Merck, a leading science and technology company, has announced that VAR2 Pharmaceuticals has been selected as the European winner of its 2020 Advance Biotech Grant Program. Copenhagen, Denmark-based biotechnology company VAR2 Pharmaceuticals was chosen for its development of a promising novel cancer treatment that has the potential to treat multiple types of human solid tumors....

Point-of-care (POC) testing with screen-printed electrodes allows rapid testing of populations for viral outbreaks – at affordable costs, without the need for trained specialists and/or complicated equipment. A free white paper from Metrohm puts a focus on the viability of electrochemical testing citing a number of recent studies on the possibility of POC testing for viruses of various kinds....

Postnova Analytics have published an informative new white paper that details how multi-detector Asymmetrical Field Flow Fractionation (AF4) and Electrical AF4 (EAF4) techniques are transforming the separation and characterization of viruses and antibodies. Viruses are the scientific story of 2020 with the global Coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic thrusting them to the forefront of almost every person’s consciousness around the world....

PrecisionLife’s unique AI platform has found 68 genes associated with risk of developing severe COVID-19 after analysis of the genomes of 929 patients from the UK Biobank who had a severe response to SARS-CoV-2. Prior to an effective and widely available vaccine, PrecisionLife’s insights may help to identify patients who are at greatest risk of developing the most severe forms of COVID-19....

A radical new way of thinking about soil has finally solved the mystery of why adding organic material like manure improves flood and drought resilience, climate control and crop yields - universal ‘ecosystem services’ that are widely recognised as worth billions to the global economy. Founded on more than 50 years’ worth of data from a unique field experiment, researchers have demonstrated...

As experts in haematology HORIBA UK Ltd, Medical announces that the Company has published a white paper entitled, ‘COVID-19 screening, prognosis and severity assessment with biomarkers for management of patients’. Written in collaboration with academic partners, the paper provides a review of routinely measured biomarkers that can provide additional information to help in the assessment of the severity of COVID-19 infection; therefore, supporting clinical decision making for risk stratification and patient management....

Abingdon Health is pleased to announce further expansion at its York headquarters in the UK, following further investment in state-of-the-art lateral flow automation. This will provide a significant increase in its manufacturing footprint, resulting in Europe’s largest capacity for rapid test manufacturing. This news comes weeks after the UK Government announced Abingdon Health as one of the leading members of the UK Rapid Test Consortium (UK-RTC)....

AI VIVO, a company combining systems pharmacology and artificial intelligence (AI) to accelerate drug discovery, has announced that its platform correctly identified dexamethasone as having high potential for the treatment of COVID-19 in April 2020. This demonstrates the ability of AI VIVO’s platform to systematically and correctly identify candidates with the highest chance of therapeutic success.

A new report details potential paths to solutions to overcoming the global Covid-19 crisis and ways to prepare for or even prevent a future pandemic. "There is a tremendous need for a common set of scientific facts about the virus and reliable, verified data," said "Udit Batra, member of the Merck Executive Board and CEO, Life Science. "We are aiming to establish a common baseline of agreed priorities upon which we can engage the wider scientific and innovation community to...

3D label-free imaging identifies real-time cholesterol sorting mechanism in Plasmodium falciparum-infected human erythrocytes. The first study to elucidate the sequential dynamics of membrane cholesterol transport in erythrocytes infected with live Plasmodium falciparum parasites has been successfully concluded using the 3D label-free imaging capability of holotomography microscopy....

The University of Glasgow has been awarded £38m to create the Precision Medicine Living Lab – an internationally leading project focused on translating cutting-edge science and innovation into a real world clinical setting. The Living Lab will be situated on University of Glasgow premises adjacent to the Queen Elizabeth University Hospital Campus in Govan. The government funding is provided through UK Research and Innovation’s flagship Strength in Places Fund, and was announced by Alok Sharma....

Avacta Group plc (AIM: AVCT), the developer of Affimer® biotherapeutics and reagents, is pleased to announce that the first Affimer-based rapid test strips to detect SARS-COV-2 spike protein have been developed and evaluated by Avacta’s partners at Cytiva (formerly GE Healthcare Life Sciences) and show positive initial performance data. In mid-May Avacta provided Affimer reagents that are specific to the SARS-COV-2 spike protein to Cytiva which has now developed the first lateral flow test strips...

Since March, Attana has been assisting the team of Prof Ali Salanti at the University of Copenhagen in their development of a COVID-19 vaccine together with the Prevent-nCov consortium. Their vaccine is based on the Capsid Virus-Like Particle (cVLP) technology where coronavirus antigens are attached to the cVLP allowing the body’s immune system to respond to the antigens and produce antibodies....

Researchers in the Department of Pharmacy at the Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich are using chips from Dolomite Microfluidics to reliably and consistently produce monodisperse particles for targeted delivery of small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics. This microfluidic encapsulation technology is ideal for gene silencing applications in cancer immunology and inflammatory diseases, where siRNA can potentially be used to down-regulate genes associated with these pathologies....

An advanced laboratory dedicated to leading Wales’ national Covid-19 testing has been established in Cardiff, thanks to collaboration between Public Health Wales and one of the world’s leading diagnostics companies. Creating a national Covid-19 testing lab at the University Hospital of Wales is an important part of the Welsh Government’s Test, Trace, Protect strategy and has been made possible thanks to the support...

The COVID-19 pandemic has placed unprecedented pressure on clinical research and diagnostic laboratories to process more samples, much more quickly. INTEGRA Biosciences offers a range of pipetting systems designed to speed up PCR-based screening workflows, without requiring complex installations or needing lab staff to spend time undertaking specialist training and developing new protocols....

A Danish pipetting robot is automating Covid testing processes in hospitals around Europe. The robot, called flowbot ONE, significantly reduces the time it takes for laboratories to produce results for patients to tell them whether they are infected with Covid-19. A unique liquid-handling robot from Denmark is now speeding up the great task of analysing Covid tests....

Four leading participants from the problem-solving exercise will provide facts and data-driven insights on their methodology as well as steps forward to accelerate global recovery from Covid-19 and build the infrastructure to combat future public health crises. This live, virtual event will include an audience Q&A. The six-part series is hosted by the Life Science business of Merck....

Sygnature Discovery, a leading independent integrated drug discovery and pre-clinical services company, is supporting Professor Sachin Gupte, a pharmacologist at the New York Medical College (Valhalla, NY, USA), in his endeavours to find a drug treatment for the lung damage that can result from Covid-19 infection. Sygnature has synthesised two important compounds, which Prof Gupte will test in a model of coronavirus-induced lung injury. Sygnature’s work has been undertaken on a pro bono basis.