Chula Pharmaceutical Science helps increase public confidence to keep COVID-19 at bay with their new test kit to verify the safety and efficacy of hand sanitizers and alcohol-based gel and spray products.
Tag: Pharmaceutical Science
$1.3 million in NIH grants to enable research into antibody-mediated drug delivery technology
Two National Institute of Health (NIH) grants totaling over $1.3 million will enable research into antibody-mediated drug delivery technology for the treatment of cancer and autoimmune disorders. L. Nathan Tumey, assistant professor of pharmaceutical sciences, is the Principal Investigator on both grants — $1.2 million from the National Institute of General Medical Sciences and $150,000 from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
Selective, Toxin-Bearing Antibodies Could Help Treat Liver Fibrosis
UC San Diego researchers discovered that immunotoxins targeting the protein mesothelin prevent liver cells from producing collagen, a precursor to fibrosis and cirrhosis, in mouse models of human disease.
Potential Drug Target for Difficult-To-Treat Breast Cancer: RNA-Binding Proteins
UC San Diego studies using human cell lines and tumors grown in mice provide early evidence that inhibiting RNA-binding proteins, a previously overlooked family of molecules, might provide a new approach for treating some cancers.
Engineering nanobodies as lifesavers when SARS-CoV-2 variants attack
Scientists are pursuing a new strategy in the protracted fight against the SARS-CoV-2 virus by engineering nanobodies that can neutralize virus variants in two different ways.
How Cells “Read” Artificial Ingredients Tossed into Genetic Recipe
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers discovered that the enzyme RNA polymerase II recognizes and transcribes artificially added base pairs in genetic code, a new insight that could help advance the development of new vaccines and medicines.
Understanding SARS-COV-2 proteins is key to improve therapeutic options for COVID-19
COVID-19 has had a significant impact since the pandemic was declared by WHO in 2020, with over 3 million deaths and counting, Researchers and medical teams have been hard at work at developing strategies to control the spread of the infection, caused by SARS-COV-2 virus and treat affected patients.
Pink drinks can help you run faster and further, study finds
A new study led by the Centre for Nutraceuticals in the University of Westminster shows that pink drinks can help to make you run faster and further compared to clear drinks.
First Peek at RNA Binding and Translation in Single Cells May Inform Drug and Vaccine Design
UC San Diego School of Medicine researchers have developed a new approach — called Surveying Targets by APOBEC-Mediated Profiling (STAMP) — to measure what has until now been largely invisible: how RNA-binding proteins and ribosomes interact with RNA molecules within…
Molecular biologists travel back in time 3 billion years
A research group working at Uppsala University has succeeded in studying ‘translation factors’ – important components of a cell’s protein synthesis machinery – that are several billion years old.
Research reveals human immune system reduces potency of antibiotics
Research from the University of Kent’s School of Biosciences has revealed that a molecule produced by the human immune system can severely diminish the potency of certain antibiotics.
Party Drug MDMA Doesn’t Mix Well With Many Other Meds
Midomafetamine (MDMA), also known as ecstasy or molly, is a psychoactive drug primarily used for recreational purposes, but it’s now also being evaluated as a potential treatment for post-traumatic stress disorder. Using the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA)’s database…
Diphtheria risks becoming major global threat again as it evolves antimicrobial resistance
Diphtheria – a relatively easily-preventable infection – is evolving to become resistant to a number of classes of antibiotics and in future could lead to vaccine escape, warn an international team of researchers from the UK and India.
Treating Parasites with Cancer Drugs
Entamoeba histolytica is a parasitic disease affecting up to 50 million people and killing more than 50,000 people each year worldwide. The standard of care is a drug called Metronidazole/Flagyl, but it is far from ideal — therapy requires three…
A machine-learning approach to finding treatment options for Covid-19
When the Covid-19 pandemic struck in early 2020, doctors and researchers rushed to find effective treatments.
Anticancer drug may improve outcome for severe COVID-19 patients
Treating severe COVID-19 patients with the anticancer drug bevacizumab may reduce mortality and speed up recovery, according to a small clinical study in Italy and China that was led by researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden between February and April 2020.
