Infectious diseases are an unavoidable fact of life, says the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). However, there are many strategies available to help us protect and treat ourselves from infection, including the use of antiviral treatments, which fight infection by inhibiting a virus’ ability to reproduce or by strengthening the body’s own immune response, as also highlighted by NBCI. Oftentimes, they’re used treat quite a few viruses including influenza, HIV, hepatitis, and perhaps coronavirus. Rising incidences of viral infections, rising healthcare costs, and the unfortunate development of life-threatening infections, such as COVID-19 are expected to help create a $71.48 billion anti-viral drug market by 2026.
Aside from anti-viral treatments, experts also advise people to wash their hands often. In fact, with the COVID-19 outbreak, WHO advises to “Use an alcohol-based hand sanitizer with at least 60% alcohol. Always wash hands with soap and water if hands are visibly dirty.” Governments and health agencies around the world are also advising that you wash their hands and use hand sanitizer to curb the spread of a virus. When it comes to warding off infection, some of the top stocks to keep an eye on include The Yield Growth Corp. (CSE:BOSS)(OTC:BOSQF), Clorox Co. (NYSE:CLX), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE), Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA), and Vaxart Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT).
The Yield Growth Corp. (CSE:BOSS)(OTCQB:BOSQF) BREAKING NEWS: The Yield Growth Corp. just announced it will be commencing research and development into plant-based topical products that can fight against or prevent infectious disease. The research will include a study of certain plant-based compounds for antimicrobial activity against pathogens for potential antiviral treatments. Yield Growth, through its subsidiaries, has launched 16 plant-based skin care products in the past 14 months, including THC infused topical gel, THC infused topical balm and THC infused body oil, as well as face and body care products made with essential oils and its proprietary hemp root oil. It has 14 patents pending to protect its formulas, methods and other inventions.
Based on Yield Growth’s existing intellectual property and deep understanding of plant-based products, its current THC infused products, and anticipated future demand for antiviral therapeutics, Yield Growth has initiated a plant-based research and development program to examine antimicrobial effects of certain natural compounds. If the results are promising, Yield Growth will pursue development of certain compounds into products for antiviral treatments.
“Our hearts and minds go out to everyone suffering from the recent viral outbreak of COVID-19 and we applaud those working on the front lines to treat and contain the virus,” says Penny White, Yield Growth CEO. “While we continue to market, develop and launch products through our existing brands, we are leveraging our experienced team to conduct research and develop products that can help fight against COVID-19 and other infectious diseases.”
Recently, Yield Growth announced that its subsidiary Urban Juve would launch a line of hand care products, including hand sanitizer. Yield Growth, through its subsidiary Flourish Mushroom Labs, last month purchased an interest in pharmaceutical and contract research organization Translational Life Sciences Inc. which is in the early stages of conducting research and development into using restricted substances for therapeutic uses. Yield Growth is now expanding its research and development program into potential plant-based products to protect against infection.
“Herbs and essential oils have been used for centuries for their antiviral, antifungal, and antibacterial properties ” says Bhavna Solecki, Director of Product Research for Yield Growth. “Essential oils and other plant based ingredients may be a potential alternative to synthetic compounds because of the resistance that has been increasingly developed by pathogenic microorganisms. With the rapid spread of the COVID-19 worldwide pandemic, our research and development team is working wholeheartedly and consciously to provide natural solutions based on ancient plant pharmacology.”
The World Health Organization states, “Antimicrobial resistance (AMR) threatens the effective prevention and treatment of an ever-increasing range of infections caused by bacteria, parasites, viruses and fungi.” According to Kenneth Research, the global antiviral drug market size is estimated at USD $41 billion in 2015 and is expected to reach USD $69 billion by 2025.
Other related developments from around the markets include:
Clorox Co. (NYSE:CLX) announced that its board of directors has declared a quarterly dividend of $1.06 per share on the company's common stock. The dividend is payable May 8, 2020, to stockholders of record as of the close of business on April 22, 2020. Clorox has a long history of providing value to its shareholders through regular dividend increases.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ: BNTX) announced that the companies have agreed to a letter of intent regarding the co-development and distribution (excluding China) of a potential mRNA-based coronavirus vaccine aimed at preventing COVID-19 infection. The companies have executed a Material Transfer and Collaboration Agreement to enable the parties to immediately start working together. The collaboration aims to accelerate development of BioNTech’s potential first-in-class COVID-19 mRNA vaccine program, BNT162, which is expected to enter clinical testing by the end of April 2020. The rapid advancement of this collaboration builds on the research and development collaboration into which Pfizer and BioNTech entered in 2018 to develop mRNA-based vaccines for prevention of influenza. “We are proud that our ongoing, successful relationship with BioNTech gives our companies the resiliency to mobilize our collective resources with extraordinary speed in the face of this worldwide challenge,” said Mikael Dolsten, Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development & Medical, Pfizer. “We believe that by pairing Pfizer’s development, regulatory and commercial capabilities with BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine technology and expertise as one of the industry leaders, we are reinforcing our commitment to do everything we can to combat this escalating pandemic, as quickly as possible.”
Moderna Inc. (NASDAQ:MRNA) a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, announced that the first participant has been dosed in the Phase 1 study of the Company’s mRNA vaccine (mRNA-1273) against the novel coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2). This Phase 1 study is being conducted by the National Institutes of Health (NIH) under its own Investigational New Drug (IND) application. mRNA-1273 is an mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2 encoding for a prefusion stabilized form of the Spike (S) protein, which was selected by Moderna in collaboration with investigators from the Vaccine Research Center (VRC) at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), a part of NIH. Manufacture of the first clinical batch was funded by the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI). The Phase 1 study is evaluating the safety and immunogenicity of three dose levels of mRNA-1273 (25, 100, 250 μg) administered on a two-dose vaccination schedule, given 28 days apart. A total of 45 healthy adults will be enrolled in the study. Participants will be followed through 12 months after the second vaccination. The primary objective is to evaluate the safety and reactogenicity of a two-dose vaccination schedule of mRNA-1273. The secondary objective is to evaluate the immunogenicity to the SARS-CoV-2 S protein. “This study is the first step in the clinical development of an mRNA vaccine against SARS-CoV-2, and we expect it to provide important information about safety and immunogenicity. We are actively preparing for a potential Phase 2 study under our own IND,” said Tal Zaks, M.D., Ph.D., CMO. “We are grateful to NIH for their ongoing collaboration and to CEPI for funding the initial manufacturing of mRNA-1273 and are proud to be included with the many companies, worldwide health agencies and NGOs working on a possible response to the novel coronavirus outbreak.”
Vaxart Inc. (NASDAQ:VXRT) announced that it has entered into an agreement with Emergent BioSolutions Inc. (NYSE: EBS), whereby Emergent will deploy its molecule-to-market contract development and manufacturing (CDMO) services to help develop and manufacture Vaxart’s experimental oral vaccine candidate for coronavirus disease (COVID-19). Vaxart’s oral recombinant vaccine candidate is based on its proprietary VAAST™ platform. “I’m pleased that we are joining forces with an experienced manufacturer such as Emergent to help advance our oral COVID-19 vaccine to the clinic,” said Wouter Latour, MD, chief executive officer of Vaxart. “We believe an oral vaccine administered using a room temperature-stable tablet may offer enormous logistical advantages in the roll-out of a large vaccination campaign, and Emergent is a great partner to help in this endeavor.”
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