Scientists from Queen's University Belfast have developed a computer-aided data tool that could improve treatment for a range of illnesses.

The computer modelling tool will predict novel sites of binding for potential drugs that are more selective, leading to more effective drug targeting, increasing therapeutic efficacy and reducing side effects.

A study conducted by a consortium of Brazilian researchers has demonstrated that a hyperimmune serum consisting of purified antibody fragments produced in horses may be an efficient approach to combat COVID-19. Tests conducted in hamsters improved the animal clinical conditions. The neutralizing activity of the sera developed by the scientists has been proved to be high against the P.1 (Gamma) and P.2 variants.

A drug used to treat agitation in people with dementia is no more effective than a placebo, and might even increase mortality, according to a new study.

The research, led by the University of Plymouth and published in The Lancet, has shown that antidepressant mirtazapine offered no improvement in agitation for people with dementia - and was possibly more likely to be associated with mortality than no intervention at all.

People who had received a first dose of the Oxford-AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine and received an mRNA vaccine for their second dose had a lower risk of infection compared to people who had received both doses of the Oxford-AstraZeneca vaccine. This is shown in a nationwide study performed by researchers at Umeå University, Sweden.

Northwestern Medicine scientists have shown for the first time that coronavirus vaccines and prior coronavirus infections can provide broad immunity against other, similar coronaviruses. The findings build a rationale for universal coronavirus vaccines that could prove useful in the face of future epidemics.

Two of the commonly used coronavirus vaccines provide protection against multiple variants of the virus that causes COVID-19, including the highly infectious Delta variant, a new Yale study has found.

The findings, published Oct. 11 in the journal Nature, also show at those infected with the virus prior to vaccination exhibit a more robust immune response to all variants than those who were uninfected and fully vaccinated.

The newly identified antibody was isolated using lymphocytes from COVID-19 patients enrolled in the ImmunoCoV study being carried out by CHUV’s Service of Immunology and Allergy. This antibody is one of the most powerful identified so far against SARS-CoV-2. Structural characterization of the antibody indicates that it binds to an area that is not subjected to mutations of the spike protein.