Day: February 8, 2023

A single-injection antiviral treatment for newly infected COVID-19 patients reduced the risk of hospitalization by half in a large-scale clinical trial, a study published Wednesday said.

Stanford University professor Jeffrey Glenn, co-author of the study published in the New England Journal of Medicine, said the new drug “showed profound benefits for vaccinated and unvaccinated people alike.”

While the number of Americans dying daily of the disease caused by a coronavirus has fallen to about 500, treatments for COVID-19 remain limited. One of the most common — Paxlovid, made by Pfizer — involves taking 30 pills over five days.

The new treatment involves a single dose of pegylated interferon lambda, a synthetic version of a naturally occurring protein that infected cells secrete to defend against viral infection.

“What it does is it binds receptors on the surfaces of cells that activate our own antiviral defense mechanisms,” said Glenn, a professor of medicine, microbiology and immunology who heads the Stanford Biosecurity and Pandemic Preparedness Initiative.

“So if a virus has infected the cell, it will turn on processes that aim to destroy the virus’s replication,” he said. “It will also send signals to neighboring cells to warn them viruses are on their way and get ready to defend yourself.”

Receptors for interferon lambda are primarily in the linings of the lungs, airways and intestine — the main places COVID-19 strikes.

“We’re turning on these antiviral mechanisms in the cells, the lung, where the infection is happening,” Glenn said.

The phase three trial of the drug, conducted from June 2021 to February 2022, involved nearly 2,000 patients with COVID symptoms in Brazil and Canada, about 85 percent of whom had been vaccinated.

A total of 931 newly infected COVID patients were given a single injection of interferon lambda, while 1,018 participants were given a placebo.

The risk of COVID-19–related hospitalization or death from any cause was 47 percent lower in the interferon group than in the placebo group, according to the researchers.

Twenty-five of the 931 people who received the injection within seven days of exhibiting COVID symptoms were hospitalized, compared with 57 of the 1,018 who received the placebo.

Vaccinated patients treated with interferon lambda experienced a 51 percent reduction in hospitalization relative to the placebo group.

There was an 89 percent reduction in hospitalization among unvaccinated patients treated within the first three days of the onset of COVID symptoms compared with the placebo group.

Developed for hepatitis D

Glenn said interferon lambda proved effective against all COVID variants tested, including omicron, and side effects in the group receiving the injections were no greater than among the placebo recipients.

Glenn is the founder of a small biotechnology company called Eiger Biopharmaceuticals that acquired interferon lambda to develop drugs for the hepatitis delta virus.

“When COVID came, I said this would be the perfect drug for COVID,” said Glenn, who left the Palo Alto company but remains on the board of directors and is an equity holder.

Eiger sought an emergency use authorization for interferon lambda from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration for COVID treatment last year, but it was not granted.

That was “very frustrating,” Glenn said, though he was hopeful that publication of the study in the New England Journal of Medicine “will help encourage regulators here and around the world to find a way to get lambda into patients as soon as possible.”

Source: Voice of America

Last November, Northeastern University student Andre Neto Caetano watched the live, late-night launch of NASA’s Artemis 1 from Kennedy Space Center in Florida on a cellphone placed on top of a piano in the lobby of the hotel where he was staying in California.

“I had, not a flashback, but a flash-forward of seeing maybe Artemis 4 or something, and COBRA, as part of the payload, and it is on the moon doing what it was meant to do,” Caetano told VOA during a recent Skype interview.

Artemis 1 launched the night before Caetano and his team of scholars presented their Crater Observing Bio-inspired Rolling Articulator (COBRA) rover project at NASA’s Breakthrough, Innovative, and Game Changing (BIG) Idea Challenge. The team hoped to impress judges assembled in the remote California desert.

“They were skeptical that the mobility solutions that we were proposing would actually work,” he said.

That skepticism, said Caetano, came from the simplicity of their design.

“It’s a robot that moves like a snake, and then the head and the tail connect, and then it rolls,” he said.

NASA’s BIG Idea Challenge prompted teams of college students to compete to develop solutions for the agency’s ambitious goals in the upcoming Artemis missions to the moon, which Caetano explains are “extreme lunar terrain mobility.”

Northeastern’s COBRA is designed to move through the fine dust, or regolith, of the lunar surface to probe the landscape for interesting features, including ice and water, hidden in the shadows of deep craters.

“They never could … deploy a robot or a ground vehicle that can sort of negotiate the environment and get to the bottom of these craters and look for ice water content,” said professor Alireza Ramezani, who advises the COBRA team and has worked with robotic designs that mimic the movements of real organisms, something Caetano said formed a baseline for their research.

“With him building a robot dog and robot bat, we knew we wanted to have some ‘bioinspiration’ in our project,” Caetano said.

