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At least 10 different drug compounds ranging from cancer therapies to antipsychotics and antihistamines may be effective at preventing the new coronavirus from multiplying in the body, according to a multidisciplinary study conducted by a team of scientists in the United States and France...The researchers mapped the human proteins the virus interacts with inside the body when it infects cells and makes copies of itself, then looked for compounds that could block the virus from using those proteins...The result showed that 47 compounds in cell cultures had the desired effect, at least 10 of which are already in approved drugs or being studied for diverse conditions, but could be repurposed against COVID-19, the illness caused by the new coronavirus...READ MORE

For about $120, anyone can get now get a COVID-19 antibody test from Quest Diagnostics...The lab company announced Tuesday it launched the first consumer-ordered test—yes, that means there's no doctor referral needed—to allow patients to check whether they have the antibodies that indicate they've had the novel coronavirus and may have some immunity to it...The test will be available through QuestDirect, which is Quest's consumer-initiated testing business. Antibody testing uses blood serum specimens and is sometimes referred to as serology testing...READ MORE

The National Institutes of Health on Friday told EcoHealth Alliance, the study’s sponsor for the past five years, that all future funding was cut...The Trump administration abruptly cut off funding for a project studying how coronaviruses spread from bats to people after reports linked the work to a lab in Wuhan, China, at the center of conspiracy theories about the Covid-19 pandemic’s origins...The National Institutes of Health on Friday told EcoHealth Alliance, the study’s sponsor for the past five years, that all future funding was cut. The agency also demanded that the New York-based research nonprofit stop spending the $369,819 remaining from its 2020 grant...“At this time, NIH does not believe that the current project outcomes align with the program goals and agency priorities,” Michael Lauer, the agency’s deputy director for extramural research...READ MORE

Washoe District Health Officer Kevin Dick asked for the resignation of the district's chief epidemiologist on Friday...Dr. Randall Todd has been the director of epidemiology for the Washoe County Health District for 14 years. Before that he was Nevada's State Epidemiologist for 12 years...Todd confirmed that Dick asked him to leave his position..."It was requested," Todd said. "What I'm going to do is I'm going to retire. I've got quite a few years in. Twenty-six to be precise."...Todd said Dick did not give him a reason for requesting his resignation. Todd acknowledged that he's been in conflict with Dick "off and on over the years," but wasn't specific about the source of the conflict...READ MORE

Southern Nevada’s major hospitals plan to resume “medically necessary” elective surgeries and procedures Monday, according to a Nevada Hospital Association letter...The letter, dated Tuesday, was sent this week to medical staff at University Medical Center, North Vista Hospital and The Valley Health System, Dignity Health and HCA Healthcare hospital systems. The companies own and operate more than a dozen local hospitals that have more than 4,000 staffed acute-care beds...Scheduling elective surgeries and procedures can begin immediately...READ MORE

Gov. Steve Sisolak announced late Tuesday that the Nevada Hospital Association was preparing to resume some “medically necessary” elective procedures in the coming days — the first sign that some restrictions put in place to slow the spread of COVID-19 may be eased in the coming weeks...Unlike many other industries that were temporarily closed by emergency order, Sisolak never issued an order legally curtailing such procedures. State hospitals had instead sought to postpone unnecessary hospital visits on their own, especially as they geared up for an influx of coronavirus infections during March...READ MORE

A bipartisan letter has urged Congress to consider including provisions permanently prohibiting pharmacy direct and indirect remuneration (DIR) clawbacks by pharmacy benefits managers (PBMs) in future coronavirus relief packages...The published letter cited increased demand and existing financial strain being amplified during the current pandemic as reasons for the bipartisan push for pharmacy DIR reform...The majority of neighborhood pharmacies are already experiencing negative cash flow issues and, for their efforts to help through this pandemic, will get a big bill months from now as PBMs come calling for DIR fees. Eliminating these fees and reining in PBMs has never been more vital if pharmacies are to continue operating now and when this emergency passes...READ MORE

For the first time, a major study suggests that an experimental drug works against the new coronavirus, and U.S. government officials said Wednesday that they would work to make it available to appropriate patients as quickly as possible...In a study of 1,063 patients sick enough to be hospitalized, Gilead Sciences’s remdesivir shortened the time to recovery by 31% — 11 days on average versus 15 days for those just given usual care, officials said. The drug also might be reducing deaths, although that’s not certain from the partial results revealed so far...Remdesivir was being evaluated in at least seven major studies, but this one, led by the NIH, was the strictest test. Independent monitors notified study leaders just days ago that the drug was working, so it was no longer ethical to continue with a placebo group...READ MORE

COVID-19 has killed more than 200 people in Nevada...Most of those who died have been age 65 or older, but a handful of young adults have succumbed to the disease as well...In Clark County, COVID-19 has killed black and Asian residents at a disproportionately high rate compared to their white and Hispanic counterparts...The state’s first day of double-digit fatalities occurred in early April...READ MORE

The Alliance for Pharmacy Compounding announced the launch of its free resource, which serves as a liaison between hospitals with 503B outsourcing facilities, or 503A sterile compounding pharmacies, that can supply treatments currently in shortage due to the COVID-19 pandemic...APC’s Compounders’ Shortage Drug Source for Hospitals mimics its earlier online bulletin board...The news release provided information to hospitals interested in utilizing the resource:

• FDA-registered 503B outsourcing facilities and qualified, board of pharmacy-approved 503A sterile compounders may provide the resource with information about their available supplies. Only those shortage drugs listed by FDA in appendices to its recent temporary guidance document for 503Bs and 503As may be listed.

• Data submitted by outsourcing facilities and 503A pharmacies will post this information for hospitals to access.

• If hospitals are unable to source the needed drug(s) from a 503B, they may access a secondary page listing information submitted by 503A pharmacies about shortage drugs they can prepare...

• APC has asked the American Hospital Association and the American Society of Health System Pharmacists to make its hospital members aware of the resource...READ MORE