Shares of Biocept Inc., which provides liquid biopsy tests for cancer
patients, rose 12% to 40 cents after hours as the company said it will
conduct Covid-19 testing.
Biocept said it has verified a molecular diagnostic test, and plans
to begin accepting physician-ordered testing requests for processing
beginning April 15.
Biocept’s lab will use Thermo Fisher Scientific Inc.’s TaqPath platform and kit.
BioCryst Pharmaceuticals Inc. BCRX, +3.50%
shares rallied in the extended session Thursday after the drug maker
said it was starting a clinical trial to test its COVID-19 treatment.
BioCryst shares surged 35% after hours, following a 3.5% rise to close
the regular session at $2.07. The company said it opened a randomized,
double-blind, placebo-controlled clinical trial to test the drug
galidesivir in treating patients with COVID-19. The study, which is
being funded by the U.S. National Institutes of Health’s National
Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, will be conducted in
Brazil, the company said. Many drug companies have recently started development of either COVID-19 treatments or vaccines. https://www.marketwatch.com/story/biocryst-stock-rallies-on-start-of-coronavirus-drug-study-2020-04-09
The National Institutes of Health (NIH) said on Thursday it was
testing anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine for treating COVID-19, days
after several U.S. doctors said they were using the drug on infected
patients without evidence that it worked.
The use of the decades-old drug, which has been touted by President
Donald Trump as a potential weapon against COVID-19, has soared as the
United States has quickly become the epicenter of the pandemic.
The study will evaluate the safety and the effectiveness of
hydroxychloroquine and be conducted by the National Heart, Lung, and
Blood Institute (NHLBI), part of NIH.
“Hydroxychloroquine has showed promise in a lab setting against
SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, and preliminary reports
suggest potential efficacy in small studies with patients,” said James P
Kiley, director, Division of Lung Diseases, NHLBI.
The drug is used to treat malaria and rheumatoid conditions such as
arthritis. Potential side effects of the drug include vision loss and
heart problems.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has not approved
hydroxychloroquine as a COVID-19 treatment, but it has provided an
emergency use authorization for the anti-malaria drug.
Drugmakers across the world are racing to develop a treatment or a vaccine for the disease that has killed over 87,000 people. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-hydroxychloroquine/nih-begins-trial-to-test-hydroxychloroquine-for-treating-covid-19-idUSKCN21R2OM
Taco Bell said on Thursday it was implementing temperature checks and
contactless payments among other measures across U.S. restaurants over
the next month, as it looks to address safety concerns among workers
laboring through the coronavirus crisis.
The company said it would require all employees in U.S. restaurants
to wear gloves and masks or coverings mandated by local authorities.
The virus outbreak in the United States is decimating the restaurant
industry as scared customers cook at home instead of eating out and
governments force restaurants to shut dining rooms and switch to
drive-thru, delivery and take-out only.
A new study
from the Harbin Veterinary Research Institute looked at COVID-19 in a
wider range of animals than had been previously reported and is even
more reassuring about the transmission of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus
between people and other animals.
The good news? Livestock, including pigs, chickens and ducks, are not
susceptible to the virus. If they were, we would have expected to see a
large number of animal infections and deaths by now.
The study found that ferrets were readily infected by virus given to
them intranasally (in their noses). They are similarly easily infected
by influenza and other respiratory viruses.
Cats were also infected by inoculating virus into their nose. Virus
was later detected in their respiratory tract and stool. What was most
interesting—and disturbing—is that uninfected cats who were placed in
adjacent cages also became infected. This was presumably by small
droplets, as happens in people.
Younger cats appeared more susceptible than older ones.
Three beagles were inoculated with the virus. They developed
antibodies, indicating that they had become infected, but did not
transmit the virus to two other beagles kept adjacent to them.
A small number of pigs, chickens and ducks were inoculated, but didn’t become infected. A German study
came to similar conclusions, noting that farm animals do not pose a
risk to people. Dr. Meghan Davis, of Johns Hopkins, added that “Ferrets
in particular are a useful model for influenza studies and their
susceptibility may mean that researchers can use them as an animal model
for the COVID-19 virus.” Why does this matter?
We currently believe that the SARS-CoV-2 virus originated in bats,
but we don’t know what “intermediate hosts,” ones that may serve as a
bridge between bats and people, are. Those could become important reservoirs of infection.
We now are aware of the rare case of a woman in Belgium with COVID-19 infecting her cat. Last week, we learned of tigers and lions at the Bronx Zoo becoming infected by their caretakers.
Dr. John Howe, President of the American Veterinary Medical Association, told me that thousands of dogs have been tested by IDEXX
and no infection was found. To date, IDEXX has tested samples from sick
dogs and cats in seventeen countries and found no infections.
Dr. Howe assured that he has “no concern over domestic animals and
livestock” (except possibly ferrets) transmitting infections to people;
we would have seen outbreaks by now if that were a significant risk.
“Human-to-human transmission remains the main driver.” He does not
believe cats are an intermediate host, since we are not seeing more
infection either between cats or to people. There have only been two cat
and two dogs shown definitively to have been infected in China.
It’s important to know how the virus affects different animals so that we can better develop models for vaccine and antiviral drug therapies.
