All posts by medical

PSC: Focus should be on health, safety – Malaya

December 13, 2020 medical

RATHER than banning athletes aged 17 and below in combat sports, Philippine Sports Commission chairman Butch Ramirezsaid the countrys sports leaders should instead focus on the strict enforcement of health and safety guidelines in all competitions, particularly in age group play.

In basketball, if a child falls you could suffer a head injury, in baseball you could get hit by a ball in the head. Gymnastics, you could also get hurt playing, Ramirez noted in a wide-ranging virtual press conference last Friday.

This is why my position as a member of the Philippine Sports Commission is that our interest is not in winning buton the safety of our children athletes from injuries, said the PSC chief, who conveyed his stand during the hearing on House Bill 1526 last Wednesday.

TheAct Banning Minors from Full-Contact Competitive Sports is authored by Ako party-list Representatives Alfredo Garbin Jr. and Elizaldy Co. The bill has been opposed by13 National Sports Associations, claiming it could be detrimental to their grassroots programs.

This is why I recommended to the authors of the bill that they amend it to focus on the protocols of play, whether it be combat sports or team sports, Ramirez said. What I am after is the safety conditions of theequipment andvenue and the technical knowledge of those running the event.

When we were the athletic director of a school in the south we all had that, said Ramirez, who was the former athletic director of Ateneo de Davao.

He also shared his thoughts on the qualifications of sports coaches and safety guidelines of sports events.

He pointed out that being a former national athlete is not an assurancethat you will be a good coach. That is why I believe that a coach should have a bachelors degree in physical education so he will have a better understanding of human physiology, the muscle development of a child athlete.

Ramirez stressed that technical knowledge is essential as a coach because if you have achild who should only have 10 hours of training weekly and you have him doing 20 hours this will lead to burnout and he might get injured.

Kung wala kang alam sa human physiology and technical knowledge, you might destroy the child. So the qualifications of coaches are important.

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PSC: Focus should be on health, safety - Malaya

Cell Biology

Special Genes Behind the Pressure Sensor of the Venus Flytrap – SciTechDaily

December 13, 2020 medical

Open trap of Dionaea muscipula with potential prey. Middle: basal part of a trigger hair, where action potentials are elicited in the sensory cells upon touch stimulation. During the late phase of the action potential, potassium ions need to be reimported into the sensory cells via KDM1 to enable the generation of consecutive action potentials. Credit: Ines Kreuzer, Soenke Scherzer / University of Wuerzburg

The display of a smartphone reacts to finger pressure. The carnivorous Venus flytrap, on the other hand, even notices when a lightweight like a fly lands on it. Special genes make this possible.

All plant cells can be made to react by touch or injury. The carnivorous Venus flytrap (Dionaea muscipula) has highly sensitive organs for this purpose: sensory hairs that register even the weakest mechanical stimuli, amplify them, and convert them into electrical signals that then spread quickly through the plant tissue.

Researchers from Julius-Maximilians-Universitt (JMU) Wrzburg in Bavaria, Germany, have isolated individual sensory hairs and analyzed the gene pool that is active in catching insects. In the process, we found for the first time the genes that presumably serve throughout the plant kingdom to convert local mechanical stimuli into systemic signals, says JMU plant researcher Professor Rainer Hedrich.

Thats a fine thing, because virtually nothing was known about mechano-receptors in plants until now. Hedrichs team presents the results in the open-access journal PLOS Biology.

The hinged trap of Dionaea consists of two halves, each carrying three sensory hairs. When a hair is bent by touch, an electrical signal, an action potential, is generated at its base. At the base of the hair are cells in which ion channels burst open due to a stretching of their envelope membrane and become electrically conductive. The upper part of the sensory hair acts as a lever that amplifies the stimulus triggered by even the lightest prey.

These micro-force-touch sensors thus transform the mechanical stimulus into an electrical signal that spreads from the hair over the entire flap trap. After two action potentials, the trap snaps shut. Based on the number of action potentials triggered by the prey animal during its attempts to free itself, the carnivorous plant estimates whether the prey is big enough whether it is worth setting the elaborate digestion in motion.

To investigate the molecular basis for this unique function, Hedrichs team harvested about 1000 sensory hairs. Together with JMU bioinformatician Professor Jrg Schultz, they set out to identify the genes in the hairs.

In the process, we noticed that the fingerprint of the genes active in the hair differs from that of the other cell types in the trap, says Schulz. How is the mechanical stimulus converted into electricity? To answer this, we focused on the ion channels that are expressed in the sensory hair or are found exclusively there, says Hedrich.

The sensory hair-specific potassium channel KDM1 stood out. Newly developed electrophysiological methods showed that without this channel, the electrical excitability of the sensory hairs is lost, i.e. they can no longer fire action potentials. Now we need to identify and characterize the ion channels that play an important role in the early phases of the action potential, Hedrich said.

Reference: The Venus flytrap trigger hairspecific potassium channel KDM1 can reestablish the K+ gradient required for hapto-electric signaling by Anda L. Iosip, Jennifer Bhm, Snke Scherzer, Khaled A. S. Al-Rasheid, Ingo Dreyer, Jrg Schultz, Dirk Becker, Ines Kreuzer and Rainer Hedrich, 9 December 2020, PLOS Biology.DOI: 10.1371/journal.pbio.3000964

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Special Genes Behind the Pressure Sensor of the Venus Flytrap - SciTechDaily

Cell Biology

6 scientists in Singapore who have pivoted to Covid-19 related work – The Straits Times

December 13, 2020 medical

SINGAPORE -Meet six scientists in Singaporewho have pivoted away from their areas of expertiseto Covid-19 related work.

