LONDON: Scientists from the UK and Sweden are reportedly close to a breakthrough on an antibody treatment for COVID-19 that could be lifesaving for those who become infected by the virus.
British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is developing the treatment, which may initially be prioritized for elderly and vulnerable patients due to cost.
Antibody injections instantly arm the body with the ability to neutralize the virus, and the treatment could be a game-changer for those in the early stages of infection.
Pascal Soriot, AstraZaneca’s chief executive, said the treatment being developed is a “combination of two antibodies, because by having both you reduce the chance of resistance developing to one antibody.”
Antibody therapy is more expensive than vaccine production, however, with Soriot saying the former would be prioritized for the elderly and vulnerable, “who may not be able to develop a good response to a vaccine.”
The treatment is now being tested at “full speed,” and executives are hopeful that it will go into full production next year.
Antibody treatment can be used for similar purposes as a vaccine, which normally sparks a bodily reaction to create its own antibodies.
Over 200 teams worldwide are racing to be the first to develop a vaccine, with scientists from Oxford University in the UK among the frontrunners.
The Oxford University team is working in partnership with AstraZeneca and conducting human trials in Brazil, the current epicenter of the pandemic. They expect to know by August if the vaccine works.
They have already begun manufacturing the vaccine to ensure rapid rollout should it be effective, and have agreed to supply 2 billion doses worldwide by the end of the year.
On Thursday, billionaire philanthropist Bill Gates struck a deal with the Oxford-AstraZeneca team to supply half the planned doses to low- and middle-income countries.
European scientists close to coronavirus antibody breakthrough
https://arab.news/w63xz
European scientists close to coronavirus antibody breakthrough
- British-Swedish pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca is developing the treatment
- Antibody injections instantly arm the body with the ability to neutralize the virus
Activist Peter Tatchell arrested over ‘globalize the intifada’ placard
- Arrest in London during Saturday protest an ‘attack on free speech,’ his foundation says
- Intifada ‘does not mean violence and is not antisemitic,’ veteran campaigner claims
LONDON: Prominent activist Peter Tatchell was arrested at a pro-Palestine march in central London, The Independent reported.
According to his foundation, the 74-year-old was arrested for holding a placard that said: “Globalize the intifada: Nonviolent resistance. End Israel’s occupation of Gaza & West Bank.”
The Peter Tatchell Foundation said in a statement that the activist labeled his Saturday arrest as an “attack on free speech.”
It added: “The police claimed the word intifada is unlawful. The word intifada is not a crime in law. The police are engaged in overreach by making it an arrestable offense.
“This is part of a dangerous trend to increasingly restrict and criminalize peaceful protests.”
Tatchell described the word “intifada,” an Arab term, as meaning “uprising, rebellion or resistance against Israel’s occupation of the West Bank and Gaza.
“It does not mean violence and is not antisemitic. It is against the Israeli regime and its war crimes, not against Jewish people.”
According to his foundation, Tatchell was transported to Sutton police station to be detained following his arrest.
In December last year, London’s Metropolitan Police said that pro-Palestine protesters chanting “globalize the intifada” would face arrest, attributing the new rules to a “changing context” in the wake of the Bondi Beach attack in Australia.
“Officers policing the Palestine Coalition protest have arrested a 74-year-old man on suspicion of a public order offense. He was seen carrying a sign including the words ‘globalize the intifada’,” the Metropolitan Police said on X.
According to a witness, Tatchell had been marching near police officers with the placard for about a mile when the group came across a counterprotest.
He was then stopped and “manhandled by 10 officers,” said Jacky Summerfield, who accompanied Tatchell at the protest.
“I was shoved back behind a cordon of officers and unable to speak to him after that,” she said.
“I couldn’t get any closer to hear anything more than that; it was for Section 5 (of the Public Order Act).
“There had been no issue until that. He was walking near the police officers. Nobody had said or done anything.”
