Ebola virus (EBOV) causes severe febrile illness that frequently leads to death within 10 days of infection due to multiorgan failure. Different therapeutic strategies have been developed against EBOV infection, including small-molecule drugs, monoclonal antibodies and viral vaccine vectors. Despite their promise, all these strategies have significant limitations that limit their clinical application. Researchers from Mayo Clinic recently presented a novel molecular therapy, which they called “therapeutic minigenome,” using EBOV’s own proteins to combat itself.
Bacillus anthracis is a spore-forming soil bacterium that becomes metabolically active when taken up by a host, causing anthrax. Research efforts are now focused on developing new classes of antibiotics effective against both wild-type and fluoroquinolone-resistant B. anthracis.
The treatment of Pseudomonas aeruginosa infections is significantly challenged by the pathogen’s diverse resistance mechanisms, with biofilm formation being a key driver of antibiotic tolerance. Furthermore, P. aeruginosa pathogenicity is amplified by virulence factors that both evade host defenses and facilitate biofilm development.
Human respiratory syncytial virus (hRSV) represents a major global health burden and is a leading cause of severe respiratory disease, particularly among preterm infants. Despite extensive efforts to prevent hRSV infection, currently approved monoclonal antibody (mAb) therapies have been exclusively designed to target its surface fusion or pre-fusion protein (F-hRSV).
Nxera Pharma UK Ltd. has divulged 3C-like proteinase (3CLpro; Mpro; nsp5) (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 virus) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of SARS-CoV-2 infection (COVID-19).
The concept of the 3 Rs – reducing, refining and replacing animal research – has been championed since the 1950s, when William Russel and Rex Burch argued in their book “The Principles of Humane Experimental Technique” that the 3 Rs could simultaneously improve the treatment of research animals and advance the quality of scientific and medical research and testing. Current standard practices of animal research undeniably cause animal suffering at the same time that they have prioritized replicability over translatability.
Cansino Biologics Inc. has obtained clinical trial approval from China’s National Medical Products Administration (NMPA) for the company’s 24-valent pneumococcal polysaccharide conjugate vaccine (CRM197/tetanus toxoid) (PCV24).
Medicines for Malaria Venture and The University of Texas System have divulged dihydroorotate dehydrogenase (DHODH) (Plasmodium falciparum and Plasmodium vivax) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of malaria.
Driven by a deeply antiscientific political agenda, the current U.S. government is not just sabotaging some of the most groundbreaking technology that has been developed in the past decades. It is also destroying the country’s past successes, such as measles elimination and the reduction of hepatitis B infections in infants to near zero.
BioWorld’s 2022 end-of-year highlights included a toast to the future – of universal vaccines. Even before SARS-CoV-2 vaccines were developed in record time and saved countless lives during the COVID-19 pandemic, vaccines were a rare bright spot in the fight against infectious diseases. Bacteria are becoming multidrug resistant far faster than new classes of antibiotics are being developed, viral spillover events and vector ranges are increasing, and climate change is helping bacteria and fungi alike breach human thermal protections against infections.
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