Researchers in the U.K. have developed an AI-driven method of identifying viruses in wild animals with the potential to spillover into humans. The technique makes it possible to use the genome sequences of the spike proteins by which viruses enter host cells to assess the potential to infect humans without having to isolate an individual virus and tests its infectivity in the lab.
SARS-CoV-2 utilizes the angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (ACE2) receptor for cell entry and triggers ACE2 ectodomain shedding, which results in elevated vasoconstrictor angiotensin II (Ang-II) while depleting the protective Ang-(1-7). This effect can lead to acute respiratory distress syndrome, hypertension, acute kidney injury and organ damage.
Don’t like a court order? Sidestep it. That seems to be the idea behind U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy’s latest changes to his renewal of the charter for the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP).
Researchers from the University of Naples Federico II (Italy) and collaborating institutions reportedd the design of a next-generation mRNA vaccine that leverages a phylogenetically informed consensus receptor binding domain heterotrimers representing the major variant lineages.
In one fell swoop March 16, a U.S. federal judge stayed the CDC’s January memo revising the childhood vaccine schedule and the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) as reconstituted by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy, along with everything that committee has done since early June.
Aptar Pharma, part of Aptargroup Inc., has established a technical collaboration with Covirix Medical Pty Ltd. under a letter of intent to develop inhaled antiviral treatments.
The U.S. CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) has two new members, bringing its total membership to 15. As he has done since dismissing the entire ACIP panel last June, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy named the new members, Angelina Farella and Sean Downing, barely two weeks before the next ACIP meeting, March 18-19.
The EMA’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended approval of Moderna Inc.’s Mcombriax (mRNA-1083), positioning it to potentially become the world’s first combination vaccine for both seasonal influenza and COVID-19.
Nader Pourhassan, the former president and CEO of Cytodyn Inc., was sentenced Jan. 23 to 30 months in prison for his role in a securities fraud scheme to deceive investors about the Vancouver, Wash.-based company’s development of leronlimab as a treatment for HIV and COVID-19.
Although the American Academy of Pediatrics has been releasing guidances on vaccines for decades, the 2026 immunization schedule it issued Jan. 26 is creating some buzz given the U.S. CDC’s newly abbreviated childhood schedule that removed several routine recommendations.
