Higher antibody levels after Moderna shot; Arthritis drug Lilly used with steroids reduces risk of death

September 1 (Reuters) – The following is a summary of some recent studies on COVID-19. They include research that warrants further study to corroborate the results and that has not yet been certified by peer review.

Antibody levels higher after Moderna vaccine

Moderna Inc’s mRNA vaccine (MRNA.O) induces higher levels of antibodies against the coronavirus that causes COVID-19 than the similar vaccine from Pfizer Inc (PFE.N) and its partner BioNTech SE, have discovered Belgian researchers, although that means because their effectiveness is unclear. Shortly after receiving their second injection, the 688 healthcare workers who received Moderna’s vaccine had antibody levels approximately twice as high as the 959 who received the Pfizer / BioNTech product, regardless of their status. age, doctors from a Belgian medical center reported. This was true even after taking individual risk factors into account, and regardless of whether the participants had previously been infected with the virus, the researchers reported Monday in JAMA. However, antibodies are only one part of the immune system’s defenses. The study cannot determine whether a vaccine is more effective at preventing infection or disease, or whether the antibodies induced stay in the blood longer before they disappear. These questions, and others, need further investigation, the researchers said.

Arthritis drug adds benefit of steroids in severe illness

COVID-19 hospital patients died less often if they received baricitinib, a rheumatoid arthritis drug from Eli Lilly and Co (LLY.N), as well as others, according to a study published Wednesday in The Lancet Respiratory Medicine. treatments prescribed by their doctors. The randomized trial involved 1,525 critically ill patients, all of whom needed supplemental oxygen to help them breathe. Over 90% were already receiving dexamethasone, an inexpensive generic steroid known to improve survival in critically ill COVID-19 patients. Although baricitinib, sold under the brand name Olumiant, does not appear to prevent patients from becoming sicker, it does reduce their risk of death. The 28- and 60-day mortality rates were 5% lower in patients randomized to baricitinib instead of placebo. Baricitinib is already approved in the United States for use in hospitalized COVID-19 patients in combination with remdesivir, an antiviral drug from Gilead Science (GILD.O). The two drugs together seem to have more benefits than remdesivir alone. In the new study, more than 80% of participants were not receiving remdesivir, suggesting that baricitinib “also has synergistic effects with other standard treatments,” including dexamethasone, according to the researchers.

Vaccine poses low risk for high-risk adults with allergies

Highly allergic adults can safely receive Pfizer / BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine, a new study suggests. Of the 8,102 allergic patients in the Israeli study, 95% received the injections under routine conditions because their risk of a serious allergic reaction to the vaccine was low and no such reaction was reported. The remaining 429 patients, considered highly allergic, received the vaccines under careful surveillance and were observed for two hours thereafter. Nine had allergic reactions, including three that showed signs of life-threatening anaphylaxis. All responded to epinephrine treatment and no one required hospitalization, according to a report published Tuesday in the JAMA Network Open. An editorial published with the study said that the lessons from this study on allergic reactions to Pfizer vaccine are probably “also applicable to Moderna vaccine.”

Click for a Reuters graphic on vaccines in development.

Reporting by Nancy Lapid; Editing by Bill Berkrot

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