threats – smallpox, influenza, poliomyelitis.”

Specific therapies against a new disease take time to develop. But there are methods that can speed up that development.

There will be lessons learned aplenty when the COVID-19 pandemic finally breaks, including how serological and molecular testing can be used to maximum effect to corral a future pandemic.

“In any crisis, leaders have two equally important responsibilities: solve the immediate problem and keep it from happening again."

In order to redirect health care resources and protect patients during the COVID-19 pandemic, many drug companies have paused enrollment in some or all of their ongoing clinical trials.

The age of molecular testing for the COVID-19 pandemic is still with us, but the emphasis in the months ahead will be on serological testing as a quicker, more useful mass testing alternative. However, test developers have a number of hurdles to overcome in devising these serological tests, including that antibodies for the virus’s antigens emerge at different times in the disease cycle, just one of several challenges that have to be met in the effort to bring the SARS-CoV-2 virus to heel.

Since April 10, 2020, the FDA has issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to several companies that make blood purification devices that can clear excess cytokines in the blood of patients with COVID-19. Monmouth Junction, N.J.-based Cytosorbents Corp.; Lakewood, Colo.-based Terumo BCT Inc.; and Marker Therapeutics AG, a subsidiary of Marker AG, of Zug, Switzerland, have all recently received EUAs for use of their products in adults with confirmed COVID-19 infections who are admitted to intensive care.

BEIJING – Med-tech firm Shanghai Asclepius Meditec Co. Ltd. says it has developed a hydrogen-oxygen nebulizer that can help relieve the shortage of ventilators, highlighting the potential of hydrogen-oxygen therapy in tackling COVID-19. Named the AMS-H-03, this class III medical respiratory device can produce three liters of mixed gas containing hydrogen and oxygen by using water electrolysis and can run continuously for 24 hours, according to the company.