APEIRON Biologics AG today announced that it has received regulatory approvals in Austria, Germany and Denmark to initiate a Phase II clinical trial of APN01 to treat COVID-19. The randomized, double-blind Phase II trial will compare APN01 to placebo in up to 200 patients at 10 sites in Austria, Denmark and Germany. APN01 is the recombinant form of the human angiotensin-converting enzyme 2 (rhACE2), and has the potential to block the infection of cells by the novel SARS-CoV-2 virus (COVID-19), and reduce lung injury.
UNM Hospital to Launch Clinical Trials for COVID-19
This week, doctors at the University of New Mexico Hospital launched their first two clinical trials of two different medicines to help treat patients fighting the coronavirus. Hydroxychloroquine will help patients who are hospitalized who are experiencing respiratory distress and Remdesivir will be given to people who have pneumonia symptoms.
Abbott Receives Approval for Test That Can Detect Coronavirus in 5 Minutes
Abbott on Friday announced it received approval for a test that is capable of delivering positive results of the coronavirus in as little as five minutes, and it will begin making those tests available to health care providers next week. This is the second Abbott test for the coronavirus to be launched. Between the two, the company expects to produce about 5 million tests per month, the company said in a statement.