Junior Digest

Nov11,2020:Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has proven to be “92% efficacious” among a group of volunteers who are part of Phase 3 trials to test the vaccine, the Russian Health Ministry said in a statement on Wednesday.

The results were based on an analysis of 20 participants in the trial who were confirmed COVID-19 positive. The trials consists of 20,000 people who got one dose of the vaccine, and 16,000 who got two, 14 days apart. The efficacy percentage means that when cases were split among the placebo group and vaccinated group, 92% of those who were vaccinated were safe.
This is close to the efficacy percentage claimed by Pfizer on Monday that said its RNA vaccine was 90% efficacious, though that relied on a larger COVID-19-positive volunteer set of 94.

The Russian trials are ongoing in multiple countries, and a Phase 2/3 trial that tests for a immune reaction in a limited number of people is ongoing in India too. Hyderabad-based Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories is a partner of the Russian organisation, Gamaleya Research Foundation, that has developed Sputnik V.

Geneva [Switzerland], Dec 01,2020: World Health Organisation (WHO) Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday urged leaders not to politicise the hunt for the origins of the novel coronavirus as it will not help in unearthing the truth of the virus.
Addressing a press briefing, Tedros said that the WHO will start the study from Wuhan and based on the findings, it will explore “if there are other avenues”.
“We are doing everything to make sure that we know the origin. Some have been politicising this. Our position is very clear that we’ll start the study from Wuhan, know what has happened there and based on findings, to explore if there’re other avenues,” he said.
Reiterating WHO’s position, he said, “I would like to assure you that the WHO’s position is very very clear. We need to know the origin of this virus because it can help us to prevent future outbreaks.”
He further said that last week the world saw the first decline in the newly-reported cases of coronavirus since September due to the decrease in cases in Europe.

This he said was thanks to the effectiveness of difficult but necessary measures put in place in recent weeks.
While congratulating the world for the “welcoming news”, he also warned that people still need to be cautioned as “gains can easily be lost”.
“This is welcome news, but it must be interpreted with extreme caution. Gains can easily be lost, and there was still an increase in COVID-19 cases in most other regions of the world and an increase in deaths,” he said.
“This is no time for complacency, especially with the holiday season approaching in many cultures and countries. We all want to be together with the people we love during festive periods. But being with family and friends is not worth putting them or yourself at risk,” Tedros said.
With just a few days left for celebrations like Christmas and New Year, the WHO chief said, “Even if we can’t celebrate as normal this year, make a plan to celebrate with your family and friends once it’s safe to do so. The Covid-19 pandemic will end – and we all have a part to play in ending it”
“The Covid-19 pandemic will change the way we celebrate, but it doesn’t mean we can’t celebrate. The changes you make will depend on where you live. Always follow your local or national guidelines,” he added.
The global Covid-19 tally has touched 63 million.

Tokyo [Japan], November 19,2020: Nature around one’s home may help mitigate some of the negative mental health effects of the COVID-19 pandemic, suggest the findings of a new study published in the journal Ecological Applications.

An online questionnaire survey completed by 3,000 adults in Tokyo, Japan, quantified the link between five mental-health outcomes (depression, life satisfaction, subjective happiness, self-esteem and loneliness) and two measures of nature experiences (frequency of green space use and green view through windows from home).
More frequent greenspace use and the existence of green window views from the home were associated with increased levels of self-esteem, life satisfaction and subjective happiness, as well as decreased levels of depression and loneliness.
“Our results suggest that nearby nature can serve as a buffer in decreasing the adverse impacts of a very stressful event on humans,” said lead author Masashi Soga, PhD, of The University of Tokyo. “Protecting natural environments in urban areas is important not only for the conservation of biodiversity but also for the protection of human health.”

Nov 24,2020:The Serum Institute of India, the world’s largest manufacturer of vaccines by volume, will first focus on supplying AstraZeneca Plc’s COVID-19 vaccine to Indians before distributing it to other countries, Serum’s Chief Executive Adar Poonawalla said on Monday.

“It’s very important we take care of our country first, then go on to COVAX after that and then other bilateral deals with countries. So I’ve kept it in that priority,” said Poonawalla, referencing the global COVAX facility, which has been set up to provide COVID-19 vaccines to poorer countries.

The company remains in discussion with the Indian government about inking a purchase agreement for the vaccine, Poonawalla said in an interview with CNBC-TV 18, adding that Serum should have quantities of it ready to sell into India’s private market in the first quarter of 2021.
Poonawalla’s comments came shortly after AstraZeneca said on Monday its vaccine could be around 90% effective, giving the world’s fight against the pandemic a new weapon, cheaper to make, easier to distribute and faster to scale up than rivals.