PHOTO:NTU SINGAPORE

Professor Stephan Schuster is an environmental detective. Like his crime-solving counterparts, the professor at the Nanyang Technological University's (NTU) School of Biological Sciences looks for what is unseen to the naked eye.

This has come in useful during the Covid-19 pandemic, as humanity battles an invisible foe.

His work involves taking samples from the air and surfaces, and analysing them to find traces of genetic material of organisms like viruses. Both environments are ultra-low biomass environments, meaning each sample might have only a few micrograms of genetic material, said Prof Schuster, who is also deputy centre director for facilities and capacities at NTU's Singapore Centre for Environmental Life Sciences Engineering.

"Nevertheless, the (genetic material) recovered from these samples is very complex, as they originate from many different microbial organisms," he said.

Prof Schuster and his colleagues got cracking. They found in a study pending publication that air pollution could result in negative outcomes for respiratory illnesses, including those with Covid-19.

The Straits Times had earlier reported that microorganisms in the air measure between 0.5 and 10 microns and are likely to reach deep inside the lung tissue. Those with pulmonary diseases may be unable to expel them.

Prof Schuster said they could pivot during the outbreak because of the completion of a five-year research programme on the air microbiome, his skilled co-workers and the availability of tools like air samplers.

"This crisis has proven that scientists all over the world are able and willing to swiftly move to new fields and to apply their knowledge," he said.

ST PHOTO: ARIFFIN JAMAR

At the start of the Covid-19 outbreak, healthcare professionals and policymakers were stumped on many fronts. A key question was how the coronavirus spread from human to human.

Researchers like National University of Singapore (NUS) Associate Professor Tham Kwok Wai leapt into action, tapping their previous work.

Prof Tham, who had studied the spread of viruses such as influenza in an indoor setting, found that the indoor environment was also a primary domain for transmission of the virus that causes Covid-19.

Because of his previous research, he knew there were measures that could control its spread indoors. For instance, increasing ventilation of a room will help to dilute the concentration of the virus in the air, reducing transmission risk. Safe distancing also works, as the viral load diminishes with distance from the infected person, he said.

Passing re-circulating air through high efficiency filters can help to remove viruses that usually "clump" together, said the professor from the NUS School of Design and Environment.

Before Covid-19, Prof Tham's research had focused on the impact of the indoor environment on humans, and on cooling and ventilation technologies for indoor environmental control.

"I began to see how I could apply my research on environmental intervention to Covid-19 at the onset of the pandemic, around December 2019," he said.

Prof Tham said tackling the outbreak requires researchers with various expertise.

Other than virology, for instance, knowledge in aerosol science or fluid mechanics could also help with better understanding of how expelled droplets could spread.

Prof Tham said: "This demonstrates how a trans-disciplinary approach is essential in tackling the Covid-19 challenge holistically. And this constitutes the basis for policy formulation."

ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

Professor Lim Chwee Teck has spent the bulk of his career developing microfluidic biomedical devices, which analyse tiny amounts of fluids to detect diseases such as cancer. But when the Covid-19 crisis was rapidly worsening early this year, he switched to Covid-19 diagnostics.

"We felt we had to do something despite the fact that we had not worked on flu viruses previously," said Prof Lim, director of the National University of Singapore's Institute for Health Innovation & Technology.

Since March, he and his team have developed a portable polymerase chain reaction (PCR) diagnostic system that can produce test results within an hour, and he is currently developing a rapid antigen test kit that can detect Covid-19 within 15 minutes.

The portable PCR kit, called Epidax, uses a specially designed microfluidic chip to process a smaller amount of a nasal swab sample to detect Covid-19 faster.

The portable PCR kit, called Epidax, can produce test results within an hour. ST PHOTO: DESMOND WEE

A reagent is used to extract the RNA and amplify it on the chip, so the PCR test can be done.

"All these features significantly minimise sample handling and shorten the test and waiting time, so patients can get their test results in about an hour or less," said Prof Lim.

In conventional PCR tests, the nasal swabs are sent to a lab to extract the RNA before the test can be done. Those taking a conventional PCR test usually have to wait a day or two for their results.

So far, clinical tests with Epidax have shown 100 per cent accuracy in detecting Covid-19.

Prof Lim hopes that his faster and portable PCR system can be used for rapid screening and mass testing in places such as clinics, schools and offices.

The team has filed a patent for Epidax, and has licensed the technology to a local medical technology company.

ST PHOTO: JASON QUAH

At the onset of the pandemic, Professor Marcus Ong realised that the unprecedented outbreak would not just impact infected patients and front-line healthcare workers.

The virus could put the whole healthcare system, hospitals and all patients under pressure, either directly or indirectly.

To help cushion the impact of the relatively unknown virus on the healthcare system, Prof Ong - senior consultant at Singapore General Hospital's Department of Emergency Medicine - turned towards his research interests in data science and simulation modelling.

Said Prof Ong: "We saw an urgent need to use data to support our health system's response to Covid-19, in order to protect our patients and our healthcare system."

He is speaking from experience, having lost some of his friends and colleagues to severe acute respiratory syndrome in 2003.

"We realised how important a comprehensive, whole-system response was in order to protect the health system from being overwhelmed and to save lives."

