First read out from a neutralizing antibody clinical trial. A step in the right direction for this class of drugs that could be used in many ways vs #COVID19.
Why is this important? 1. This is the 1st clinical trial of a drug specifically designed for #SARSCoV2. All previous trials were repurposed drugs (HCQ, dexamethasone, Remdesivir, etc). Safety data are encouraging
2. The class of drugs has the potential to be used as a prevention in high-risk individuals, and intervention in mild to moderate covid (as in the current trial) or severe, subcritical. The data from non-human primates supports this multi-pronged use.
3. The issues of difficulty in producing the antibodies at scale and their likely high cost are barriers to keep in mind, beyond the fact that real proof of efficacy has yet to be established.
4. Nonetheless, before having a safe and effective vaccine, mAbs represent our best near term shot of a potent therapy. They haven't attracted as much attention as vaccines, since they represent a bridge, not a definitive exit strategy. These days all positive news is welcome.
Breaking down the risks and benefit for lecanemab, the amyloid beta-directed antibody vs Alzheimer's drug approved @US_FDA last year. It doesn't look good.
My oped on the JN.1 variant and the 2nd biggest US wave of infections (after Omicron) since the pandemic began
@latimes @latimesopinion #LongCovid latimes.com/opinion/story/…
Recent @CDCgov #SARSCoV2 wastewater data for current wave (vs Omicron Jan 2022 and subsequent waves), graph by @luckytran
Sorry, @washingtonpost, but this is not "another Covid-19 uptick" as you put it in your Health Alert. You ignore the best metric for infections that we have at present—wastewater—focusing only on hospitalizations washingtonpost.com/health/2024/01…
3 New #LongCovid reports 1. Vaccination protection—1 dose 21%, 2 doses 59%, 3 doses 73% among ~590,000 people in Sweden (strong association) bmj.com/content/383/bm…
2. 3-year prospective follow up of a cohort of ~1350 participants, hospitalized in China
—Lung function restored back to baseline in most
—Higher risk of reinfection that people w/o Long Covid
—Half w/ persistent symptoms thelancet.com/journals/lanre…
3. At @RSNA annual meeting, brain MRI with microstructure imaging (DMI), participants with #LongCovid vs controls had microstructure changes associated with impaired cognition, sense of smell and fatigue eurekalert.org/news-releases/…
Big news #ESC2023 and @NEJM
In a placebo-controlled randomized trial of people with obesity + heart failure (with preserved ejection fraction). semaglutide (Wegovy) markedly improved symptoms, exercise time, reduced inflammatory markers (and weight loss) nejm.org/doi/full/10.10…
This also tells us something about the underlying mechanism of heart failure with preserved EF—metabolic dysfunction and attendant systemic inflammation—not previously acknowledged or confirmed
The accompanying editorial lays this finding out well. Prior studies of weight loss didn't help HFpEF
Two new papers @NatureMedicine and @JAMAInternalMed shed light on #LongCovid at 2-years. But there's no shortage of known unknowns.
Reviewed in a new Ground Truths (link in my profile, because that would be it X-suppressed)