Serum is hoping the data released earlier on Monday, along with preliminary data from the ongoing trial of the vaccine in India, will allow it to seek emergency use authorisation for the vaccine by year-end, before gaining approval for a full rollout by February or March next year, said Poonawalla.

He said the vaccine in the Indian private market would be priced at 1,000 rupees per dose ($13.50), but that governments signing large supply deals would likely buy it at lower prices.
Poonawalla also said that although Serum has the right to strike direct bilateral deals with more than five dozen nations, on the basis of its licensing deal with AstraZeneca, the company may include the government in some of these discussions.
Poonawalla said the company will be able to produce 400 million doses of AstraZeneca’s vaccine by July 2021 and scale up further from there.

New Delhi, Nov 20,2020: US-based Biopharma company Gilead’s Remdesivir drug is not recommended for hospitalised COVID-19 patients regardless of how ill they are, as there is no evidence it improves survival or reduces the need for ventilation, said the World Health Organization on Friday.

The global health monitor issued a conditional recommendation against the use of remdesivir in hospitalized patients, regardless of disease severity, as there is currently no evidence that remdesivir improves survival and other outcomes in these patients.

This recommendation is part of a living guideline on clinical care for COVID-19. It was developed by an international guideline development group, which includes 28 clinical care experts, 4 patient-partners and one ethicist.

The guidelines were developed in collaboration with the non-profit Magic Evidence Ecosystem Foundation (MAGIC), which provided methodologic support. The guidelines are an innovation, matching scientific standards with the speed required to respond to an ongoing pandemic.

Work on this began on 15 October when the WHO Solidarity Trial published its interim results. Data reviewed by the panel included results from this trial, as well as 3 other randomized controlled trials. In all, data from over 7000 patients across the 4 trials were considered.

The evidence suggested no important effect on mortality, need for mechanical ventilation, time to clinical improvement, and other patient-important outcomes, WHO said.

The guideline development group recognized that more research is needed, especially to provide higher certainty of evidence for specific groups of patients. They supported continued enrollment in trials evaluating remdesivir.

Nov 17,2020:The online colossus opened an online pharmacy on Tuesday that allows customers to order medication or prescription refills, and have them delivered to their front door in a couple of days.
The potential effect of Amazon’s arrival in the pharmaceutical space rippled through that sector immediately. Before the opening bell, shares of CVS Health Corp fell almost 9 percent. Walgreens and Rite Aid both tumbled more than 10 percent.

The big chains rely on their pharmacies for a steady flow of shoppers who may also grab a snack, or shampoo or groceries on the way out. All have upped online services, but Amazon.com has mastered it, and its online store is infinitely larger.

Amazon will begin offering commonly prescribed medications, including creams, pills, as well as medication that need to stay refrigerated, like insulin, from Tuesday in the United States. Shoppers have to set up a profile on Amazon’s website and have their doctors send prescriptions there. The company said it would not ship medications that can be abused, including many opioids.

Most insurance is accepted, Amazon said. But Prime members who do not have insurance can also buy generic or brand name drugs from Amazon for a discount. They can also get discounts at 50,000 physical pharmacies around the country, inside Costco, CVS, Walgreens, Walmart and other stores.

Amazon has eyed the healthcare industry for some time. Two years ago, it spent $750m to buy online pharmacy PillPack, which organises medication in packets by what time and day they need to be taken. Amazon said PillPack will continue, focusing on shipping medication to people with chronic conditions.

In response, CVS and Walgreens, which built thousands of drugstores nationwide to get closer to customers, have been been trying to adjust to the rise of online shopping by offering same-day delivery. Earlier this year, CVS started testing prescription deliveries with self-driving vehicles, and Walgreens experimented with drones that can deliver minutes after being ordered.

Kolkata, Nov 19,2020: Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy, a severe type of muscle weakness that usually begins at an early age and worsens quickly, may soon have a new strategy of treatment through genetic regulation.

There is no known cure for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Treatments usually aim to control symptoms to improve quality of life.

Sandeep Eswarappa, Assistant Professor Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru one of the 21 recipients of this year’s Swarnajayanti Fellowship of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), under the central government, proposes to suppress the disease-causing premature stop codon or the genetic process that initiates these diseases. He is trying to bring about the suppression through translational read through a gene regulatory principle found in humans, yeasts, bacteria and drosophila which takes place with the variation of the genetic code.