Since February, his team has been building computer simulation models based on the pandemic to improve healthcare policies in areas such as resource allocation and business disruptions.

"The virtual outbreak model can be further developed to address different disease outbreak scenarios in the future, and will also enhance our national response to future epidemics," said Prof Ong.

A recent study published by his team found that Covid-19 medical literature written in the early days of the outbreak was focused mainly on clinical elements and diagnosis.

Big-picture issues such as the outbreak's effect on the mental health of healthcare workers and how it affected the care of non-Covid-19 patients, as well as the use of novel technologies, were initially under-explored.

ST PHOTO:TIMOTHY DAVID

Using his expertise in malaria research, Professor Peter Preiser of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) developed a paper test to detect viral proteins produced by the Sars-CoV-2 virus.

The professor of Molecular Genetics & Cell Biology did this by adapting technology he had created to differentiate between types of malaria parasites, knowing there would be a need for reliable diagnostics and a rapid response in a crisis like Covid-19.

The result is a cellulose-based paper test which is able to recognise Sars-CoV-2 proteins in a patients blood sample. If the viral proteins are present, the paper strip changes from white to blue in 10 minutes.

Prof Preiser produced two versions: a serology test which is able to recognise antibodies from past Covid-19 infections; and a rapid antigen test, which is able to detect antigens to identify those who are infected with Covid-19.

Prof Preiser, who is also the Associate Vice-President for biomedical and life sciences at NTU, said that the tests would only cost a few dollars and are able to yield fast results, making them suitable for mass roll-outs.

For instance, the serology test could potentially be used for pre and post vaccinations, to ensure that priority is given to those who have not been infected before, and also ensure that the administered vaccine has been effective.

Conventional serology tests can take between two and 24 hours when performed in a lab, he noted.

The team is now looking at the possibility of using a finger prick method for blood collection, and the possibility of a saliva test for comfort and convenience.

The success of the Covid-19 tests has given us a lot of confidence in (our) technology and provided us with a lot of information on how we can use the same approach to detect other bio markers (for other) infectious diseases, said Prof Preiser.

PHOTO: A*STAR

Social technologist Dr Yang Yinping has a passion for building and applying technology to advance human communications.

She has conducted research in areas like sentiment analysis and emotion recognition, which have useful implications for public health.

For instance, in 2013, she co-led a project to examine social network activities during the H7N9 bird flu outbreak, in collaboration with the Ministry of Health.

Most recently, the principal investigator and group manager at the Agency for Science, Technology and Researchs (A*Star) Institute of High Performance Computing started examining peoples sentiments during the Covid-19 pandemic, using an algorithm system which examines social media posts on Twitter.

To date, more than 124 million worldwide tweets have been collected and processed. They are analysed according to four emotions fear, anger, sadness, and joy, along with the course of events contextualising these feelings.

For instance, fear was the overriding global sentiment when the virus first surfaced, followed by anger, which peaked on March 12, a day after the World Health Organisation declared the Covid-19 virus as a pandemic.

She said these feelings should be monitored closely, as they offer insights into concerns faced by the community.

But sentiments often vary across countries, perhaps owing to each governments response to the pandemic, among other factors, added Dr Yang.

In Singapore, for instance, joy and other positive emotions overtook initial feelings of fear from March 30 onwards, suggesting a sense of pride, gratitude and relief, she noted.

In the coming days, Dr Yang anticipates stronger sentiments of joy, in response to positive news of a vaccine and other treatment developments.

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6 scientists in Singapore who have pivoted to Covid-19 related work - The Straits Times

Immunology

AstraZeneca to buy Alexion in US$39b immunology deal – New Zealand Herald

December 13, 2020 medical

Business

12 Dec, 2020 07:09 PM4 minutes to read

AstraZeneca has agreed to buy US biotechnology group Alexion in a US$39b deal. Photo / Kirsty Wigglesworth

Anglo-Swedish drugmaker AstraZeneca has agreed to buy US biotechnology group Alexion in a US$39 billion ($55.02b) deal, marking the biggest agreement struck by a pharmaceutical company since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic.

The cash-and-stock takeover will deepen AstraZeneca's core focus on immunology, by bringing a pipeline of experimental drugs that target rare diseases as it races to develop a coronavirus vaccine.

For Alexion, the sale follows pressure from activist hedge fund Elliott Management, which in May demanded the company sell itself, citing management missteps.

The transaction announced on Saturday comes after months of speculation that AstraZeneca chief executive Pascal Soriot was hunting for a large target, seeking to take advantage of a soaring share price that has seen the UK drugmaker become one of the largest listed businesses on the FTSE 100.

The transaction values Alexion at US$175 per share, a 45 per cent premium to its closing price on Friday. Alexion shareholders will own about 15 per cent of the combined company.

Under the terms of the transaction, Alexion shareholders will receive US$60 in cash and 2.12 shares from AstraZeneca's US-listed entity for each share they hold.

The acquisition is the biggest transaction in pharmaceuticals since 2019, when AbbVie acquired Allergan for US$63b, and the largest deal to target a US company in any sector this year.

Alexion focuses on diseases that are caused by an uncontrolled activation of a part of the immune system known as the complement system that spurs antibodies' abilities to clear microbes and promotes inflammation. Alexion has a pipeline of 11 molecules that AstraZeneca will help to build on.

The UK-based company believes this approach can also be applied to more common diseases.