Study reports preliminary efficacy and safety results from interim analysis of Russian COVID-19 phase 3 vaccine trial
Interim analysis from phase 3 trial of nearly 20,000 participants suggests efficacy of two-dose regimen of the adenovirus-based vaccine is 91.6% against symptomatic COVID-19 – trial reports 16 COVID-19 cases in the vaccine group (0.1% [16/14,964) and 62 cases (1.3% [62/4,902]) in the placebo group.
Why do psychiatric drugs help some, but not others? Study offers clues
When it comes to developing drugs for mental illnesses, three confounding challenges exist:
Computer model makes strides in search for COVID-19 treatments
A new deep-learning model that can predict how human genes and medicines will interact has identified at least 10 compounds that may hold promise as treatments for COVID-19.
Heparin targets coronavirus spike protein, research shows
An international team of researchers led by the Universities of Liverpool and Keele, working with Public Health England, has found that the common anticoagulant drug heparin inhibits the SARS-Cov2 virus spike protein, by reducing the virus’ ability to attach to human cells and infect them.
Study estimates that, without vaccination against 10 diseases, mortality in children under five would be 45% higher in low-income and middle-income countries
A new modelling study has estimated that from 2000 to 2030 vaccination against 10 major pathogens – including measles, rotavirus, HPV and hepatitis B – will have prevented 69 million deaths in low-income and middle-income countries (LMICs).
Drug prices in the U.S. are 2.56 times those in other nations
Prescription drug prices in the United States are significantly higher than in other nations, with prices in the U.S. averaging 2.56 times those seen in 32 other nations, according to a new RAND Corporation report.
New small antibodies show promising effects against COVID-19 infection
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden have developed, in collaboration with researchers in Germany and the U.S., new small antibodies, also known as nanobodies, which prevent the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus from entering human cells.
Cannabis use blunts stress reactivity in female rats
Female rats that inhaled vaporized cannabis daily for a month developed a blunted physiological response to stress, according to a new study by Washington State University researchers.
New analysis method for predicting the risks and effects of immunotherapy
In a new study, researchers at Uppsala University have been able to show differences in how Rituximab, a monoclonal antibody drug, interacts with the blood of healthy individuals compared to patients with chronic lymphocytic leukaemia.
Promising results from in vitro combination therapy against COVID-19
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet in Sweden report promising results from an in vitro combination therapy against COVID-19.
First published peer reviews of the WHO solidarity trials
Rapid Reviews: COVID-19 (RR:C19) is an open-access overlay journal published by the MIT Press that accelerates peer review of COVID-19-related research preprints.
Sorting out viruses with machine learning
The ongoing global pandemic has created an urgent need for rapid tests that can diagnose the presence of the SARS-CoV-2 virus, the pathogen that causes COVID-19, and distinguish it from other respiratory viruses.
COVID-19 vaccine nationalism could cost world up to $1.2 trillion: New RAND Europe study
Nationalistic behaviour by governments may exclude some countries from gaining access to COVID-19 vaccines and cost the global economy up to $1.2 trillion a year in GDP, according to a new study from the not-for-profit research organisation RAND Europe.
Global study identifies common vulnerabilities across SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS coronaviruses
There are common vulnerabilities among three lethal coronaviruses, SARS-CoV-2, SARS-CoV-1 and MERS-CoV, such as frequently hijacked cellular pathways, that could lead to promising targets for broad coronavirus inhibition, according to a study by an international research team that includes scientists from the Institute for Biomedical Sciences at Georgia State University.
Novel antiviral strategy for treatment of COVID-19
A research team led by Professor Hongzhe SUN, Norman & Cecilia Yip Professor in Bioinorganic Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Faculty of Science, and Professor Kwok Yung YUEN, Henry Fok Professor in Infectious Diseases, Department of Microbiology, Li Ka Shing Faculty of Medicine of the University of Hong Kong (HKU), has discovered a novel antiviral strategy for treatment of COVID-19.
J. Silvio Gutkind, PhD, Named Chair of the Department of Pharmacology
J. Silvio Gutkind, PhD, has been named chair of the Department of Pharmacology at UC San Diego School of Medicine.
Diagnosing COVID-19 in just 30 minutes
The year 2020 can be summarized simply by one word – COVID-19 – as it was the culprit that froze the entire world. For more than 8 months so far, movement between nations has been paralyzed all because there are no means to prevent or treat the virus and the diagnosis takes long.
