Ifast Diagnostics Ltd. raised $6.5 million (£5 million) in seed funding to bring its rapid Antimicrobial Susceptibility Testing (AST) platform to the market. The company’s technology is vital in the fight against antimicrobial resistance and the funds will be used to conduct clinical trials to get the product to the market in the U.K., U.S. and EU, CEO Toby King, told BioWorld.
Westlake Pharmaceutical (Hangzhou) Co. Ltd. has prepared and tested new 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro; Mpro; nsp5) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of coronavirus acute respiratory syndrome.
Modified vaccinia Ankara immunization in nonhuman primate models of lethal mpox virus infection, although effective to some extent, has been linked to breakthrough lesions and throat swab viremia.
Oregon Health and Science University (OHSU) and the Southern Research Institute have patented compounds reported to be useful for the treatment of alphaviral infections.
Phase III Scorpio-PEP study results showed Shionogi & Co. Ltd.’s oral antiviral ensitrelvir fumaric acid (Xocova) reduced risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection in subjects who were exposed to the virus by infected household members.
Qiagen NV added to its growing roster of panels cleared by the U.S. FDA in 2024 with the agency’s nod for its Qiastat-Dx Meningitis/Encephalitis assay. The clearance validates Qiagen’s strategy of developing rapid tests specifically for the U.S. market and builds on the respiratory, gastrointestinal and central nervous system tests already available.
F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. and Hoffmann-La Roche Inc. have patented tricyclic compounds acting as UDP-2,3-diacylglucosamine hydrolase (LpxH) (bacterial) inhibitors and thus reported to be useful for the treatment of gram-negative bacterial infections.
Malaria is caused by Plasmodium species that infect hundreds of millions of people annually. Among the plasmodia, Plasmodium falciparum is considered the most dangerous due to frequent severe clinical complications and high mortality rates. Researchers from the University of California at Riverside described the discovery and mechanism of action of MED-6189, a kalihinol analog effective against drug-sensitive and drug-resistant P. falciparum strains in vitro and in vivo.
Phase III Scorpio-PEP study results showed Shionogi & Co. Ltd.’s oral antiviral ensitrelvir fumaric acid (Xocova) reduced risk of symptomatic COVID-19 infection in subjects who were exposed to the virus by infected household members.
Isoniazid is a first-line medicine for tuberculosis (TB) treatment. It is a prodrug activated by the mycobacterial catalase-peroxidase enzyme KatG. However, the development of isoniazid resistance compromises treatment efficacy and contributes to multidrug-resistant TB infections.