Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Early Remdesivir Injections Helped Prevent Lung Damage In Trial With Macaques
Reuters: Gilead's Remdesivir Prevents Lung Damage In COVID-19 Study On Monkeys
Gilead Sciences Inc’s (GILD.O) antiviral drug remdesivir prevented lung disease in macaque monkeys infected with the new coronavirus, according to a study published in the journal Nature on Tuesday. The findings were first reported in April by the U.S. National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a “preprint,” prior to traditional academic validation provided by a medical journal. (6/9)
CNBC: Gilead's Remdesivir Slows Disease Progression In Monkeys With COVID-19
Remdesivir has been cleared for emergency use in severely-ill patients in the United States, India and South Korea. Some European nations are also using it under compassionate programs. Trials of the drug in humans are ongoing, and early data has shown the drug helped patients recover more quickly from the illness caused by the new coronavirus. In the study, 12 monkeys were deliberately infected with the coronavirus, and half of them were given early treatment with remdesivir. (6/9)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Reuters: Temasek-Backed Tychan To Start Human Trials Next Week For COVID-19 Treatment
Singapore’s Tychan, a biotechnology firm backed by state investor Temasek Holdings, said it will begin human clinical trials next week for a potential monoclonal antibody treatment for COVID-19. The first phase of the trial to be conducted on 23 healthy volunteers will take about six weeks to evaluate the safety and tolerability of TY027 - a monoclonal antibody that specifically targets SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. (6/10)
