Pharma News

Mayo Clinic researchers and colleagues at the University of Minnesota showed that COVID-19 exacerbates the damaging impact of senescent cells in the body. In preclinical studies, the senolytic drugs discovered at Mayo significantly reduced inflammation, illness, and mortality from COVID infection in older mice. The findings appear in the journal Science.

Scientists working to understand the cellular processes linking high cholesterol to breast cancer recurrence and metastasis report that a byproduct of cholesterol metabolism causes some cells to send out cancer-promoting signals to other cells. These signals are packaged in membrane-bound compartments called extracellular vesicles.

Reported in the journal Endocrinology, the discovery could lead to the development of new anti-cancer therapies, researchers say.

Abbott announced it has received CE Mark and Health Canada approval for its Amplatzer™ Steerable Delivery Sheath, which is used with the company's market-leading Amplatzer Amulet™ Left Atrial Appendage (LAA) Occluder. Now available in Europe and Canada, the new device is the first steerable delivery sheath that has been developed specifically for minimally invasive LAA occlusion (or closure) procedures to treat patients diagnosed with atrial fibrillation who are at risk of ischemic stroke.

“It is a piece of misinformation that subsequent waves of the COVID-19 pandemic are going to cause severe illness in children. There is no data - either from India or globally - to show that children will be seriously infected in subsequent waves.” This was informed by Director, All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) Delhi, Dr. Randeep Guleria, during a media briefing on COVID-19, held at National Media Centre, PIB Delhi today.

Type 1 diabetes, which arises when the pancreas doesn’t create enough insulin to control levels of glucose in the blood, is a disease that currently has no cure and is difficult for most patients to manage. Scientists at the Salk Institute are developing a promising approach for treating it: using stem cells to create insulin-producing cells (called beta cells) that could replace nonfunctional pancreatic cells.

New research identified a novel interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and the galectin-3-binding protein (LGALS3BP) which could be a new therapeutic anti-viral target. The research also found the presence of detectable viral RNA in blood in COVID-19 patients is a strong predictor of mortality.

A new AI-driven platform will now help early intervention through rapid screening of COVID 19 with the help of Chest X-ray interpretation over WhatsApp for doctors who have access to X-ray machines. The solution called XraySetu can work with low-resolution images sent via mobiles, is quick and easy to use, and can facilitate detection in rural areas.

Haffkine Biopharma to produce 22.8 crore doses per annum of Covaxin under technology transfer arrangement with Bharat Biotech With the aim of vaccinating the entire eligible population at the earliest, domestic vaccine production is being steadily ramped up in the country with help from the Centre. As part of this initiative, three public enterprises are being supported by  the Department of Biotechnology under Atmanirbhar Bharat 3.0  Mission Covid Suraksha.