April 24, 2020

As circumstances around coronavirus (COVID-19) continue to evolve quickly, the California Biotechnology Foundation wants to keep you informed about the progress being made by biotechnology researchers in California and across the nation to expand available testing, treat the virus and prevent its spread.

The following resources track what progress has been made as of April 24, 2020. Notable advancements include:

• Gilead Science’s clinical trial of remdesivir is seeing rapid recoveries for severe COVID-19 cases, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week.
• Regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized the first coronavirus test that allows for at-home sample collection, developed by LabCorp.
• Governor Gavin Newsom announced the state had ordered 1.5 million coronavirus serology tests from Abbott Laboratories to be used at 130 facilities across California.

Recent News:

• AstraZeneca Pilots Diabetes Drug as Potential COVID-19 Treatment
  Reuters – April 23, 2020
  Britain’s AstraZeneca is testing a diabetes drug as a potential treatment for COVID-19 patients who also had existing heart and kidney problems, its second trial of an approved therapy to help treat the disease caused by the coronavirus.
• Drugmakers Prepare to Make Coronavirus Treatments
  Wall Street Journal – April 23, 2020
  Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer Inc. and other companies are gearing up so they can make hundreds of millions of doses of coronavirus pills and shots as quickly as possible if studies support their worth.
• Two drugs studied in Bay Area could lessen coronavirus deaths, hospitalizations
  San Francisco Chronicle – April 23, 2020
  Two drugs being studied by Bay Area doctors for use in fighting coronavirus infections may keep more COVID-19 patients alive and out of the hospital if proved effective.
• Pfizer, BioNTech Covid Vaccine Cleared for Human Tests
  Bloomberg – April 22, 2020
  Pfizer Inc. and BioNTech SE secured approval for Germany’s first human clinical trials of a possible coronavirus vaccine, entering a global race to develop a defense against the pandemic.
• Rancho Cordova scientists hope to market coronavirus treatment to hospitals in 2 months
  Sacramento Bee – April 22, 2020
  Scientists in the Sacramento area believe they have developed a way to keep the new coronavirus from finding the doorknob that it typically turns to enter human lung cells. Chris Xu, the CEO of Rancho Cordova-based ThermoGenesis, said the biopharmaceutical treatment could go to market within two months.
• 5 Million Abbott Serology Tests Ordered For CA: Coronavirus
  Patch – April 22, 2020
  On Wednesday, Gov. Gavin Newsom announced the state has ordered 1.5 million coronavirus serology tests from Abbott Laboratories to be used at 130 facilities across California.
• FDA greenlights first COVID-19 test with at-home sample collection
  STAT – April 21, 2020
  Regulators at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday authorized the first coronavirus test that lets people collect a sample at home, developed by testing giant LabCorp.
• Hundreds Receive Plasma From Recovered Coronavirus Patients in National Study
  Wall Street Journal – April 21, 2020
  Six hundred severely ill COVID-19 patients have received blood plasma from recovered patients in a study researchers hope sheds light on whether the experimental therapy improves health outcomes.
• Grifols says anti-coronavirus hyperimmune immunoglobins may be ready mid-July
  Reuters – April 21, 2020
  Spanish pharmaceutical company Grifols said on Tuesday the hyperimmune immunoglobins it is developing as a treatment against SARS-COV-2 could be ready in mid-July.
• Novartis steps up to study hydroxychloroquine in COVID-19
  STAT – April 20, 2020
  The drug giant Novartis said Monday it would conduct a 450-person study to determine if hydroxychloroquine, the malaria drug touted by many pundits and President Trump, can effectively treat Covid-19.
• Edesa Biotech in-licenses two COVID-19 candidates
  Seeking Alpha – April 20, 2020
  Edesa Biotech inks an agreement with Swiss firm Light Chain Bioscience for exclusive global rights to two Phase 2-ready biologic candidates that, it says, may show efficacy in COVID-19 patients with acute respiratory distress syndrome and lung injury.
• Spain Reviewing Trial to Treat COVID-19 Pneumonia With Myeloma Therapy Aplidin
  Myeloma Research News – April 20, 2020
  Madrid-based PharmaMar has submitted the protocol for a Phase 2 trial to the Spanish Medicines and Healthcare Products Agency (AEMPS) to test its multiple myeloma therapy Aplidin (plitidepsin) in people with COVID-19 pneumonia.
• CRISPR And Spit Might Be Keys To Faster, Cheaper, Easier Tests For The Coronavirus
  NPR – April 17, 2020
  Being able to test for coronavirus infections is a critical component to reopening society — even a little bit — after the initial wave of COVID-19. One approach to the next generation of tests is being developed by the University of California, San Francisco Medical School and Mammoth Biosciences.
• NIH spearheads broad partnership with drugmakers, regulators to speed COVID-19 therapies
  BioPharma Dive – April 17, 2020
  The National Institutes of Health has launched a sweeping public-private partnership with 16 drugmakers, including Pfizer, Amgen, Bristol Myers Squibb and GlaxoSmithKline, to help speed up and organize a now-sprawling search for COVID-19 treatments.
• The COVID Test Lab That Could Save America
  Bloomberg – April 17, 2020
  On March 12, DeRisi decided to turn the Biohub into a coronavirus testing lab. He enlisted the help of 200 University of California at San Francisco graduate students, and persuaded Newsom to issue an executive order that would allow the Biohub to operate under U.S. regulations.
• Early peek at data on Gilead coronavirus drug suggests patients are responding to treatment
  STAT – April 16, 2020
  A Chicago hospital treating severe Covid-19 patients with Gilead Sciences’ antiviral medicine remdesivir in a closely watched clinical trial is seeing rapid recoveries in fever and respiratory symptoms, with nearly all patients discharged in less than a week, STAT has learned.

Rely on California Biotechnology Foundation to monitor breaking news and provide updates on the latest advancements in COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines and treatments.

Stay informed on the latest news and trends on the economic and health benefits of this industry by visiting the new CABiotech.org

If you have any questions about informational briefings contact California Biotechnology Foundation Executive Director Patty Cooper at (916)764-2434 or [email protected].