Everest Medicines Ltd. has achieved a preclinical proof-of-concept milestone for its mRNA rabies vaccine program. This new vaccine candidate for rabies post-exposure prophylaxis was developed in partnership with Providence Therapeutics Holdings Inc. utilizing a clinically validated mRNA technology platform.
Currently, most patients with urinary tract infections (UTIs) require long-term antibiotic treatment, which poses risks of resistance development and alters the patients' microbiota. Therefore, vaccines that raise safe, effective and long-lasting immune responses across populations for UTI prevention constitute a critical medical need. However, developing such vaccination strategies remains challenging because the responses need to be specific to a broad range of UTI-causing bacteria and include both blood and mucosal responses in the urogenital tract.
The National Center for Global Health and Medicine (NCGM) and Tokyo Medical and Dental University have divulged 3C-like protease (3CLpro) (SARS-CoV-2) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infections (COVID-19).
Both neutralizing antibodies and antibody effector functions are needed for protection against re-infection with respiratory syncytial virus (RSV), which may explain why it has been challenging to design an effective vaccine against the virus. As reported in the Dec. 12, 2022, issue of Cell, researchers carried out a human challenge study where volunteers were given a candidate vaccine for RSV, Ad26, or placebo.
Ligand Pharmaceuticals Inc. has divulged prodrugs of clevudine and telbivudine reported to be useful for the treatment of hepatitis, diabetes, malaria, obesity, atherosclerosis, cancer, viral infections and cancer.
CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. has obtained clearance from China's National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) to conduct clinical trials in China with SYH-2055, an oral small-molecule 3C-like protease (3CLpro) inhibitor against SARS-CoV-2.
New research has identified a novel receptor that interacts with the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) by which the SARS-CoV-2 enters host cells, and shown it can be inhibited with marketed drugs, reducing expression of ACE2 and blocking viral entry.
Tetra Bio-Pharma Inc. has reported results from a study of ARDS-003 (onternabez) combined with favipiravir against acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS), sepsis and COVID-19 through PREPAiRE, an artificial intelligence (AI)-powered platform which integrates target identification, validation, lead discovery optimization, drug synthesis and preclinical testing.