LONDON – Noscendo GmbH closed a series A round to finance the commercialization of its next generation DNA sequencing test for the fast diagnosis of bloodstream infections. At the same time, the company reported the start of operations at a new testing lab.

By analyzing the antibody response of a survivor of Marburg virus infection, researchers at the University of Texas Medical Branch and Vanderbilt University Medical Center have gained new insights into the function of non-neutralizing antibodies in fighting infections.

With completion of a $120 million series B financing, Affinivax Inc. said it's poised to advance several new vaccine candidates for hospital-associated infections into the clinic even as its partner, Astellas Pharma Inc., carries its lead pneumococcal vaccine candidate, ASP-3772, through an upcoming phase III program.

“Vaccines, obviously, are the ultimate solution for pandemics,” Rino Rappuoli told BioWorld. They have, he added, “already eliminated a lot of pandemic threats – smallpox, influenza, poliomyelitis.”

Specific therapies against a new disease take time to develop. But there are methods that can speed up that development.

There will be lessons learned aplenty when the COVID-19 pandemic finally breaks, including how serological and molecular testing can be used to maximum effect to corral a future pandemic.

“In any crisis, leaders have two equally important responsibilities: solve the immediate problem and keep it from happening again."

Since April 10, 2020, the FDA has issued emergency use authorizations (EUAs) to several companies that make blood purification devices that can clear excess cytokines in the blood of patients with COVID-19. Monmouth Junction, N.J.-based Cytosorbents Corp.; Lakewood, Colo.-based Terumo BCT Inc.; and Marker Therapeutics AG, a subsidiary of Marker AG, of Zug, Switzerland, have all recently received EUAs for use of their products in adults with confirmed COVID-19 infections who are admitted to intensive care.