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Emory and Pfizer partner to develop new COVID-19 treatments

Emory University has partnered with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) to create new drugs and therapies aimed at stopping serious disease from COVID-19. The Emory and Pfizer collaboration will take place in Emory University’s Schinazi Laboratory, led by scientist Raymond Schinazi, with the goal of producing novel antiviral compounds to combat COVID, according to The Atlanta Journal-Constitution.

Although the threat of COVID has waned over the past year, the virus remains a leading cause of death. CDC data shows 1,862 COVID-related deaths in the U.S.

Pfizer, the developer of Paxlovid and collaborator with BioNTech (Nasdaq:BNTX) on the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine, is arguably the most visible COVID drug developer.

For Pfizer, this partnership represents an opportunity to maintain its leadership position in the COVID-19 drug market and potentially increase revenue. The company, however, expects its revenue to slide by as much as one-third this year as a result of ebbi…

How to build a foundation for the next phase of Alzheimer’s disease research

[Photo by Tim Doerfler on Unsplash]

Alzheimer’s disease has one of the highest financial burdens. The Alzheimer’s Association estimates that the cost of the disease in the U.S. will hit $355 billion in 2021.

“Not only is Alzheimer’s one of the most expensive, it’s probably one of the most devastating diseases of humans,” said Dr. Allan Levey, professor and chairman of the department of neurology at Emory University.

However, only symptomatic treatments are available, doing nothing to slow or stop disease progression. “There’s not a single disease-modifying agent, and Alzheimer’s is now the sixth most common cause of death,” Levey said.

[Related: Why Genuity and Emory are partnering on neurodegenerative disease research]

The last FDA-approved drug for Alzheimer’s was approved in 2003.

But there’s reason for…

Why Genuity and Emory are partnering on neurodegenerative disease research

[Photo by Anna Shvets from Pexels]

Privately-held Genuity Science and Emory University are collaborating with the hopes to accelerate drug research and development for neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s.

Clinical breakthroughs for neurodegenerative diseases are rare. The most recent drug to win FDA approval for Alzheimer’s, Namenda (memantine) from AbbVie-acquired Allergan, did so in 2003. And Levodopa, one of the most-effective Parkinson’s therapies, won FDA approval in 1975.

The quest for disease-modifying agents

“There are zero disease-modifying agents for Alzheimer’s or Parkinson’s,” said Dr. Allan Levey, professor and chair of the Emory University neurology department.

For Parkinson’s, drugs can “can reverse symptoms pretty well for many people for many years,” Levey said. But the masking of symptoms can hide the gradual progression of the disease.

While t…