In the race to identify safe and effective therapeutic treatments for the sickest COVID-19 patients, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and the Department of Defense are engaging a non-profit research organization, Quantum Leap Research Collaborative of San Francisco, on a phase 2 clinical trial that rapidly screens multiple potential drugs simultaneously.
“Through our Operation Warp Speed partnership, we have worked feverishly with private industry to develop and make treatments available to reduce hospitalization, either shortening the length of stay or treating people with mild or moderate COVID-19 infections before they have to be hospitalized,” said Dr. Robert Kadlec, HHS Assistant Secretary for Preparedness and Response. “While we’re making significant progress, treatments to save lives of the sickest patients, such as patients in intensive care or on ventilators, remain an urgent need.”
Press release content from Globe Newswire. The AP news staff was not involved in its creation.
DARPA and JPEO-CBRND Award $37.6M to The Wistar Institute and Collaborators at INOVIO, .
The Wistar InstituteDecember 15, 2020 GMT
PHILADELPHIA, Dec. 15, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) A team of scientists from The Wistar Institute, INOVIO, AstraZeneca, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Indiana University has received a $37.6 million award over two years from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) for rapid preclinical development and translational studies of DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) as countermeasures for COVID-19.
Credit: The Wistar Institute
PHILADELPHIA (Dec. 15, 2020) A team of scientists from The Wistar Institute, INOVIO, AstraZeneca, the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Indiana University has received a $37.6 million award over two years from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND) for rapid preclinical development and translational studies of DNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies (DMAbs) as countermeasures for COVID-19.
DMAbs, unlike conventional therapeutic antibodies, are administered as genetic blueprints that instruct the patient s body to build its own highly specific antibodies against pathogens, such as bacteria and viruses, and as immunotherapeutics for cancer. Conceptually DMAbs have advantages over traditional monoclonal antibodies in scale-up and delivery, which would rapidly benefit large populations.
Published: Dec 15, 2020
PLYMOUTH MEETING, Pa., Dec. 15, 2020 /PRNewswire/ Inovio (NASDAQ:INO), a biotechnology company focused on bringing to market precisely designed DNA medicines to treat and protect people from infectious diseases and cancer, today announced the company and a team of scientists from The Wistar Institute, AstraZeneca, the University of Pennsylvania, and Indiana University received a $37.6 million grant from the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) (DARPA), a research and development agency of the U.S. Department of Defense (DoD) and the Joint Program Executive Office for Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defense (JPEO-CBRND), to use INOVIO s innovative DNA-encoded monoclonal antibody (dMAb
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In this Dec. 9, 2020, file photo, test specialist Elijah Sanchez disinfects a testing booth at a COVID-19 testing site in Los Angeles. (AP Photo/Jae C. Hong, File)
Updated: 5:30 p.m.
Pennsylvania reported 9,556 new cases of COVID-19 Tuesday, for a statewide case total of 509,320 since the start of the pandemic. Hospital cases are now double what they were during spring COVID-19 peaks, with 6,026 individuals currently hospitalized. The commonwealth also reported 270 new deaths as of 11:59 p.m. Monday, for a total of 12,980 since the start of the pandemic.
Philadelphia reported 1,223 additional confirmed cases on Tuesday, for a total of 81,708 since the beginning of the pandemic. The city’s Department of Public Health confirmed six additional fatalities Tuesday, which brings the total number of deaths attributable to the virus in Philadelphia to 2,141.