#biodiscovery

AbbVie (NYSE: ABBV), a research-based global biopharmaceutical company, and Allergan plc (NYSE: AGN), a leading global pharmaceutical company, today announced that the U.S. Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has accepted the proposed consent order in connection with AbbVie's pending acquisition of Allergan. The acceptance by the FTC satisfies all required antitrust clearances needed to be obtained for the acquisition of Allergan by AbbVie.

Nanotechnology materials company Grolltex (named for 'graphene-rolling-technologies') says it is developing a #graphene #sensing chip-based coronavirus field test. The company, in collaboration with the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, is developing a versatile, flexible virus testing platform that it says could be used to test for the COVID 19 virus using handheld reader units and disposable plastic testing chips at U.S. points of entry, field hospitals, or any remote or point-of-care location.

Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine have been found to be efficient on SARS-CoV-2, and reported to be efficient in Chinese COV-19 patients. We evaluate the role of hydroxychloroquine on respiratory viral loads. French Confirmed COVID-19 patients were included in a single arm protocol from early March to March 16th, to receive 600mg of hydroxychloroquine daily and their viral load in nasopharyngeal swabs was tested daily in a hospital setting.

Biogen — the biotech giant at the center of a cluster of COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts — will partner with Vir Biotechnology to advance the development and clinical manufacturing of Vir’s human monoclonal antibodies as potential treatments for COVID-19, Vir said today. The companies have signed a letter of intent, under which Biogen has agreed to carry out cell line development, process development, and clinical manufacturing activities for #Vir while they negotiate a formal Clinical Development and Manufacturing Agreement.

China has approved the use of Swiss drugmaker Roche’s anti-inflammation drug Actemra for patients who develop severe complications from the Coronavirus as it urgently hunts for new ways to combat the deadly infection that is spreading worldwide. China is hoping that some older drugs could stop severe cytokine release syndrome (CRS), or cytokine storms, an overreaction of the immune system which is considered a major factor behind catastrophic organ failure and death in some #coronavirus patients.

In a world first, scientists have discovered a new type of antibiotic using artificial intelligence (AI). It has been heralded by experts as a major breakthrough in the fight against the growing problem of drug resistance. A powerful algorithm was used to analyse more than one hundred million chemical compounds in a matter of days. The newly discovered compound was able to kill 35 types of potentially deadly bacteria, said researchers.