“Why are animals being tested for coronavirus when I can’t be?” is
the question I received most after my post on Nadia, the Bronx Zoo tiger
that was infected. There are two reasons animals are tested. One, as
noted above, is that we need to learn what animals might be reservoirs
and risk transmitting infections to people. The other is that the
animals are being tested by other methods in veterinary labs and “should not reduce the availability of COVID-19 tests for people.” What is the risk of a person becoming infected from contact with a pet?
I asked this question of Dr. Howe, as people bond and socialize with
their pets, as dogs also do at parks. He replied, “Coronavirus will sit
on smooth surface, but pet hair and fur are very porous, and it tends to
trap the virus. It would be very difficult to pick virus up from the
hair coat.” He agreed that “people shouldn’t go to dog parks or places
where there are a lot of dogs” who are there with “their humans.”
We worry a bit about delivery people (about the only people we see
any more since we have been abiding by “StayAtHome” directives) patting
our dogs and transmitting infection to us that way. Dr. Howe reassured
us that is not likely, and suggested that if there is concern about
someone having coughed or sneezed on the dog, that it could be bathed
with a medicated shampoo like chlorhexidine.
For now, though, resist the urge to seek comfort by petting every
furry critter you see. If you can’t, just wash your hands. You should be
far safer with animals now than people. https://www.forbes.com/sites/judystone/2020/04/09/why-care-that-ferrets-tigers-and-cats-have-coronavirus/#7861662a6ee0
CMS announced April 9 that it has delivered more than $51 billion in
payments to hospitals and other healthcare providers in the past week
through the Accelerated and Advance Payment Program.
CMS expanded the
payment program to a broader group of healthcare providers in late
March to help offset the financial impact of COVID-19. On April 7, the
agency said it had distributed
$34 billion in funds to healthcare providers and suppliers through the
program in the past week. Two days later, CMS said the amount had grown
to $51 billion.
CMS has received roughly 32,000 requests from healthcare providers
and suppliers for advance payments in the past week, and 21,000 of those
requests have been approved. That’s compared to the 100 total requests
CMS approved in the past five years.
To help hospitals under financial strain due to COVID-19, CMS has
reduced the processing time for advance payment requests to less than
one week, compared to the previous time frame of three to four weeks.
Acute care hospitals, children’s hospitals, critical access hospitals
and some cancer hospitals can request up to six months of advance
Medicare payments through the program.
The payments are not part of the $100 billion emergency fund authorized
in the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act to reimburse
healthcare providers for expenses or lost revenue related to the
COVID-19 pandemic. The advance payments are a loan that healthcare
providers must pay back, while funding provided under the CARES Act does
not need to be repaid. https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/finance/cms-sends-51b-in-advance-payments-to-hospitals.html
Several
young drug developers managed to float in the first quarter, but new
issues dried up in March when coronavirus infected the markets. Is the
game back on?
The beginning of this year witnessed a steady flow of well-received
biotech IPOs, with nine young drug developers managing to get away
before Covid-19 infected the market. By the end of March the stream had
dried up.
The hiatus was brief, and encouragingly two companies – Keros
Therapeutics and Zentalis Pharmaceuticals – managed to float in early
April, so it seems that the window has not entirely shut for these
high-risk investments. One of the worst stock market crashes in history
is sure to have left its mark, however, and those still harbouring hopes
for a public life will have to proceed cautiously.
According to data collected by EvaluatePharma, the nine drug
developers that floated in the first quarter raised $1.5bn in total, a
respectable haul when looking back over the past few years. The tally
would presumably have been much higher had the pandemic not called a
halt to proceedings, however.
This analysis includes only drug developers, so represents the very
highest-risk propositions that are attempting to go public. Medtech,
diagnostic or digital health companies are excluded, and flotations on
Western exchanges only are captured.
There is certainly evidence to suggest that the pandemic curtailed
what was shaping up to a strong run for new issues. Renaissance Capital
estimates that 20 companies halted IPO plans in March, across all
sectors; as healthcare is currently supplying a big proportion of new
issues it seems likely that drug developers make up a fair proportion of
that number.
Investors in most cases accepted the valuations placed in front of
them in the early part of the year, another indication of the strength
of the market.
The first-quarter cohort was pretty small, and the average was
boosted by three companies that priced above the range and/or upsized
their deals: Revolution Medicines, Black Diamond and Schrödinger. All
are focused on targeted cancer therapies, an incredibly competitive
space showing no sign of cooling off.
And, while Imara did not raise a huge haul ($75m), the rare disease
specialist is worth mentioning as it managed to float on March 12th,
when the markets were in freefall. True, the deal priced at the bottom
of range, but the company had previously upsized the offer; perhaps most
impressively, the stock has held water since floating.
Investors must consider Keros and Zentalis pandemic proof to have got
away so successfully this month, as market volatility is far from past.
Both upsized their IPOs, and are trading substantially higher than
their offer prices. The former is developing drugs against TGF-beta, a
target attracting much attention, while Zentalis is another targeted
cancer drug play.
Those still hoping to float still have a chance, it seems, although whether the worst is over is anyone’s guess.
Biggest biotech IPOs on Western exchanges in Q1 2020 (all Nasdaq)