Experimental vaccine that boosts antigen production shows promise against COVID-19
A bioengineering technique to boost production of specific proteins could be the basis of an effective vaccine against the novel coronavirus that causes COVID-19, new research suggests.
Improving FDA’s COVID-19 vaccine authorization and approval process
On March 28, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) exercised its Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) authority to allow the use of hydroxychloroquine for the treatment of COVID-19.
Blood pressure medication improves COVID-19 survival rates
Medication for high blood pressure could improve Covid-19 survival rates and reduce the severity of infection – according to new research from the University of East Anglia.
Tiny engineered therapeutic delivery system safely solves genetic problems in mice
Researchers report in Science Advances that the lipid-based nanoparticles they have engineered, carrying two sets of protein-making instructions, showed in animal studies that they have the potential to function as therapies for two genetic disorders.
“Love hormone” oxytocin could be used to treat cognitive disorders like Alzheimer’s
Alzheimer’s disease is a progressive disorder in which the nerve cells (neurons) in a person’s brain and the connections among them degenerate slowly, causing severe memory loss, intellectual deficiencies, and deterioration in motor skills and communication.
Scientists discover way to stop spread of devastating childhood cancer
Researchers at the University of East Anglia and University of Manchester have made an important breakthrough that could lead to ‘kinder’ treatments for children with bone cancer, and save lives.
Gut microbiota provide clues for treating diabetes
The individual mix of microorganisms in the human gastrointestinal tract provides vital clues as to how any future incidence of type 2 diabetes can be predicted, prevented and treated.
US hydroxychloroquine, chloroquine, azithromycin outpatient prescriptions October 2019-March 2020
What The Study Did: How the prescription of hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine to outpatients has changed in the United States during the COVID-19 pandemic is examined in this study.
Study shows asthma drug salbutamol’s potential as Alzheimer’s treatment
A new study reveals that the common asthma drug salbutamol may offer potential as a treatment for Alzheimer’s disease.
One-Time Treatment Generates New Neurons, Eliminates Parkinson’s Disease in Mice
UC San Diego researchers have discovered that a single treatment to inhibit a gene called PTB in mice converts native astrocytes, brain support cells, into neurons that produce the neurotransmitter dopamine. As a result, the mice’s Parkinson’s disease symptoms disappear.
Immune Cells Infiltrating Tumors May Play Bigger Cancer Role Than Previously Thought
UC San Diego researchers uncovered in mice how IRE1α, a molecule involved in cells’ response to stress, determines whether macrophages promote inflammation in the tumor microenvironment. Inflammation is known to promote tumor growth, making IRE1α an attractive target for drug development.
Clear signs of brain injury with severe COVID-19
Certain patients who receive hospital care for coronavirus infection (COVID-19) exhibit clinical and neurochemical signs of brain injury, a University of Gothenburg study shows. In even moderate COVID-19 cases, finding and measuring a blood-based biomarker for brain damage proved to be possible.
New killing mechanism discovered in ‘game-changing’ antibiotic
Scientists at the University of Liverpool and University of Utrecht have taken another step forward on their quest to develop a viable drug based on teixobactin – a new class of potent natural antibiotic capable of killing superbugs.
New test method can offer safer dosages of hydroxychloroquine
Researchers at Uppsala University and Uppsala University Hospital have developed a new method to measure levels of the medication hydroxychloroquine in patients with the rheumatic disease systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE).
Arthritis drug may improve respiratory function in some patients with severe COVID-19
A small study in Greece found that the clinically approved anti-inflammatory drug anakinra, used to treat rheumatoid arthritis, improved respiratory function in patients with severe coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Russia creates its own humanized mice to test COVID-19 vaccines and drugs
Following the recent Coronavirus outbreak, almost three million people have been infected worldwide, whereas the death toll has already passed the 200,000 mark, according to official reports.
Psychedelic compound from magic mushrooms produced in yeast
Psilocybin mushrooms have been found to have minimal harmful effects and could potentially benefit those with depression. But they remain illegal even though they offer a groundbreaking alternative to several under-treated psychological conditions.