Progress on reporting on one-dose J&J vaccine; COVID-19 replacements seen as rare

(Reuters) – The following is a summary of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find cures and vaccines for COVID-19, the disease that caused the virus.

Johnson & Johnson vaccine emerging through clinical trials

Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 experimental vaccine provided protective antibodies against the novel coronavirus in 90% of 805 volunteers by day 29, and that rose to 100% by day 57, according to data from a mid-term study continuous. Side effects such as fever, muscle aches and injection site pain were quickly resolved, researchers reported Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine. In order to be approved by regulators, the J&J vaccine must demonstrate efficacy as demonstrated by a lower risk of infection and malignancy in study participants who receive it compared to those who do not. Efficacy data from a major late trial of the vaccine is expected before February. Experts expect the vaccine to show efficacy at 80% or higher, which would be higher than the 50% criterion for regulatory approval but find the approximately 95% achieved in trials of vaccines already authorized from Moderna Inc and Pfizer Inc by BioNTech SE. The J&J vaccine requires only one dose, and the other vaccines do not have cold storage requirements. Good results are likely to “hopefully be very high,” Paul Stoffels, New Brunswick-based chief scientific officer, based in New Jersey, said this week. (bit.ly/2LpBhHm)

COVID-19 provides some immunity, and reactions are seen as rare

People who have been exposed to COVID-19 are more likely to have some protection against the virus for at least five months, and relapses in relapsed patients are rare, and have not been only 44 cases were found among 6,614 previously infected people, according to researchers leading a large-scale follow-up study of workers ’health care in Britain. But when people get COVID-19 a second time, they often have no symptoms, so they may be able to carry the coronavirus in their nose and throat and pass it unnoticed, the load wrote. in a report published on Wednesday by Public Health England (PHE) ahead of a peer review. Experts have said that people who contracted COVID-19 in the first wave of pandemic could now be vulnerable again. “We now know that most of those who contracted the virus, and developed antibodies, are protected from relapse, but this is not entirely the case and we do not yet know how protection lasts, “said study director Susan Hopkins, a senior medical consultant at PHE in London. “If you believe you already have the disease and are protected, you can be sure that it is very unlikely that you will develop serious diseases. But there is still a risk that you could become infected. received and passed on to others. “(bit.ly/3ihkuBZ; reut.rs/3ieWorA)

Coronavirus targets cellular energy engines

Researchers have discovered an important attack line used by the novel coronavirus: it targets infectious cell mitochondria. Not only do these tiny organs generate the energy that powers cell biochemical reactions, but they also play an important role in immune function. “We knew that when the virus attacks cells, bad things happen – but we didn’t know why,” said Dr. Pinchas Cohen of the University of Southern California, whose team published their findings on the virus. this month in the journal Scientific Reports. “Now we can say that when the virus attacks cells, it damages the mitochondria.” In test tube tests, the researchers found that the virus caused “remarkable changes and “weakening” in the genes that regulate mitochondrial function, Cohen told Reuters. This means, Cohen said, that there is energy production in the cells and so – called innate immunity – the body ‘s first line of defense against bacteria. Another meaning is that healthy mitochondria would help people fight the virus if they are infected. “We know that a healthy diet and a healthy lifestyle promote mitochondrial health,” Cohen said, but mitochondrial function declines with age and with many harmful illnesses including diabetes and heart disease. In the future, Cohen added, researchers may develop COVID-19 interventions to help improve mitochondrial health. (go.nature.com/3bFlCyc)

‘Nanobody’ combs prevent coronavirus, even during circulation

Combining small antibodies called nanobodies into single molecules to combat novel coronavirus may be more effective than targeting them with standard antibodies or single nanobodies, according to a new study. These “heterogeneous” nanobodies – which contain several nanobody building blocks – are “much better at neutralizing viruses” and preventing them from breaking into cells, study leaders Florian Schmidt said and Paul-Albert König of the University of Bonn told Reuters. The cooled nanobodies “help each other to produce a better result than just the sum of the two responses.” -effective, according to a report published Tuesday in the journal Science. While the researchers observed enough mutations that allowed the coronavirus to “escape” the effects of a single nanobody, “we found no escape mutants that were able to reproduce in the presence of these nanobodies. aimed at two different surfaces at the same time, “Schmidt and König said. Another company from the University of Bonn, called DiosCURE, plans to start testing the nanobody molecules together in humans later this year. (bit.ly/3nOvXKH)

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