Prof. Sandeep’s group has been developing strategies to induce translational read-through across genetic diseases caused by non-sense mutations — a change in DNA that causes a protein to terminate or end its translation earlier than expected. They were successful in achieving this in vitro in case of thalassemia and are working on other disease models. This research work has been published in the scientific journal ‘Biochemistry’ recently.

With the Swarna Jayanti fellowship, they will extend it to Duchenne muscular dystrophy. If successful, this project may lead to novel therapeutics for the treatment of genetic diseases like thalassemia, Duchenne muscular dystrophy, haemophilia.

In case of any protein formation, genetic information present in the genome is first transcribed into an mRNA, which in turn is translated into a protein. Protein synthesis or translation is executed by macromolecular machinery called ribosomes.

Ribosomes start this process at a specific location on an mRNA called ‘start codon’ and terminate at a stop signal called ‘stop codon’. In case of diseases with nonsense mutations, such mutations result in premature stop signal in mRNA often resulting in a non-functional truncated protein

Prof. Sandeep Eswarappa’s laboratory at IISc has shown that in certain mRNAs, under certain conditions, translating ribosomes misread the stop signal and continue till they encounter another stop signal. In this translational read-through process, a longer protein is synthesized with an extension. This extension might change the properties of the protein. The experiments carried out by his group have revealed that such long proteins can have different localization, stability and function.

“The knowledge we have already gained from our experiment has opened up an unexpected avenue to treat genetic diseases caused by non-sense mutations like Duchenne muscular dystrophy, haemophilia and so on,” said Prof. Sandeep.

November 23, 2020: Britain could give regulatory approval to Pfizer-BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine this week, even before the United States authorises it, the Telegraph news site reported on Sunday. Citing government sources, it said British regulators were about to start a formal appraisal of the vaccine, made by Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE, and that the National Health Service had been told to be ready to administer it by Dec. 1.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said on Friday that it would meet on Dec. 10 to discuss whether to authorise the vaccine.The UK Department of Health had no comment on Sunday on when the first vaccinations would be administered.
A spokesman said the authorisation process by the medical regulator Medicines and Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) is independent of the government and will take as long as they need to review the final data from Pfizer.”An enormous amount of planning has taken place to ensure our health service stands ready to roll out a COVID-19 vaccine,” the spokesman added.

Britain formally asked its medical regulator, the MHRA, last week to assess the suitability of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine.Britain has ordered 40 million doses and expects to have 10 million doses, enough to protect 5 million people, available by the end of the year if regulators approve it.

MOSCOW, Nov 12,2020: The worldwide number of confirmed COVID-19 cases has surpassed 52 million, reported Sputnik news agency, quoting Johns Hopkins University.

The exact number of the coronavirus cases stood at 52,041,441 as of 01:50 GMT on Thursday. More than 1.28 million people have died of the disease, the university added.

The World Health Organisation declared the COVID-19 outbreak a pandemic on March 11. The biggest number of cases so far have been registered in the United States, India and Brazil.

New Delhi , November 25,2020: India reported 44,376 new COVID-19 infections in the last 24 hours and 481 deaths due to the disease, according to the Union Ministry of Health and Family Welfare on Wednesday.
The total cases in the country now stands at 92,22,217 including 86,42,771 discharges and 4,44,746 active cases. With 481 new deaths, the cumulative toll reached 1,34,699.
Today is the 18th day when India reported less than 50,000 cases in a day. The last time daily new cases crossed the 50,000-threshold was on November 7.
According to the Indian Council of Medical Research (ICMR), a total of 11,59,032 samples were tested on Tuesday while 13,48,41,307 samples have been tested so far.
Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday said that the government is keeping a close eye on COVID-19 vaccine development and clarified that the dosage and price of the vaccine were uncertain as of now.
“The government is keeping a close track of vaccine development. We are in touch with Indian vaccine developers and manufacturers. We are also in touch with global regulators, governments of other countries, multinational organisation and international companies. It is not certain whether there will be one, two or three doses of a vaccine. It is also not decided what will be the price of the vaccine. We still don’t have answers to these questions,” PM Modi said.
The Prime Minister was speaking to the chief ministers over the pandemic situation in their states at a virtual meeting on Tuesday.

Washington, Nov 13,2020: A common mutation in the novel coronavirus that has enabled it to spread quickly around the world may also make it more susceptible to a vaccine, according to a study that proves some of the first concrete findings about how SARS-CoV-2, which causes COVID-19, is evolving.

