Top Ten most popular articles on Pharmafile.com this week
pharmafile | May 29, 2020 | News story | Medical Communications | COVID-19, coronavirus, top 10
GlaxoSmithKline features prominently in the news this week, as they pledged to pay a cash bonus of £1,500 to staff continuing to work during the COVID-19 pandemic but this did not include their cleaners, while the company also has committed to the manufacture and distribution of one billion doses of vaccine adjuvant against COVID-19 throughout 2021.
In other news, a new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Virginia Tech and the University of Connecticut has shown that hot and humid weather slows coronavirus transmission, while the World Health Organization has announced it will stop a global study into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients, due to fears over safety.
1. Cleaning staff excluded from GSK’s £1.5k COVID-19 employee bonus
UK pharma giant GlaxoSmithKline has pledged to pay a cash bonus of £1,500 to staff continuing to work during the COVID-19 pandemic, acknowledging the increased risk they face for maintaining research and production operations during this dangerous time.
2. Hot and humid weather can slow COVID-19 transmission, new study finds
A new study from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Harvard, Virginia Tech and the University of Connecticut has shown that hot and humid weather slows coronavirus transmission.
3. WHO stops hydroxychloroquine trial due to safety concerns
The World Health Organization has announced it will stop a global study into the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19 patients, due to fears over safety.
4. Novartis releases results of MS drug trials weeks ahead of FDA verdict
Novartis has revealed clinical trial data from testing its anti-CD20 leukameia drug Arzerra (ofatumumab) in patients with multiple sclerosis (MS).
Researchers working on a COVID-19 vaccine are facing a race against time due to falling rates of the virus threatening the testing process of their candidate.
6. European countries reject hydroxychloroquine treatments for COVID-19
Multiple European countries have rejected the use of hydroxychloroquine in patients suffering from coronavirus, due to a lack of evidence that it is effective.
GlaxoSmithKline has just come forward to commit to the manufacture and distribution of one billion doses of vaccine adjuvant against COVID-19 throughout 2021.
NHS patients with treatment-naïve extensive-stage small-cell lung cancer (ES-SCLC) in England and Wales will soon have access to a new treatment option as NICE reveals it has authorised Roche’s Tecentriq (atezolizumab) in this indication.
9. UK begins hydroxychloroquine trial
A trial investigating the effectiveness of hydroxychloroquine against COVID-19 has begun in the UK.
Scientists at the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory are launching a project to apply machine learning methods to map the severity, distribution and duration of the COVID-19 pandemic.
Conor Kavanagh
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