While the coronavirus has impacted millions of Americans across the United States, it has hit the elderly population particularly hard. In fact, more than 40 percent of coronavirus deaths in the U.S. have been linked to long-term care facilities, according to a New York Times survey. In an effort to bring those numbers down, pharmaceutical company Eli Lilly, in partnership with the National Institutes of Health (NIH), has just launched a late-stage antibody treatment trial focusing on residents and staff at nursing homes.
"COVID-19 has had a devastating impact on nursing home residents," Lilly's chief scientific officer Daniel Skovronsky said in a statement. "We're working as fast as we can to create medicines that might stop the spread of the virus to these vulnerable individuals."
The trial is expected to enroll up to 2,400 participants who live or work at a facility and have recently been diagnosed with the disease. The trial will evaluate the safety and success of using LY-CoV555, a potent, neutralizing antibody that works against the spike protein of the novel coronavirus. The trial will look at whether a single dose of the antibody treatment reduces the rate of infection over four weeks as well as symptoms over eight weeks.
"The importance of these kinds of therapies for people like the elderly or immunocompromised is that they can provide the hope and the safety net that these people really need right now," said Andrew Adams, vice president of new therapeutic modalities & COVID-19 research at Eli Lilly, who is overseeing the trial. "I think people in those populations are really desperate and looking for something to help with the coronavirus."
Eli Lilly is taking its trial on the road with customized mobile research units that can travel directly to areas that are experiencing outbreaks.
"This is an interesting solution, to bring the medicine to these vulnerable patients," said Adams. "This lets us be flexible and move these trials around the country, tracking these trials as we come across them."
Adams said he is hoping Eli Lilly will have results on the efficacy of these antibodies in the fourth quarter of this year. Even if successful, though, he says research for a vaccine needs to continue.
"These have to be thought of as more of a bridge, where a vaccine provides long-term protection in terms of years of immunity, where we will provide hopefully in the range of months with these types of treatments. We hope this to be a short-term bridge to the long-term effective vaccination," he said.
Andrew Chanin, CEO of investment management firm ProcureAM, joined Cheddar to break down the many industries in the space economy and discuss what trends are driving the most growth. "Right now there's been so much media focus on space tourism. Why? Because last year it really debuted itself to the world," he said. "However it's less than 1 percent of the overall space economy, and there are many other parts of space which are actually driving this area."
Plastic has become the face of global pollution. To date, humans have produced 8.3 billion metric tons of it. Once discarded, plastic doesn’t biodegrade. Instead, it fragments into microplastics smaller than the size of a sesame seed and further into nanoplastics.
These tiny particles of plastic end up everywhere, deep in the ice of Antarctic glaciers or even inside our bodies.
So how much plastic is inside of us? And what does it mean for our health? Let’s find out.
Catching you up on what you Need to Know on Mar 29, 2022, with updates on the snow squall in Pennsylvania that caused a pileup killing three, the teacher's strike in Sacramento heading into week two, Walmart no longer selling tobacco products in select stores, and what meme stocks are up to this week.
Catching you up on what you Need to Know on Mar 28, 2022, with peace talks resuming in Ukraine as early as today, Colorado wildfires causing evacuations, Shanghai, China, ramping up restrictions once again, the Oscars debacle between Will Smith and Chris Rock, and more.
The U.S. market value of the plant-based food industry reached an all-time high last year. According to a new report from the Plant Based Food Association, retail sales of plant-based foods reached $7.4 billion, but questions are arising over whether the industry can sustain the levels of growth it had in the past few years. Julie Emmett, senior director of marketplace development at the Plant Based Food Association, joined Cheddar News' Closing Bell to discuss.
Bowery Farming's vertical growing process allows it to cultivate 13 types of greens — and now, strawberries — in a sustainable way that's also faster than traditional farming. Bowery focuses on sustainability from start to finish, using unique technology to provide plants with what they need at the right time while eliminating waste and cutting down on carbon dioxide emissions. Katie Seawell, Chief Commercial Officer of Bowery Farming, joins Closing Bell to discuss the company's vertical farming process, sustainability focus, fixing the food supply chain, and more.
Nexii, a company based in Canada, is getting some big backing for its sustainable, low-carbon concrete alternative. CEO Stephen Sidwell, joined Cheddar News to talk about the initiatives his company is taking to tackle climate change and scaling up production to meet demand. "Most people don’t realize it, but buildings are the number one contributor to CO2 emissions," he said. "So that's really what we're attacking, the overall CO2 emissions."
Catching you up on what you need to know on March 25, 2022, with Ukrainian forces retaking Kyiv, 300 deaths reported from the bombing of a theater used as a shelter in Mariupol, U.S. regulators ditch a climate review of natural gas projects, the 94th Academy Awards, and more.
New York City Mayor Eric Adams has announced the removal of the mask mandate in school and day-care centers for children under 5. If COVID-19 cases remain low, this change will take place on April 4th. Syra Madad, an infectious disease epidemiologist, joins Cheddar News to discuss.