Researchers at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the US noted that the new strain of coronavirus, called D614G, emerged in Europe and has become the most common in the world.

Their study, published in the journal Science, shows the D614G strain replicates faster, and is more transmissible than the virus, originating in China, that spread in the beginning of the pandemic.

While the D614G strain spreads faster, in animal studies it was not associated with more severe disease, and the strain is slightly more sensitive to neutralisation by antibody drugs, the researchers said.

“The D614G virus outcompetes and outgrows the ancestral strain by about 10-fold and replicates extremely efficiently in primary nasal epithelial cells, which are a potentially important site for person-to-person transmission,” said Ralph Baric, a professor at the UNC-Chapel Hill.

Researchers believe the D614G strain of coronavirus dominates because it increases the spike protein’s ability to open cells for the virus to enter.

The D614G mutation causes a flap on the tip of one spike to pop open, allowing the virus to infect cells more efficiently but also creating a pathway to the virus’ vulnerable core, the researchers said.

With one flap open, it’s easier for antibodies — like the ones in the vaccines currently being tested — to infiltrate and disable the virus, they said.

“The original spike protein had a ‘D’ at this position, and it was replaced by a ‘G,'” said Yoshihiro Kawaoka , a virologist at the University of Wisconsin-Madison.

“Several papers had already described that this mutation makes the protein more functional and more efficient at getting into cells,” Kawaoka said.

That earlier work, however, relied on a pseudotyped virus that included the receptor-binding protein but was not authentic, the researchers said.

Using reverse genetics, Baric’s team replicated a matched pair of mutant SARS-CoV-2 viruses that encoded D or G at position 614 and compared basic property analysis using cell lines, primary human respiratory cells, and mouse and hamster cells.

The University of Wisconsin-Madison researchers performed replication and airborne transmission studies with both the original virus and the mutated version.

They found that the mutated virus not only replicates about 10 times faster — it’s also much more infectious.

Hamsters were inoculated with one virus or the other. The next day, eight uninfected hamsters were placed into cages next to infected hamsters.

There was a divider between them so they could not touch, but air could pass between the cages.

Researchers began looking for replication of the virus in the uninfected animals on day two. Both viruses passed between animals via airborne transmission, but the timing was different.

With the mutant virus, the researchers saw transmission to six out of eight hamsters within two days, and to all the hamsters by day four.

With the original virus, they saw no transmission on day two, though all of the exposed animals were infected by day four.

“We saw that the mutant virus transmits better airborne than the original virus, which may explain why this virus dominated in humans,” Kawaoka said.

The researchers also examined the pathology of the two coronavirus strains.

Once hamsters were infected, they presented essentially the same viral load and symptoms.

This suggests that while the mutant virus is much better at infecting hosts, it doesn’t cause significantly worse illness, they said.

However, the researchers caution that the pathology results may not hold true in human studies.

Moscow,Nov 17,2020:Moscow: The Russian Direct Investment Fund has reached agreement with India and China on producing Russia’s Coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V there, President Vladimir Putin said on Tuesday.

“The Russian Direct Investment Fund has reached agreements with Brazilian and Indian partners on conducting clinical trials of the Sputnik V vaccine,” Putin said at the BRICS summit.
It has also reached agreement with pharmaceutical companies in China and India to launch production of the vaccine in these countries not just to cover their needs but for third countries as well, he added.

Nov 17,2020: Over-the-counter mouthwash can kill coronavirus within 30 seconds of exposure, a study has found.
Scientists at Cardiff University discovered mouthwash containing at least 0.07 percent cetylpyridinium chloride (CPC) showed “promising signs” of reducing transmission of the virus.
Their preliminary report, which is yet to be peer-reviewed, supports a study published last week that found mouthwash containing CPC helps in reducing the viral load of people infected with the coronavirus.

It comes ahead of a clinical trial on patients at the University Hospital of Wales in Cardiff to find out whether mouthwash can reduce coronavirus in a patient’s saliva. The findings are expected to be published in early 2021.

Dentyl is the only UK mouthwash brand that is part of the clinical trial led by Professor David Thomas from Cardiff University.

“Although this in-vitro study is very encouraging and is a positive step, more clinical research is now clearly needed,” Dr Thomas told the PA news agency, as quoted by the Independent newspaper.

“We need to understand if the effect of over-the-counter mouthwashes on the COVID-19 virus achieved in the laboratory can be reproduced in patients, and we look forward to completing our clinical trial in early 2021.”

