Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) is increasingly compromising the effectiveness of essential antibiotics, resulting in higher global mortality and morbidity rates. Despite this urgent need, few new antibiotics, particularly against gram-negative bacteria, are in development.
Chikungunya virus is a positive-sense single-stranded RNA virus for which no antiviral therapy has been approved. Nucleotide analogues are among the most promising broad-spectrum antivirals, as they inhibit viral RNA-dependent RNA polymerase, an essential enzyme for RNA virus replication.
The use of DNA scaffolds could mark a turning point in HIV vaccine design. Scientists at Scripps Research and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have created a new vaccine platform based on DNA origami, a material that the immune system does not recognize as a threat, avoiding unwanted responses.
Moderna Inc. blamed a switcheroo by the U.S. FDA for the refusal-to-file (RTF) letter on the seasonal influenza vaccine mRNA-1010. Shares of the firm (NASDAQ:MRNA) closed Feb. 11 at $40.51, down $1.49, having traded as low as $36.66 as investors learned of the RTF letter, which Moderna said is “inconsistent with feedback” the company was given by regulators during pre-phase III as well as pre-BLA-submission talks.
Henipaviruses like Nipah (NiV) and Hendra (HeV) are highly lethal, bat-borne zoonotic viruses from the Paramyxoviridae family that cause severe encephalitis and respiratory illness in humans and animals. These viruses are highly transmissible and have notable pandemic potential. Researchers are actively screening and testing numerous small-molecule compounds as potential treatments for henipavirus infections. A team at the University of Illinois Chicago and collaborators used a high-throughput screening approach to identify a focused library of analogues.
Scientists at Ghent University have created a mouse model that incorporates human versions of the receptors that recognize the fragment crystallizable region of immunoglobulin G, one of the most abundant antibodies in the blood and a key mediator of essential immune functions such as cellular activation, pathogen elimination and the regulation of inflammatory responses.
A recent publication in Cell Reports Medicine from researchers at the Washington University School of Medicine and the La Jolla Institute for Immunology presents a promising new strategy for H5N1 vaccination.
Looking to fill a treatment gap, the U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) is launching the first stage of a $100 million prize competition to support development of broad-spectrum, small-molecule antiviral therapies targeting viruses in the Togaviridae and Flaviviridae families.
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