Using biology as the driving force behind COBRA’s design was also something Ramezani hoped would win over judges in NASA’s competition.

“Our robot sort of tumbled 80 to 90 feet (24-27 meters) down this hill and that … impressed the judges,” he told VOA. “We did this with minimum energy consumption and within, like, 10 or 15 seconds.”

Caetano said COBRA weighs about 7 kilograms, “so the fact that COBRA is super light brings a benefit to it, as well.”

Ramezani added that COBRA is also cost-effective.

“If you want to have a space-worthy platform, it’s going to be in the order of $100,000 to $200,000. You can have many of these systems tumbling down these craters,” he said.

The Northeastern team’s successful COBRA test put to rest any lingering skepticism, sending them to the top of NASA’s 2022 BIG Idea competition and hopefully — in the not-too-distant future — to the top of NASA’s Space Launch System on its way to the moon.

“I’m not saying this, our judges said this. It’s potentially going to transform the way future space exploration systems look like,” said Ramezani. “They are even talking to some of our partners to see if we can increase technology readiness of the system, make it space worthy, and deploy it to the moon.”

Which is why, despite his impending graduation later this year, Caetano plans to continue developing COBRA alongside his teammates.

“Because we brought it to life together, the idea of just fully abandoning it at graduation probably doesn’t appeal to most of us,” Caetano said. “In some way or another, we still want to be involved in the project, in making sure that … we are still the ones who put it on the moon at some point.”

That could happen as soon as 2025, the year NASA hopes to return astronauts to the lunar surface in the Artemis program.

Source: Voice of America

Luanda – Angola and Poland signed Wednesday in Luanda a legal agreement for the suppression of visas in diplomatic passports.

The legal instrument aims to reinforce the development of political and diplomatic relations, in addition to facilitating the movement and exchange of delegations.

The signing of the legal instrument was made after an audience between the Secretaries of State for Foreign Affairs, Esmeralda Mendonça and Pawel Jablonski for economic and development cooperation for Africa and the Middle East of Poland.

During the meeting, they reviewed the degree of implementation of existing agreements in several areas such as training staff in fisheries and higher and multilateral issues.

Issues related to terrorism in Cabo Delgado (Mozambique) and the Great Lakes Region, mainly Rwanda, the Democratic Republic of Congo, as well as the Central African Republic were also addressed during the meeting.

On the occasion, Esmeralda Mendonça also spoke of the Angola/Poland business forum, which will serve as an exchange of experience between businesspeople from both countries.

The Secretary of State reaffirmed Angola’s commitment to the diversification of the economy, in order to leverage its development.

In turn, Poland’s undersecretary of State for Economic and Development Cooperation for Africa and the Middle East, Pawel Jablonski, praised the Angolan Government for its internal stability and the way in which the last Elections were conducted.

The Polish official also praised the role of the Angolan state in pacifying conflicts in the region.

The diplomat also said that holding the Forum helped Poland to identify some business areas to invest in and that was possible thanks to the good diplomatic relations existing between the two countries.

Political, diplomatic and cooperation ties between Angola and Poland date back since 1976, with the signing of the General Agreement on Economic, Technical-Scientific and Cultural Cooperation, having been reinforced with the Declaration on Strengthening Friendship and Cooperation, of 24 of April 1997.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan head of State João Lourenço Wednesday spoke to the French President, Emmanuel Macron, during which they focused on bilateral cooperation aimed to ensure its continued strengthening.

This is confirmed in a press note from the Presidency’s Office reached ANGOP Wednesday, adding that the two Statesmen also spoke about regional issues in Africa, mainly on the conflict in the Eastern region of the Democratic Republic of Congo (DRC).

In their conversation, the two Presidents defended the need for coordination among the various actors in the conflict to ensure a progress and avoid any escalation of the conflict.

France has maintained diplomatic relations with Angola since its independence.

The first agreement signed in 1982 laid the foundations for bilateral cooperation. Since then, this has expanded to include visits by delegations from both countries, including at the highest level.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angola will be one of the Spain’s priorities when it takes over from July to December, 2013, the rotating presidency of the Council of the European Union.

The assurance came from the minister of Foreign Affairs, European Union and Cooperation of Spain, José Manuel Albares.

José Albares, who was speaking at the Angola/Spain business meeting, held Wednesday in the Angolan capital, Luanda, guaranteed that the focus will be on the cradle continent, Africa, where Angola is located.

“Angola can count on us and ensure that our countries continue to walk together, building our progress together”, said the diplomat, highlighting bilateral relations as historic.

For José Albares, deepening the “alliance” between Angola and Spain is the main objective, as well as taking advantage of all the potential for a shared future.

Now, with the ongoing measures for support economic growth and promote development and social support in Angola, the Spain is available to help the African country in its National Development Plan (PDN), to be approved soon.

