Top Ten most popular articles on Pharmafile.com this week
pharmafile | October 23, 2020 | News story | Medical Communications |Â Â Â
The top ten news stories this week focus on coronavirus research, with the UK is set to be the first country to conduct challenge trials which will see healthy volunteers intentionally exposed to COVID-19, while new research shows that people experiencing chronic illnesses after COVID-19 infections could be suffering from one of four separate conditions.
In other news, the University of Oxford and AstraZeneca say they will continue their coronavirus vaccine clinical trials after a volunteer had died while on the study, while a five-year-old girl had died while taking part in Lysogene’s clinical trial investigating its gene therapy.
1. Eli Lilly refutes FDA quality concerns at New Jersey facility producing COVID-19 drug
Eli Lilly has rebutted reports of FDA quality assurance concerns at its manufacturing facility in Branchburg, New Jersey, where it is producing bamlanivimab, an experimental antibody therapy to treat COVID-19, a week after the company stopped recruiting for clinical trials of the drug.
2. Patient dies on AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine trial, but didn’t receive vaccine dose
The University of Oxford and AstraZeneca say they will continue their coronavirus vaccine clinical trials after a volunteer had died while on the study.
Gilead’s antiviral therapy remdesivir has emerged as one of the most promising drugs to treat COVID-19 infections, but recent studies of four therapies repurposed for COVID-19 have blown a hole in the theory that it could be used to reduce mortality in those infected with the virus.
4. NICE approves Sanofi’s Sarclisa combo for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma
Sanofi’s Sarclisa (isatuximab) has secured a recommendation from NICE for routine use on the NHS in England and Wales as a treatment for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma (RRMM) when combined with standard care pomalidomide and dexamethasone.
5. UK set to be first country to expose healthy people to COVID-19 in studies
The UK is set to be the first country to conduct challenge trials which will see healthy volunteers intentionally exposed to COVID-19.
6. ‘Long COVID’ could be taking four different forms
People experiencing chronic illnesses after COVID-19 infections could be suffering from one of four separate conditions, according to new research.
7. Five-year-old girl that was part of Lysogene’s gene therapy clinical trial dies
A five-year-old girl had died while taking part in Lysogene’s clinical trial investigating its gene therapy.
8. European Commission stands by €1bn remdesivir supply deal despite disappointing COVID-19 benefit
As Europe continues to face down a rising second wave of COVID-19, the European Commission quickly moved to secure a new €1 billion supply deal with Gilead on behalf of 37 nations within the European Union and the European Economic Area to replenish rapidly diminishing stocks of remdesivir as a treatment for infection with the virus.
9. The European Medicines Agency recommends 10 medicines for approval in October meeting
The EMA has recommended marketing authorisation for ten medicines and has also suggested ten label extensions.
10. Sanofi’s Dupixent chalks up CHMP recommendation for paediatric severe atopic dermatitis
Sanofi’s interleukin-4 and -13 inhibitor Dupixent (dupilumab) has been given the recommendation of the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) in the treatment of severe atopic dermatitis, when combined with topical corticosteroids (TCS).
