CYBERSPACE – Data presented at the virtual 2020 Alzheimer's Association International Conference (AAIC) and reported in the July 28, 2020, online issue of the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) demonstrated that blood levels of phosphorylated tau-217 (Ptau-217) did as well as cerebrospinal (CSF)- and PET-based biomarkers, and significantly better than other blood-based biomarkers, at discriminating individuals with Alzheimer’s disease (AD) from those with other neurodegenerative disorders.

With no new cases reported for more than 100 days, Taiwan appears to have successfully contained the spread of COVID-19 and has drawn attention to its medical achievements. Experts said at BIO Asia-Taiwan conference this week that with continuous government and investor support, the East Asian nation could move further up to join other leading biotech players.

The U.S. government has charged two citizens of China with cybercrime in connection with purported hacking of research into vaccines for the SARS-CoV-2 virus, but more than one speaker on a July 22 webinar said scientists involved in basic life science research at universities fail to appreciate the need for cybersecurity, a problem they may take with them to the private sector.

The alleged activities of two Chinese hackers outlined in a federal indictment unsealed Tuesday offer “concrete examples of two concerning trends,” U.S. Assistant Attorney General John Demers said, as U.S.-China relations further soured with the news of the charges.

Interludes of classical music. Little kids talking in the background. Unmuted mics as panelists multitask. Gurgles of “underwater” sound. Periods of silence as speakers forget to unmute. And then the technical problems – lots of them. Such are the challenges of addressing a virtual FDA advisory committee in the time of COVID-19.  

Strata Oncology Inc. has inked an agreement with newcomer Elevation Oncology to ramp up patient identification and enrollment for the latter’s phase II CRESTONE study evaluating the use of seribantumab in patients with recurrent, locally advanced or metastatic solid tumors of any origin that have a neuregulin-1 (NRG1) gene fusion.

DUBLIN – Synairgen plc has detected what appear to be promising efficacy signals in a phase II trial of its inhaled formulation of interferon-beta 1a, SNG-001, in hospitalized COVID-19 patients.

HONG KONG – Incheon, South Korea-based Celltrion Inc. will start manufacturing its COVID-19 treatment for clinical trials and commercial distribution, even though it’s only reached phase I.

In its first fully virtual markup session, the House Energy and Commerce Committee Wednesday set aside politics to approve a bill that would make the U.S. Strategic National Stockpile (SNS) a better emergency resource – at least for the next few years.

Novocure Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. will work together to test the use of electric fields at specific frequencies in combination with anti-PD-1 immunotherapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) to treat non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). The pair plan to start a phase II pilot study during the second half of Novocure’s Tumor Treating Fields in combination with Keytruda as a first-line treatment for intrathoracic advanced or metastatic, PD-L1 positive NSCLC.