According to the diplomat, the PDN coincides with the third plan that Spain has for Africa, aimed to achieving inclusive economic growth, generating jobs for young people on the continent, including Angola.

“Therefore, I am convinced that Spain will play a very important role in supporting and implementing Angola’s National Development Plan”, said José Albares, guaranteeing that Spanish companies will follow the Plan and contribute to its success.

Spain, he added, wants Angola to keep developing and growing, as well as to continue consolidating its role as a regional and continental reference.

The minister reiterated the presence of Spanish companies in Angola, which already operate in various areas, such as fisheries, agro-food, energy and water, transport, among other infrastructures.

The Angola/Spain business forum took place under the motto “Together building the Future” and brought together businesspeople from both countries.

The event was witnessed by the President of the Republic of Angola João Lourenço and by the King of Spain, Felipe VI.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The King of Spain Felipe VI praised Wednesday in Luanda the reforms that Angola is carrying out for the promotion of economic development, diversification of its economy and promotion of business presence in the country.

Speaking at the Solemn Plenary Meeting in the National Assembly, during his State visit to Angola, at the invitation of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço, the Spanish Monarch emphasised that, nowadays, Angola is a land of opportunities.

“Overcoming the period of economic crisis, caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, Spain positively values the reforms that Angola is carrying out to promote its economic development, diversify its economy and encourage business presence”, he noted.

He explained that Spain, both in terms of the public and private sectors, is prepared to contribute to Angola’s economic growth, “a productive growth that can generate more jobs, fundamentally for the Angolan youth”.

He stated that his country has, for this purpose, very competitive companies in sectors that it is important to promote, such as agro-industry, infrastructure and sanitation, renewable energies, tourism.

He highlighted, however, the good relations that unite the two peoples and countries, noting that since the establishment of diplomatic relations, in 1977, the two countries started a close cooperation, at a time when the founder of the Fatherland, Agostinho Neto, “became endeavored to consolidate a sovereign Nation that faced great challenges in the context of the cold war”.

King Felipe VI, who was accompanied by Queen Consort Letízia Ortiz, wished greater success in this V Legislature of the National Assembly, which began in October 2022, as it will result in benefits to the Angolan Nation.

For him, Parliament is the central component of all democracies, and should be the center of debates and respect for differences for the satisfaction of supreme interests and the common good.

He also recalled that Spain is following with attention and great interest the profound changes and transformations that are taking place in the African continent.

“Africa is a vital continent for the prosperity and governance of the world in this 21st century”, expressed the Spanish Monarch.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – The King of Spain Felipe VI left Luanda Wednesday (8) after a 72-hour State visit to Angola, at the invitation of the President of the Republic, João Lourenço.

At the 4 de Fevereiro International Airport, King Felipe VI, accompanied by the Queen Letizia, received farewell greetings from the Angolan Minister of Foreign Affairs, Téte António.

During his stay in the country, the Spanish monarch met with the Angolan head of State, João Lourenço, and visited the memorial Dr. António Agostinho Neto, where he paid tribute to the Angola’s first President.

He also participated in a plenary session of the National Assembly and the Angola-Spain Business Forum.

Ties between Angola and the Kingdom of Spain are based on the General Cooperation Agreement, signed on May 20, 1987, and the Complementary Agreement to the General Agreement, signed in November 1987.

Spain currently has more than 60 companies operating in Angola in different sectors, such as energy, banking, construction, agriculture and others.

Source: Angola Press News Agency

Luanda – Angolan ambassador to Turkey José Patrício said Wednesday that Angolan citizens were not among the victims of the earthquake that rocked the southwest of that European country and claimed thousands of lives.

In a communication made from Turkey, which reached ANGOP, the diplomat reassured the Angolans, noting that most of the community is concentrated in Istanbul and Ankara, regions far from the epicenter of the earthquakes.

However, he said that in the region of the epicenter there was a female student, but had already been evacuated to Ankara in perfect health conditions.

He also reported the installation in a hotel, under the custody of the Embassy, of four football players who, not being in the center of events, panicked during the earthquake after feeling the building shake.

José Patrício also spoke of the existence of five national citizens detained in deportation centers in the regions hardest hit by the earthquake, due to their condition of illegal immigration, but who were transferred to safer areas.

The first earthquake, recorded near the city of Gaziantep, had a magnitude of 7.8 and the second 7.5, which occurred near the city of Kahramanmaras.

Turkish President, Recep Tayyip Erdogan, visited Wednesday the affected area.

Upon his arrival in Kahramanmaras, close to the epicenter, Erdogan reported that the number of confirmed dead in Turkey is now 8,574, bringing the total of victims to more than 11,000 in both countries.

He said that Turkey had experienced its “greatest disaster” in the last century, since the Erzincan earthquake in 1939.

Source: Angola Press News Agency