Germany Begin First Clinical Trials of Covid-19.

Researchers have begun testing a possible COVID-19 vaccine on human volunteers, a leading German biotechnology company announced on Wednesday.

"Twelve study participants were dosed with vaccine candidate BNT162 in Germany since dosing began on April 23," BioNTech said in a statement.

The trial is the first clinical trial of a COVID-19 vaccine candidate in Germany.

In the first part of the clinical trial, nearly 200 healthy volunteers aged between 18 and 55 years will be vaccinated to evaluate the safety and immunogenicity of the vaccine, and to determine the optimal dose for further studies.

Germany's regulatory authority, the Paul-Ehrlich-Institut, approved the beginning of clinical trials last week.

Turkish professor Ugur Sahin's BioNTech company and pharma giant Pfizer are jointly developing potential COVID-19 vaccines as part of a global development program.

The companies are also planning to initiate trials for the vaccine candidate BNT162 in the US upon regulatory approval.

Scientists and researchers across the world are scrambling to find a vaccine for the novel coronavirus which has infected over 3.12 million people worldwide and killed more than 217,000.

Until such a discovery, health experts have been treating patients with anti-malaria drugs, including hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine, which have shown positive results for coronavirus-related lung infection.

So far nearly 935,000 coronavirus patients worldwide have recovered from the disease.

Source:

https://www.aa.com.tr/en/europe/germany-begins-human-trial-of-covid-19-vaccine-/1822700

Experimental Drugs proved Effective, Reduces Recovery Time by Four Days

An experimental drug has proved effective against the new coronavirus in a major study, shortening the time it takes for patients to recover by four days on average, U.S. government and company officials announced Wednesday.

Gilead Sciences's remdesivir is the first treatment to pass such a strict test against the virus, which has killed more than 218,000 people since it emerged late last year in China. Having a treatment could have a profound effect on the global pandemic, especially because health officials say any vaccine is likely a year or more away.

The study, run by the National Institutes of Health, tested remdesivir versus usual care in 1,063 hospitalized coronavirus patients around the world. At the White House, NIH's Dr. Anthony Fauci said the drug reduced the time it takes patients to recover by 31% — 11 days on average versus 15 days for those just given usual care.

He also said there was a trend toward fewer deaths among those on remdesivir, and that full results would soon be published in a medical journal.

"What it has proven is that a drug can block this virus," Fauci said. "This will be the standard of care."

A statement from the Food and Drug Administration says that the agency has been talking with California-based Gilead "regarding making remdesivir available to patients as quickly as possible, as appropriate."

Remdesivir is among many treatments being tested against the coronavirus but was the farthest along in study.

"We are excited and optimistic," said one expert, Vanderbilt University's Dr. Mark Denison. His lab first tested remdesivir against other coronaviruses in 2013 and has done much research on it since, but was not involved in the NIH study.

"It's active against every coronavirus that we've ever tested," he said. "It was very hard for the virus to develop resistance to remdesivir. That means the drug would likely be effective over longer term use."

The company also said no new safety problems emerged in that study, and that it would publish results in a medical journal soon.

Source :

https://news.yahoo.com/company-says-drug-proved-effective-142248605.html?ncid=facebook_yahoonewsf_akfmevaatca&fbclid=IwAR2TTqUGVR9llwx6Rk-gk1m0kO3TkSQED28iC8A6HBGZAAGC1au7R8nylSA

Oxford University Raises Hope of Vaccine against Covid-19

Coronavirus vaccine being tested at Oxford Uni left monkeys 'virus free in one month'

A POTENTIAL coronavirus vaccine from Oxford University has kept monkeys immune from the deadly virus for a month.

The promising results comes after top Government experts warned a vaccine might be the only way out of the crisis.

Last month six rhesus macaque monkeys at a testing facility in the US were injected with a single dose of the vaccine developed at Oxford University, according to The New York Times.

All of the monkeys were then exposed to COVID-19, which had made other monkeys without the vaccine sick.

Four weeks later, all six monkeys who had been injected with the vaccine showed no signs of coronavirus.

Lead researcher Dr Vincent Munster said: "The rhesus macaque is pretty much the closest thing we have to humans."

Around 100 potential COVID-19 vaccine projects are underway around the world, as scientists race to find a vaccine.

At least five of these are in preliminary testing - what is known as phase 1 human trials.

If the scientists find a successful vaccine at least a few million doses could be pumped out by manufacturers by September.

Professor Sarah Gilbert is leading the Oxford trials for vaccine, has said she is 80 per cent confident in producing a working virus.

Source: https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.thesun.co.uk/news/11497966/coronavirus-vaccine-monkeys-immune-oxford/amp/

COVID-19 Facts and figures : preventing covid-19.

The corona virus is large in size with a cell diameter of 400-500 micro, so any mask prevents its entry so there is no need to exploit pharmacists to trade with muzzles.

The virus does not settle in the air, but on the ground, so it is not transmitted by the air.

The corona virus, when it falls on a metal surface, will live for 12 hours, so washing hands with soap and water well will do the trick.

Corona virus when it falls on fabrics stays for 9 hours so washing clothes or exposing them to the sun for two hours is enough for the purpose of killing him.

The virus lives on the hands for 10 minutes so putting the alcohol sanitizer in the pocket is enough for the purpose of prevention.

If the virus is exposed to a temperature of 26-27°C, it will be killed, it does not live in hot areas. Also drinking hot water and exposure to the sun is good enough.

Stay away from ice cream and cold food is important. 

Gargling with warm water and salt kills tonsils and prevents them from leaking into the lungs.

Adhering to these instructions is sufficient to prevent the virus.

                                                                                         curled from UNICEF

You may also like to read Drugs and Vaccines on clinical trials against Covid-19

Clinical Trials of drugs and vaccines against Covid-19.

Apeiron Biologics has secured approvals from regulatory agencies in Austria, Germany and Denmark to conduct a Phase II clinical trial of APN01 for the treatment of Covid-19.

APN01 is the recombinant version of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (rhACE2) with a dual mechanism of action.

The drug candidate is designed to imitate human ACE2 used by the virus to enter host cells. It is believed to possess the potential to inhibit the Covid-19 infection and reduce lung injury.

The inhibition is expected to be possible as the virus attaches to soluble ACE2/APN01, rather than ACE2 on the cell surface, making the virus incapable of further infecting the cells.

In addition, the drug candidate mitigates the harmful inflammatory reactions in the lungs and protects against acute lung injury (ALI)/acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS).

Apeiron Biologics CEO Peter Llewellyn-Davies said: "Based on its unique dual mechanism of action, APN01 has the potential to be the first drug approved to treat Covid-19 that specifically targets the new SARS-CoV-2 virus.

"We look forward to dosing the first patient in our Phase II trial shortly,with the goal of providing a safe and effective treatment option for severely infected COVID-19 patients in urgent need of help."

Clinicaltrialsarena.com

You may also like to read how to prevent covid-19