Soriot said Alexion would strengthen AstraZeneca's position in the US where it has been rebuilding its presence in recent years, notably in oncology. The benefits flowed both ways, he indicated. Alexion had only a limited foothold in emerging markets "and almost zero presence in China", both areas in which AstraZeneca is strong, allowing for more effective globalisation of Alexion's portfolio.

Soriot said talks began "a few months ago" and that AstraZeneca was not aware of rival bidders. "To our knowledge there was not a competitive process," he said.

Analysts at SVB Leerink said: "While we have long suggested that US$175 was the right range for an acquisition, in today's inflated market we believe investors could demand more from AstraZeneca, or another acquirer."

They added: "This is such a scarce and high-quality asset that in this instance, the final transaction price may need to reach US$200 to satisfy Alexion's shareholders, or to be based more in cash, rather than predominantly stock."

AstraZeneca is targeting US$500m in pre-tax synergies from the deal, which Soriot said would partly come from headcount reduction in general administrative functions. Alexion has about 3,000 employees, while AstraZeneca has about 70,000.

The companies said they expected the acquisition to close in the third quarter of next year.

"When you conclude that the combination is going to be good and is going to work well you do it when the opportunity arises," Soriot said when asked about the interplay of the coronavirus pandemic and the deal.

AstraZeneca became Oxford university's partner for the development of a vaccine for coronavirus earlier this year. It has pledged to sell it at cost during the pandemic, and at no profit to developing nations in perpetuity. It has no native vaccine business, focusing instead on R&D in such areas as oncology.

Peer reviewed data released this month showed a pooled average efficacy of 70 per cent, less than for vaccines made by competitors. Observers have questioned the data, though any one vaccine with efficacy greater than 50 per cent is still set to be approved by European and US regulators.

Soriot said he expected AstraZeneca to be able to file for regulatory approval for the vaccine in the US within six weeks and that approval for some jurisdictions was expected before the end of the year.

Evercore and Centerview Partners were lead financial advisers to AstraZeneca, while Ondra provided capital markets advice. Morgan Stanley, JPMorgan and Goldman Sachs will help AstraZeneca finance the deal. Freshfields was AstraZeneca's legal adviser. Bank of America advised Alexion and Wachtell provided legal advice.

Immunology

Pre-existing influenza immunity impacts antibody quality following seasonal infection and vaccination – Newswise

December 13, 2020 medical

Newswise New research by scientists at the University of Chicago suggests a persons antibody response to influenza viruses is dramatically shaped by their pre-existing immunity, and that the quality of this response differs in individuals who are vaccinated or naturally infected. Their results highlight the importance of receiving the annual flu vaccine to induce the most protective immune response.

The researchers found that most of the initial antibodies stimulated after both influenza infections and influenza vaccinations came from old B cells a type of white blood cell that secretes antibodies indicating the immune systems memory plays a major role in how the body responds early on to a viral infection. These antibodies displayed higher reactivity toward strains of influenza that circulated during an individuals childhood compared to more recent strains.

The study, published December 10, 2020 in the journal Science Translational Medicine, provides those working on a universal influenza vaccine further understanding of how pre-existing immunity affects the development and performance of neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibodies following infection and vaccination. Any effective universal influenza vaccine will depend on scientists identifying conserved parts of the influenza virus that do not mutate over time and that antibodies can target to prevent infection.

Most interestingly, we found that people who were actively sick with influenza had old antibodies that predominantly targeted parts of the virus that dont change but those antibodies specifically targeted non-neutralizing sites, said Haley Dugan, co-first author of the study and a PhD candidate in immunology. When we tested these same antibodies in mice, they werent able to protect them from being infected with influenza.

In contrast, the researchers found that influenza vaccinations boost antibodies that tended to target conserved yet neutralizing regions of the virus, which suggests vaccinations can draw upon pre-existing immunity to prompt more protective responses. Vaccinated individuals also generated many antibodies that targeted new and mutated regions on the virus, suggesting these vaccine-induced antibodies are more adaptable.

Immune system memory ensures a rapid and specific response to previously encountered pathogens. Vaccinations work by exposing the immune system to a small amount of virus, which causes B cells to develop a biological memory to the virus. If the body encounters the same virus later, the immune system is alerted to attack and eliminate the virus.

But in order to be protected, the viral proteins of the infecting strain must typically match those of the strain used in the vaccine. The memory B cells are like keys that fit and bind to the locks the viral proteins. These memory B cells can survive for decades, providing long-lasting protection from future infections. But if the virus mutates and is significantly different, the memory B cells can no longer recognize the viral proteins, potentially leading to infection.

For this reason, the human body is pitted in an evolutionary arms race with the flu. Because influenza viruses rapidly evolve and mutate each season, our immune system has trouble recognizing the viral surface proteins on new influenza strains. As a result, our bodies often rely on old antibodies to fight new influenza strains; this is possible because some parts of the influenza virus that are critical to its structure or function do not change, remaining familiar to our immune system.

Researchers now understand that specific structural and functional parts of the influenza virus that do not change are better for antibodies to target than others. Antibodies that bind to one of these neutralizing sites are able to prevent infection, while antibodies that target non-neutralizing sites often cannot. Scientists believe a persons age, history of exposure to the influenza virus and type of exposure either through infection or vaccination all shape whether their immune system antibodies target neutralizing or non-neutralizing sites on a virus.

In the UChicago study, scientists sought to address a major knowledge gap: Which conserved viral sites are preferentially targeted following natural infection versus vaccination in people, and how does pre-existing immunity play a role in shaping the landscape of neutralizing and non-neutralizing antibodies?

