Today on Drug Discovery & Development
FDA advisory committee votes in favor of COVID-19 pill molnupiravir
FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee narrowly concluded that the benefits of Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) COVID-19 pill molnupiravir outweigh the risks. A total of 13 members of the panel voted in favor of the drug candidate, while 10 voted against it. There were no abstentions. FDA generally follows the advice of its advisory committees. “This was clearly…
Why Public Citizen is skeptical about the COVID-19 antiviral molnupiravir
Dr. Michael Carome, director of Public Citizen’s health research group, is concerned about Merck’s SARS-CoV-2 antiviral molnupiravir. If it wins emergency use authorization (EUA), molnupiravir would be the first oral treatment for COVID-19. But Carome brought up several potential problems with molnupiravir during today’s public comment period of the FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee meeting.…
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Pfizer and Moderna keeping a close watch on Omicron COVID-19 variant
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) are planning to research their vaccines’ effectiveness against the highly mutated Omicron variant (B.1.1.529), which is behind a surge in infections in Johannesburg, South Africa. If needed, they plan to create new versions of their vaccines. The Omicron variant has more than 30 changes to the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein. “I…
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AI technology automates tedious cell culture work and analysesBy Joanna Hawryluk, PhD, Product Manager, Olympus Life Science Since the early 20th century, cell culture has been considered the…
What is Human AB Serum?By Trevor Smith, MS MBA, Product Manager, Immune Cells Human AB Serum is a staple in the biological research field,…
Resolving binding kinetics on a microplate readerWith a better understanding of the causes and mechanisms behind diseases arises a need for new treatment options and drugs…
Noble expands its services for its clients into Human FactorsHuman Factors + (HF+) is a natural extension of Noble’s deep understanding of the patient experience relative to self-administering drug…
Micro 3D Printing Advances Biomarker DetectionResearchers in China have used Projection Micro Stereolithography (PµSL) to improve the fabrication of micropillar array electrodes (µAEs) for the…
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DNA Script raises $165M Series C for DNA printing platform
DNA Script announced today that it raised $165 million in a Series C financing round, bringing its total capital raised to $280 million. South San Francisco-based DNA Script earmarked the funds raised to accelerate expansion and commercialization for the company’s Syntax benchtop nucleic acid printer and to broaden its portfolio of products powered by enzymatic…
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FDA’s Woodcock reassures about COVID-19 tests, vaccines under Omicron
Acting FDA Commissioner Dr. Janet Woodcock thinks many COVID-19 tests will continue to work with the new Omicron variant — with information coming soon on vaccine efficacy. In a statement posted yesterday, Woodcock said she thought the agency is well-positioned to work with companies to address the potential impact of viral mutations on COVID-19 tests,…
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Hutchmed and AstraZeneca launch Phase 3 to test Orpathys and Tagrisso in lung cancer
Hutchmed (HKG:0013) and AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) have announced the launch of the SACHI Phase 3 study to test the combination of Orpathys (savolitinib) and Tagrissso (osimertinib) as a treatment for locally advanced or metastatic epidermal growth factor receptor (EGFR) mutation-positive non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC). Specifically, the study will focus on patients with amplification of the MET…