New Delhi,13,2020:The World Health Organisation announced on Friday that it will set up a Global Centre for Traditional Medicine in India, with Prime Minister Narendra expressing confidence that just like the country has emerged as the ‘pharmacy of the world’, the WHO institution will become the centre for global wellness.

WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus made the announcement in a video message at an event in which Prime Minister Modi dedicated two future-ready Ayurveda institutions in Jaipur and Jamnagar to the nation via video conferencing on the occasion of the 5th Ayurveda Day.

The Institute of Teaching and Research in Ayurveda (ITRA), Jamnagar (Gujarat) and the National Institute of Ayurveda (NIA), Jaipur (Rajasthan) are both premier institutions of Ayurveda in the country.

The Jamnagar institute has been conferred the status of an Institution of National Importance (INI) by an act of Parliament and the one at Jaipur has been designated an Institution Deemed to be University (De novo Category) by the University Grants Commission (UGC), according to the AYUSH ministry.

In his video message, Ghebreyesus said, “I am pleased to announce that we have agreed to open a WHO Global Centre of Traditional Medicine in India to strengthen the evidence, research, training and awareness of traditional and complementary medicine.”

“This new centre will support WHO’s efforts to implement the WHO traditional medicine strategy 2014-2023 which aims to support countries in developing policies and action plans to strengthen the role of traditional medicine as part of their journey to universal health coverage and a healthier, fairer and safer world,” he said.

Traditional systems of medicine such as Ayurveda can play an important role in integrated people-centric health services and healthcare, but they have not received enough attention, the WHO DG said.

Ghebreyesus also lauded Prime Minister Modi for his commitment to the universal coverage under Ayushman Bharat and evidence-based promotion of traditional medicines to achieve health related objectives.

Modi said Ayurveda is India’s heritage whose expansion entails the welfare of humanity and all Indians will be happy to see that the country’s traditional knowledge is enriching other countries.

“It is a matter of pride for all Indians that the WHO has chosen India for establishing its Global Centre for Traditional Medicine. Now work will be done in this direction from India,” Modi said.

“I would like to thank the WHO and particularly its Director General Tedros for giving this responsibility to India. I am confident that just like India has emerged as the pharmacy of the world, in the same manner this centre for traditional medicine will become the centre for global wellness,” he said.

Stressing on bringing ayurveda knowledge out of books, scriptures and home remedies and developing this ancient knowledge as per modern needs, Modi said new research is being done in the country by combining information received from modern science of the 21st century with India’s ancient medical knowledge.

Noting that three years ago, the All India Ayurvedic Institute was established here, he said Ayurveda is not just an alternative today but one of the key basis of the country’s health policy.

Modi informed that work is on to develop the National Sowa-Rigpa Institute for research and other studies related to Sowa-Rigpa in Leh. The two institutions in Gujarat and Rajasthan which have been upgraded are also an extension of this development, he added.

Congratulating the two institutes for their upgradation, the prime minister pointed out that they have more responsibility now and hoped that they will prepare syllabus for Ayurveda which meets international standards.

He also called upon the Education Ministry and UGC to find new avenues in disciplines like Ayurveda Physics and Ayurveda Chemistry.

Modi also urged startups and the private sector to study global trends and demands and ensure their participation in the sector.

Pointing out that during the coronavirus period the demand for Ayurvedic products increased rapidly all over the world, he said exports of Ayurvedic products increased by about 45 per cent in September this year compared to the previous year.

He said the significant increase in export of spices like turmeric, ginger, considered as immunity boosters, shows the sudden boost in confidence in Ayurvedic solutions and Indian spices in the world.

In many countries, drinks related to turmeric are also increasing and the world’s prestigious medical journals are also seeing new hope in Ayurveda, he noted.

Modi said that during the coronavirus period, the focus was not only limited to the use of Ayurveda alone but also on research related to AYUSH in the country and the world.

“On one hand, India is testing vaccines, on the other, it is also increasing international cooperation on Ayurvedic research to fight COVID,” he said.

Modi pointed out that research is going on in more than a hundred places including at the All India Institute of Ayurveda in Delhi which has conducted research related to immunity on 80,000 Delhi Police personnel.

It may be the world’s largest group study and there are encouraging results, he said.

A few more international trials are to be started, he added.

He also highlighted that prices of Ayurvedic herbs like Ashwagandha, Giloy, Tulsi have increased amid the pandemic.

The price of Ashwagandha has more than doubled compared to last year and its direct benefit is reaching farmers, he said.