For people who have caught the flu, their pre-existing immunity may make them susceptible to infection or increase the severity of their influenza symptoms if their antibodies are targeting bad or non-neutralizing viral sites, said co-first author and Immunology postdoctoral fellow Jenna Guthmiller, PhD.

By contrast, vaccination largely induces neutralizing and protective antibodies, old and new, highlighting the importance of receiving the seasonal influenza vaccine.

This study provides a major framework for understanding how pre-existing immunity shapes protective antibody responses to influenza in humans, said Patrick Wilson, PhD, a professor of immunology and lead author of the study. We need more studies to determine whether the targeting of specific neutralizing and non-neutralizing viral sites directly impacts a persons likelihood of becoming ill.

The researchers are now examining how early exposure to the influenza virus in children shapes their immune response later in life as a follow-up to this work.

Preexisting immunity shapes distinct antibody landscapes after influenza virus infection and vaccination in humans was written by Patrick Wilson, Haley Dugan, Jenna J. Guthmiller, Philip Arevalo, Min Huang, Yao-Qing Chen, Karlynn Neu, Carole Henry, Nai-Ying Zheng, Linda Yu-Ling Lan, Micah Tepora, Olivia Stovicek, Dalia Bitar, Anna-Karin Palm, Christopher Stamper, Siriruk Changrob, Henry Utset and Sarah Cobey of the University of Chicago and Lynda Coughlan and Florian Krammer of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. The study was funded in part by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Disease and the University of Chicago Committee on Immunology.

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About the University of Chicago Medicine & Biological Sciences

The University of Chicago Medicine, with a history dating back to 1927, is one of the nations leading academic health systems. It unites the missions of the University of Chicago Medical Center, Pritzker School of Medicine and the Biological Sciences Division. Twelve Nobel Prize winners in physiology or medicine have been affiliated with the University of Chicago Medicine. Its main Hyde Park campus is home to the Center for Care and Discovery, Bernard Mitchell Hospital, Comer Childrens Hospital and the Duchossois Center for Advanced Medicine. It also has ambulatory facilities in Orland Park, South Loop and River East as well as affiliations and partnerships that create a regional network of care. UChicago Medicine offers a full range of specialty-care services for adults and children through more than 40 institutes and centers including an NCI-designated Comprehensive Cancer Center. Together with Harvey-based Ingalls Memorial, UChicago Medicine has 1,296 licensed beds, nearly 1,300 attending physicians, over 2,800 nurses and about 970 residents and fellows.

Visit UChicago Medicines health and science news blog at http://www.uchicagomedicine.org/forefront.

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Pre-existing influenza immunity impacts antibody quality following seasonal infection and vaccination - Newswise

Immunology

Immunology expert says lockdowns could be a thing of the past by end of January – RSVP Live

December 13, 2020 medical

A top Irish immunology expert said lockdowns could be a thing of the past by the end of February 2020 once the most vulnerable groups get vaccinated.

Trinity Biochemistry Professor Luke O'Neill said getting a million people vaccinated by the beginning of March is the goal and that once this happens, people will no longer have to live in 'fear' of Covid-19.

He said: "We want to get a million people vaccinated by the end of February, thats the goal we want to get a lot of people vaccinated as quickly as we can really."

Speaking to Claire Byrne on her RTE Radio 1 show, the respected immunologist continued: "Its the vulnerable that has to go first, so we have to have the people in nursing homes, older people, people with underlying health conditions and the healthcare workers.

"Now thats a really important group if we get those vaccinated the fear begins to go away from this virus, the death rate plummets you have less people getting sick you have less illness.

"So if we can just get the vaccine to that group that is a triumph."

Getting the rest of the population immunised will take a lot longer, he said - but vaccinating the most vulnerable people should reduce the need for severe restrictions and lockdowns.

Keep up-to-date with all the very latest celebrity, health, beauty, parenting and entertainment news with the RSVPLive.ie app

Only select news that interests you by picking the topics you want to display on the app's homepage.

Plus, our enhanced user experience includes live blogs, video, interactive maps and slick picture galleries.

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Luke said: "The fact is if we can get this first group vaccinated, were in a much better place in terms of this virus and some of the fear goes away and the government then cant justify lockdown in that situation."

"Can you imagine if we get to the end of January and half a million people are vaccinated? These worries will go away but we have to be patient.

"With the HSE this is tricky, it will take a little bit of time weeks to a couple of months.

In the meantime however, he reminded listeners that there is no vaccine in Ireland and how important it to stick to current guidelines.

"We must keep wearing the masks and the hand washing and things for the foreseeable future," he said.

"Weve got to keep banging that drum for the next three, six months plus maybe keep wearing masks, keep an eye on this thing. We can relax a little bit here and there but follow the public health guidelines, especially in the next two or three weeks that is essential.

"If we take our eye off the ball in the next two or three weeks itll be really worrying.

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Immunology expert says lockdowns could be a thing of the past by end of January - RSVP Live

Immunology

Boehringer Ingelheim to Acquire Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen to Strengthen its Next Generation Cancer Immunology Program – Business Wire

December 12, 2020 medical

INGELHEIM, Germany & OCHSENHAUSEN, Germany--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Boehringer Ingelheim today announced the execution of the agreement on the acquisition of Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen. The acquisition will enable Boehringer Ingelheim to further expand and accelerate its comprehensive program for the development of ATMP-based immuno-oncology therapies including the Vesicular Stomatitis Virus (VSV) with modified glycoprotein (GP) platform and cancer vaccines platforms. Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen has outstanding experience in process development, manufacturing and analytical characterization in virology besides expertise in microbiology and cell culture. Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen has already worked in close collaboration with Boehringer Ingelheim on viral-based therapy development since 2015.

