By Nancy Lapid
June 16 (Reuters) - The following is a roundup of some of
the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and
efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the
illness caused by the virus.
Regeneron COVID-19 drug helps hardly sick and hospitalized
patients
An antibody cocktail from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc
and Roche showed benefits for a wide range of
COVID-19 patients, from those without symptoms to hospitalized
patients whose immune systems have not mounted a natural
antibody response to the virus, two research teams reported on
medRxiv ahead of peer review. The cocktail, REGEN-COV, is
already being used intravenously in the United States to keep
symptomatic COVID-19 patients out of the hospital. In a large
new trial in U.S. adults and adolescents with coronavirus
detected in the nose but no symptoms, researchers compared the
effects of a single under-the-skin injection of the drug to a
placebo. The results, released on Monday, showed the treatment
cut patients' risk of developing symptoms by 32%. It also
reduced the amount of virus patients carry, said study leader
Meagan O'Brien of Regeneron. When symptoms did develop, they
resolved five-to-six days faster with the drug. No one who got
the drug required an emergency room visit or hospitalization,
compared to six people in the placebo group. In a separate study
from the UK released on Wednesday, intravenous treatment with
REGEN-COV reduced the risk of death in hospitalized patients
whose immune systems had not produced antibodies to the
coronavirus. Treatment also shortened these patients' hospital
stays and reduced their odds of needing mechanical ventilation.
No benefit was seen, however, in patients who already had their
own antibodies. (https://bit.ly/3iM3qqb; https://bit.ly/3zwiqyp;
https://reut.rs/3iIw7Es)
Some lymph node cancers limit COVID-19 vaccine responses
Some patients with lymph node cancers will have good
antibody responses to COVID-19 vaccines, but others will need
further protection, according to new data. The UK PROSECO study
tested antibody levels in 129 lymphoma patients after their
first and/or second dose of the Pfizer/BioNTech
or AstraZeneca vaccines. Responses were mixed,
researchers reported on Saturday on medRxiv ahead of peer
review. Patients vaccinated during or within six months after
treatment for their blood cancer were unlikely to develop good
antibody responses, researchers found. These patients need to be
revaccinated, said study leader Dr. Sean Hua Lim of the
University of Southampton. Among patients who had never received
treatment, or who had completed treatment more than six months
prior, those with curable lymphomas responded well to the
vaccine. All five with Hodgkin lymphoma, and seven of eight with
aggressive B-cell lymphomas developed strong antibody responses.
But 18 of 36 patients with incurable indolent lymphomas, like
follicular lymphoma, had lower antibody levels than other
patient groups. For these patients, "further measures such as
boosting with a different vaccine, or prophylactic treatment
with antibodies should be considered," Lim said. (https://bit.ly/3iJewvZ)
Coronavirus may have been in U.S. in late December
At least seven people in five U.S. states were infected with
the novel coronavirus weeks before the states reported their
first cases, a large government study suggests. Researchers who
analyzed more than 24,000 blood samples taken for a National
Institutes of Health research program between Jan. 2 and March
18, 2020 found that samples showing antibodies to the
coronavirus came as early as Jan. 7 from participants in
Illinois, Massachusetts, Mississippi, Pennsylvania and
Wisconsin. They do not know whether people with positive samples
became infected during travel or while in their own communities.
They do know, however, that people with antibodies were likely
exposed to the virus weeks before their sample was taken, as
antibodies do not appear until about two weeks of infection,
according to a report published on Tuesday in Clinical
Infectious Diseases. The data suggest the virus was in U.S.
states far from the initial hotspots and areas that were
considered its points of entry into the country, the authors
said. The researchers followed U.S. Centers for Disease Control
and Prevention guidelines for minimizing false-positive results.
Experts not involved in the study said more research is needed
to confirm that the positive early samples are not due to common
cold antibodies. (https://bit.ly/3pYoEmm;
https://reut.rs/3ww3uOY)
Flu shots, COVID-19 vaccine can be given together
People may be able to get an annual flu shot and a COVID-19
vaccine at the same time, a UK study suggests. The 431 study
participants all received influenza vaccines manufactured by
Seqirus, a unit of CSL Ltd. They also received either
the not-yet-approved COVID-19 vaccine from Novavax Inc,
which has been highly effective in clinical trials, or a
placebo. The results, posted on Sunday on medRxiv and submitted
for review to The Lancet, suggest the two vaccines do not
interfere with each other. The efficacy of both the influenza
vaccine and the Novavax vaccine "appeared to be preserved,"
Seqirus said in a statement. "No additional safety concerns were
found with co-administration and adverse events were similar to
the incidence and severity for each vaccine when administered
separately," it said. (https://bit.ly/3zwwpnT;
https://reut.rs/3gD4ASe)
Open https://tmsnrt.rs/3c7R3Bl in an external browser for a
Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.
(Reporting by Nancy Lapid, Alistair Smout and Amruta Khandekar;
Editing by Bill Berkrot)
Astrazeneca (AZN)
