Tumour sample from a breast cancer patient expressing high levels of the microRNAs miR-146a and miR-146b. ©2021 Tordonato et al., doi.org/10.1083/jcb.202009053

Researchers in Italy have identified a pair of microRNA molecules, miR-146A and miR-, help maintain a population of breast cancer stem cells

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Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen Pharmaceutica NV has confirmed to deliver 220 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the African Vaccine Acquisition Trust (AVAT).

© NIAID

A bispecific antibody designed by a Swiss-Czech research team suppressed viral escape of SARS-CoV-2 variants in animals.

Enteropathy-associated T cell lymphoma. © Nephron/wikipedia.de

Kurma Partners-founded Step Pharma has baged €35m in a Series B financing to advance its blood cancer lead STP938.

Picture: pixabay

The threat caused by the SARS-CoV-2 virus is a global one. Therefore, we have to address the coronavirus pandemic globally, but at least on a European scale. To achieve this, we need not only a vaccination strategy but also a therapy strategy.

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Following assemingly good results in a Phase III study AstraZeneca goes for Emergency Use Approval in the US.

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On Tuesday, Emer Cooke had already hinted at it. Now the EMA’s PRAC committee confirmed: the benefits of AZ1222 by far outweigh the risks of the COVID-19 vaccine.

CIR-101 binding to the receptor binding site of the viral spike protein. © CORAT Therapeutics

German CORAT Therapeutics GmbH got the greenlight for Phase Ib/II testing of COR-101, an antibody that reduced virus load in the lung by more than 99 % within three days.

Picture: Yumab

First emergency approvals of vaccines and antibody drugs in less than a year are great achievements of modern biotechnology in our battle against the COVID-19 pandemic, but we still have no efficient therapeutics to cure severe COVID-19. Millions of lives remain at risk until we control the pandemic, and what if we will never reach herd immunity? Waiting for others to do the job cannot be the strategy, as well as betting only on vaccines.

Thanks to a grant by Germany's €45m funding programme for clinical COVID-19 therapeutics set up in January 2021, CORAT Therapeutics got money to start their Phase I/II programme with COR-101. In May the funding programme will be upgraded by €300m - a model for the EU? © NIAID

The B.1.1.7 variant of SARS-CoV-2, which was first identified in the UK, may be associated with an increased risk of death, a Nature study suggests.