The acquisition of Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen is strengthening our promising pipeline with diverse potential first-in-class cancer immunology and cancer cell directed therapies for patients with hard-to-treat cancer, said Dr. Michel Pairet, member of Boehringer Ingelheims Board of Managing Directors with responsibility for the companys Innovation Unit. The trusting and highly effective collaboration between our scientists and the Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen team has already contributed significantly to our progress in viral-based cancer therapies. We will welcome the Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen team and look forward to jointly advancing our program in this area.

Boehringer Ingelheim is taking cancer on by strengthening its position in cancer immunology, with a focus on cancer vaccines, oncolytic viruses, T-cell engagers, stromal modulators and myeloid cell modulators by combining its world-class, in-house research and development with that of highly innovative external companies. The addition of Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegens site will enable Boehringer Ingelheim to further strengthen its oncolytic virus and cancer vaccine development capabilities and capacities by establishing an end-to-end fully integrated center of excellence for virus development and clinical manufacturing. It will add to a series of strategic acquisitions and collaborations over the past years, including the acquisition of ViraTherapeutics and AMAL Therapeutics, which are contributing assets that will be further developed at Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegens site.

Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen is a privately-held company founded in 1971. It is headquartered in Ochsenhausen, Germany, close to Boehringer Ingelheims Biberach R&D site. As a center of excellence in virology, Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen has a long track record in GLP and GMP certified biosafety testing. In recent years Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen established its GMP-virus manufacturing facility. With around 130 highly qualified and specialized employees, the company has built considerable expertise in process development, manufacturing and analytical characterization of viral therapeutics and oncolytic viral therapeutics. Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen will be integrated with all employees as a new unit into Boehringer Ingelheims Development organization and continue to operate at its Ochsenhausen site. A future expansion is planned.

Following our successful strategic partnership, we are really excited to join forces with Boehringer Ingelheim, said Dr. Ingrid Rapp, CEO at Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen. Boehringer Ingelheim is a truly global pharmaceutical company with excellent R&D capacities. We look forward to taking our next development step in oncology as part of this outstanding team.

The companies did not disclose the financial terms of the deal. The transaction is subject to the approval of the competition authorities in Germany. Closing will follow thereafter.

Please click on the following link for Notes to Editors:

http://www.boehringer-ingelheim.com/press-release/agreement-acquire-labor-dr-merk

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Boehringer Ingelheim to Acquire Labor Dr. Merk & Kollegen to Strengthen its Next Generation Cancer Immunology Program - Business Wire

Immunology

Immunology Drug Market: Rising threat of immunological and autoimmune diseases across the globe is expected to drive the market – BioSpace

December 12, 2020 medical

Immunology Drug Market: Snapshot

The rising threat of immunological and autoimmune diseases across the globe and the escalating awareness about ways to overcome these diseases may help the immunology drug market may gain substantial growth across the assessment period of 2020-2030.

The immune system is one of the most important components of the human body. It protects and guards the body against diseases and foreign bodies. It detects threats like viruses, parasites, and bacteria. When the immune system is weak or becomes incapable of protecting the body from diseases or disorders, it leads to autoimmune diseases and cancer.

These drugs help in curing autoimmune diseases. The drugs also assist in killing the cancer cells and have become the preferred choice of many. Thus, this factor can serve as a vital growth factor for the immunology drug market.

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Immunology drugs are segmented into various classes such as immunosuppressive medication, monoclonal antibodies, interferon and cytokine therapies, and antibody-drug conjugates. The utilization of immunology drugs across cancer research centers, cancer institutes, hospitals, and clinics will assist in boosting the growth of the immunology drug market.

The study on the immunology drug market helps the stakeholder to eliminate the barriers of fake information and offers a total analysis of varied segments. The report offers a five-factor (latest trends, industry analysis, a detailed study on the regions, prominent players, and recent developments) advantage to the stakeholder. This factor plays a crucial role in imparting the right information to the stakeholder.

Furthermore, the study pays attention to the effect of the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic and also on the dangers that may hurt the growth of the immunology drug market. The detailed study conducted by the researchers also sheds light on the opportunities and challenges that the immunology drug market may face between 2020 and 2030.

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Immunology Drug Market: Industry Prospects

The immunology drug market has numerous players that are involved in fierce competition. These players increase competition through novel product launches. The introduction of new drugs with enhanced features enables the players to rake in good revenues. For discovering new insights into the immunology drug landscape and formulating drugs, the players invest heftily in research and development activities.

Mergers, acquisitions, joint ventures, collaborations, and partnerships play a crucial role in cementing the foothold of the players in the immunology drug market. This factor eventually brings profitable growth.

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Expansion activities and advertising are also among the top priorities of the players in the immunology drug market. Expansion activities lead to the exploration of untapped opportunities while advertising helps the players to generate awareness about their drugs among the target consumer base.

Key players in the immunology drug market are GlaxoSmithKline plc, Active Biotech, Pfizer, Inc., Abbott Laboratories, Sanofi Aventis LLC, Seattle Genetics, Inc., Eli Lilly and Company, and Genentech, Inc.

