Investigators at The Scripps Research Institute and Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute have designed novel covalent inhibitors of SARS-CoV-2 papain-like protease (PLpro) and assessed their drug properties in preclinical models.
Researchers have developed a novel point of care (POC) diagnostic that can test for multiple respiratory viral infections simultaneously, including for the flu and COVID-19. The POC diagnostic tool leverages a novel, non-enzymatic signal amplification method, according to study lead Eunjung Kim, professor at Incheon National University (INU), whose team published the findings in Sensors and Actuators B: Chemical online November 2024.
Novel vaccines that can effectively target both coronaviruses and influenza viruses would be desirable to counteract the significant health burden these respiratory pathogens pose.
Sunshine Biopharma Inc. announced it has developed an orally active protease inhibitor that showed dose-dependent antiviral activity in mice infected with SARS-CoV-2.
The Agency for Science Technology & Research (A*STAR) Bioprocessing Technology Institute has patented 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro; Mpro; nsp5) (coronavirus) inhibitors.
The EMA has changed its mind about an earlier decision that the risks of Leqembi (lecanemab) outweigh the benefits and is now recommending the Alzheimer’s disease drug is approved for a subgroup of patients. That follows an appeal by Eisai Co. Ltd. and a re-examination of the data, after details relating to 274 patients with two copies of the ApoE4 gene were removed from the file.
