COVID-19

[GlaxoSmithKline plc] GlaxoSmithKline plc and Vir Biotechnology, Inc. announced headline data from the randomised, multi-centre, open-label COMET-TAIL Phase III trial, which achieved its primary endpoint, demonstrating intramuscular administration of sotrovimab was non-inferior to intravenous administration for the early treatment of mild-to-moderate COVID-19 in high-risk, non-hospitalised adults and adolescents.

[Scientific Reports] Researchers found that ouabain, digitoxin and digoxin blocked penetration by SARS-CoV-2 Spike-pseudotyped virus into human lung cells, and infectivity by native SARS-CoV-2.

[Nature Reviews Immunology] The authors describe the interactive roles of the renin–angiotensin system, the complement system, and the closely linked kallikrein–kinin and contact systems in cell biological functions such as vascular tone and leakage, inflammation, chemotaxis, thrombosis and cell proliferation.

[CN Bio] CN Bio announced a research collaboration with the Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON), a global collaborative infectious disease R&D programme, to validate the next generation of COVID-19 research tools.

[Nature Communications] Investigators demonstrated in K18-hACE2 transgenic mice that B.1.1.7 and B.1.351 were 100-fold more lethal than the original SARS-CoV-2 bearing 614D.

[Science Advances] Scientists compared the immune signature from hospitalized SARS-CoV-2–infected patients to patients hospitalized prepandemic with influenza or respiratory syncytial virus.