Pursuing Precision Immunotherapy for Cancer: Approaches and Challenges – Technology Networks

December 12, 2020 medical

Technology Networks recently had the pleasure of speaking with Prof. Stephen Schoenberger of La Jolla Institute for Immunology to learn more about his laboratorys work, directed towards achieving a comprehensive mechanistic understanding of the generation and regulation of T-cell responses in the context of infection and cancer development.Schoenberger discusses the concept, promise and challenges of precision immunotherapies, and explains how synthetic biology approaches can be used to develop such therapeutics.

Q: What is the goal of precision immunotherapy, and how does this approach differ to other immunotherapeutic approaches?A: Broadly speaking, immunotherapy involves the application of strategies through which various components of the immune system can be directed to eradicate cancer. To-date, this has involved both leveraging positive signals, such as cytokines that promote growth/effector functionality in specific cellular subsets or antibodies that engage costimulatory pathways, as well as methods of uncoupling inhibitory signalling pathways that otherwise restrain the anti-tumor immune response. Although each of these approaches has had a degree of success in specific settings, their effects are not universal across all cancer types, and often come with an appreciable risk of undesired immune damage to normal tissues. This is perhaps understandable when one unleashes the power of the immune system but does not control its targeting. Precision immunotherapy seeks to address this critical issue of tumor-specific targeting to ensure that the potency of the immune system is directed specifically at the cancer cells while minimizing collateral damage to normal cells. The surest way to achieve that at present is to target features that are specific to the tumor.

Q: How can synthetic biology be leveraged to aid the development of precision immunotherapies?A: I believe that the greatest impact of synthetic biology will be in the development of more powerful and precise therapeutic vaccines. Cancer is a genetic disease, meaning it results from specific gene mutations, that alter cells normal functioning and can give rise to neoantigens. These antigens, encoded by tumor-specific mutated genes, are displayed exclusively on the surface of transformed cells. A key goal of precision immunotherapy is to identify the subset that can serve as neoantigens that are recognized by a patients T cells and then to activate/amplify this response. Synthetic biology, and specifically nanoengineering, offer entirely new possibilities for leveraging the potential of the immune system to mount a powerful and coordinated attack on the tumor that is both achievable on a patient-specific basis and scalable. The challenge now is to understand the components of a rationally-designed synthetic vaccine that can induce the desired therapeutic response from the natural biology of a cancer patients immune system.

Q: Can you please elaborate on your lab's work focused on exploring the mechanistic underpinnings of T-cell responses, both in response to infectious pathogens and during cancer development?A: Im fortunate to have received my training in immunology at a time when the fundamental rules that govern the response of T cells to both infectious pathogens and normal self were first being understood at the cellular and molecular level. Since my post-doctoral training with Prof. Kees Melief at the University of Leiden, Ive sought to apply this emerging knowledge to explore whether the same mutations that define the transformed state in cancer cells could be targets for immune recognition and destruction by CD4+ and CD8+ T cells. To approach this, I first needed to understand how T cells work, and have pursued this goal in the context of experimental models of microbial infection, autoimmunity and cancer for over 20 years. During that time, my lab has made contributions to the understanding of CD4+/CD8+ T cell regulation and have identified some of the genes and pathways that govern this. In parallel, remarkable progress in the field of immunology has produced a body of knowledge that enables an integrated and holistic view of immunity and the parameters that influence the class, magnitude, specificity and regulation of immune responses. The emerging view is that tumors occupy a special niche within the context of immunity. They are clearly different than normal cells because of the mutated proteins they express, and should therefore be recognizable by the immune system, but lack the molecular features of infectious pathogens that are needed to initiate and amplify that response.

Q: Can you talk to us about the concept of a vaccine design for certain types of cancer, and how the work of your lab helps to inform research in this space?A: The work in my lab towards vaccine design has proceeded along two main paths: targeting and delivery. Through the first path, we have pursued methods of identifying which mutations expressed in a tumor represent therapeutically-actionable targets; which mutations can serve as neoantigens, in other words. The advent of rapid and cost-effective genomic sequencing has made the routine identification of expressed mutations in cancer widely possible, and much effort in the field of immuno-oncology has been applied towards determining which of these can be "seen" by the patients immune system, with the overwhelming majority of these taking a predictive computational approach. We have taken a different tack on this, and one based on the assumption that within the cancer patient, the immune system has already mounted a physiological T-cell response to a subset of the expressed mutations that is quantitatively small and therapeutically ineffective, but which can be expanded and empowered through vaccination to eradicate disseminated metastases. The second arm of this effort is focused on methods to improve the specificity, potency and durability of therapeutic vaccine-induced T-cell responses based on an integrated holistic view of the immune system. These efforts involve coordination of the innate and adaptive arms of the immune system, synergies between CD4+ and CD8+ T cells, and evaluating vaccine formulations that are both potent and cost-effective, and which can be produced rapidly enough to meet clinical needs of the patient. There are a number of challenges, but I am convinced that these can be overcome to make the routine and reliable delivery of effective personalized cancer vaccines a clinical reality.

Q: What key challenges remain in pursuing precision immunotherapy?A: Progress in the research space has raised the hypothetical foundations of precision immunotherapy to the level of proof it is now clear that when properly targeted and delivered in sufficient numbers, T cells can eradicate disseminated metastatic cancer. The main challenges, to me, are to understand the mechanistic details underlying successful immunotherapy, to learn the reasons why it works and under what conditions, and then to devise ways in which this information can be applied widely in the setting of community-level oncology. This will require approaches that can quickly move academic discoveries to clinical evaluation and, if successful, to a manufacturing process that is rugged and scalable. This will take new thinking at every level to ensure that scarce resources are directed to not only that which is possible but almost from inception to that which is feasible.

Q: How do you envision your research focus and the technologies that you adopt might evolve over the forthcoming years?A: A central feature of science is that new and often unanticipated technologies can enable huge leaps forward in whats possible, and Ive witnessed this numerous times in my own field in the form of flow cytometry, peptide/MHC tetramers, transgenic mice, laser-confocal microscopy, next-generation sequencing and CRISPR-based genome engineering among others. Although we do not usually focus on their development, Ive tried to stay aware of new technologies and incorporate them into our research when I can understand and appreciate their potential. At heart, however, Im a relatively simple biologist who tends to focus on one question at a time, and at present, that is to understand whether cancer patients possess within their own immune system the capacity to recognize the mutations that define and distinguish cancer and eradicate it based on those differences.

Technologies that will aid in answering that question, and do so for the clinical benefit of cancer patients, will be those that allow insights into the mutations expressed by the cancer and the immune response, earlier, with greater sensitivity and in a less-invasive manner than whats currently possible. A fundamental change in my approach to this scientific problem has been necessarily compelled with the switch from experimental clinical models to our current situation, in which every case we study is a fellow human who has a reasonable expectation to benefit from technological advances to make their treatment more precise, effective and tolerable. Towards that, Im encouraged by advances in the imaging of cancer, liquid biopsy technologies and single-cell sequencing that can allow unprecedented insights into the cancer genome and the T-cell response, and expect that progress in these areas will be crucial to our research goals.

Professor Stephen Schoenberger was speaking with Molly Campbell and Laura Elizabeth Lansdowne, Science Writers, Technology Networks.

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Pursuing Precision Immunotherapy for Cancer: Approaches and Challenges - Technology Networks

Immunology

AbbVie’s arthritis hotshot Rinvoq grabs a win in ulcerative colitis – FiercePharma

December 12, 2020 medical

AbbVies next-gen immunology med Rinvoq has been turning heads with its rheumatoid arthritis launch, but it was never meant to stop there. While attention has largely been focused on its atopic dermatitis prospects, the drug posted data Wednesday that showed its coming to play in ulcerative colitis (UC), too.

In a phase 2b/3 study, Rinvoq topped placebo at helping previously untreated UC patients achieve remission by the eight-week mark. Twenty-six percentof those in the trials Rinvoq arm hit that benchmark, versus just 5% of those on placebo.

The drug also hit a range of secondary endpoints, including topping placebo at producing any benefit among patients; 73%of Rinvoq patients responded to treatment at eight weeks, compared with 27% of placebo patients.

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Join Derek Solum, Ph.D., Associate Director, Product Development at United Therapeutics, and Brian Keppler, Ph.D., Director, Discovery and Translational Sciences, Metabolon, Inc., as they share how metabolomics helped United Therapeutics enhance its multi-omics platform and improve decision-making across all phases of drug development.

RELATED:AbbVie pegs growth to booming Skyrizi, Rinvoq in post-merger future. But neurology could be a 'sleeper'

The results are important, given that many UC patients still do not achieve disease control despite the wealth of treatment options available on the market, Michael Severino, M.D., AbbVie vice chairman and president, said in a statement.

Those options include Humira, AbbVies aging anti-TNF megablockbuster whose sales the company is trying to replace with Rinvoq and fellow new launch Skyrizi. They also include Pfizers Xeljanzwhich, along with Rinvoq, is part of the JAK inhibitor classand Johnson & Johnson's IL-12/IL-23 giant Stelara. And soon, they could feature Bristol Myers Squibbs Zeposia, an S1P receptor modulator, which earlier this year hit the scene in multiple sclerosis.

But the way SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges sees it, Rinvoq outperformed at least a few of those options. "We are impressed by the strong efficacy shown by Rinvoq, which seems to be superior" to Xeljanz and the other JAK inhibitor that's been studied in UCGilead's filgotinib"as well as the biologicals including TNFs and IL-12/23s," he wrote in a Thursday note to clients.

Bernstein analyst Ronny Gal felt similarly about how Rinvoq looked relative to its future Pfizer rival, writing in his own note to clients that the data show "clear efficacy signal, better than Xeljanz, and within the ballpark of what has been seen across the UC field."

RELATED:AbbVie's Rinvoq scores pivotal trial win in eczema. But do dermatologists trust JAK inhibitors?

UC isnt the only disease area where Rinvoq is threatening. It came through in two pivotal atopic dermatitis trials over the summer, most recently showing it could spur a 75% reduction in symptoms at 16 weeks in 60% of study patients.

Of course, competition isnt exactly light in that field, either, with Sanofi and Regenerons blockbuster Dupixent running the show. But between those indications and a raft of others where AbbVie is currently trialing the drug, analysts figure Rinvoq can build on its current rheumatoid arthritis sales to eventually hit $2.2 billion in 2023.

For now, the med is right where it needs to be for AbbVie, which is gearing up to lose Humira exclusivity. In the third quarter, Rinvoq and Skyrizi combined to post $650 million in sales, keeping the duo on pace to generate more than $2 billion for the year.

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AbbVie's arthritis hotshot Rinvoq grabs a win in ulcerative colitis - FiercePharma