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Boston Globe
08-07-2025
- Health
- Boston Globe
A common assumption about aging may be wrong, study suggests
Advertisement Scientists compared inflammation signals in existing data sets from four distinct populations in Italy, Singapore, Bolivia and Malaysia; because they didn't collect the blood samples directly, they couldn't make exact apples-to-apples comparisons. But if validated in larger studies, the findings could suggest that diet, lifestyle and environment influence inflammation more than aging itself, said Alan Cohen, an author of the paper and an associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. 'Inflammaging may not be a direct product of aging, but rather a response to industrialized conditions,' he said, adding that this was a warning to experts like him that they might be overestimating its pervasiveness globally. 'How we understand inflammation and aging health is based almost entirely on research in high-income countries like the U.S.,' said Thomas McDade, a biological anthropologist at Northwestern University. But a broader look shows that there's much more global variation in aging than scientists previously thought, he added. Advertisement The study 'sparks valuable discussion' but needs much more follow-up 'before we rewrite the inflammaging narrative,' said Bimal Desai, a professor of pharmacology who studies inflammation at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Inflammation is different in different places In the study, researchers compared blood samples from about 2,800 adults ages 18-95. People in the more industrialized Chianti region of Italy and in Singapore both showed the types of proteins that signal inflammaging. The Tsimane group in Bolivia and the Orang Asli group in Malaysia, on the other hand, had different inflammatory markers likely tied to infections, instead of the proteins marking inflammaging. (The four datasets used blood samples with subjects' informed consent, whether written or verbal, and institutional approval.) The fact that inflammation markers looked so similar in groups from industrialized regions, but so different from the others, is striking, said Aurelia Santoro, an associate professor at the University of Bologna who was not involved in the study. 'This suggests that immune cells are activated in fundamentally different ways depending on context.' The Tsimane population's protein markers were less linked to inflammaging than the Orang Asli's; authors speculated that this might be because of differences in lifestyle and diet. Some experts questioned the findings' significance. Vishwa Deep Dixit, director of the Yale Center for Research on Aging, said it's not surprising that lifestyles with less exposure to pollution are linked to lower rates of chronic disease. 'This becomes a circular argument' that doesn't prove or disprove whether inflammation causes chronic disease, he said. Advertisement Either way, the findings need to be validated in larger, more diverse studies that follow people over time, experts said. While they had lower rates of chronic disease, the two Indigenous populations tended to have life spans shorter than those of people in industrialized regions, meaning they may simply not have lived long enough to develop inflammaging, Santoro said. The problem may be tied to urban living Because the study looked at protein markers in blood samples, and not specific lifestyle or diet differences among populations, scientists had to make educated guesses about why industrialized groups experience more inflammaging, Cohen said. McDade, who has previously studied inflammation in the Tsimane group, speculated that populations in nonindustrialized regions might be exposed to certain microbes in water, food, soil and domestic animals earlier in their lives, bolstering their immune response later in life. At the same time, people in urbanized, industrial environments are 'exposed to a lot of pollutants and toxins,' many of which have 'demonstrated pro-inflammatory effects,' he said. Diet and lifestyle could also play a part: The Tsimane tend to live in small settlements with their extended family and eat a largely plant-based diet, he said. There might also be good and bad types of inflammation, Cohen said. While the Indigenous populations did experience inflammation from infection, those levels weren't tied to chronic disease later in life. That could mean that the presence of inflammation alone isn't as bad as we thought, he added. It's not clear if people can do anything to manage inflammaging late in life. People who want to age more healthily may be better off eating better and exercising more to regulate immune response in the long run, instead of focusing on drugs or supplements advertised to target inflammation, Cohen said. Advertisement This article originally appeared in
Miami Herald
02-07-2025
- Health
- Miami Herald
A Common Assumption About Aging May Be Wrong, Study Suggests
A new analysis of data gathered from a small Indigenous population in the Bolivian Amazon suggests some of our basic assumptions about the biological process of aging might be wrong. Inflammation is a natural immune response that protects the body from injury or infection. Scientists have long believed that long-term, low-grade inflammation -- also known as 'inflammaging' -- is a universal hallmark of getting older. But this new data raises the question of whether inflammation is directly linked to aging at all, or if it's linked to a person's lifestyle or environment instead. The study, which was published Monday, found that people in two nonindustrialized areas experienced a different kind of inflammation throughout their lives than more urban people -- likely tied to infections from bacteria, viruses and parasites rather than the precursors of chronic disease. Their inflammation also didn't appear to increase with age. Scientists compared inflammation signals in existing data sets from four distinct populations in Italy, Singapore, Bolivia and Malaysia; because they didn't collect the blood samples directly, they couldn't make exact apples-to-apples comparisons. But if validated in larger studies, the findings could suggest that diet, lifestyle and environment influence inflammation more than aging itself, said Alan Cohen, an author of the paper and an associate professor of environmental health sciences at Columbia University. 'Inflammaging may not be a direct product of aging, but rather a response to industrialized conditions,' he said, adding that this was a warning to experts like him that they might be overestimating its pervasiveness globally. 'How we understand inflammation and aging health is based almost entirely on research in high-income countries like the U.S.,' said Thomas McDade, a biological anthropologist at Northwestern University. But a broader look shows that there's much more global variation in aging than scientists previously thought, he added. The study 'sparks valuable discussion' but needs much more follow-up 'before we rewrite the inflammaging narrative,' said Bimal Desai, a professor of pharmacology who studies inflammation at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. Inflammation is different in different places. In the study, researchers compared blood samples from about 2,800 adults ages 18-95. People in the more industrialized Chianti region of Italy and in Singapore both showed the types of proteins that signal inflammaging. The Tsimane group in Bolivia and the Orang Asli group in Malaysia, on the other hand, had different inflammatory markers likely tied to infections, instead of the proteins marking inflammaging. (The four datasets used blood samples with subjects' informed consent, whether written or verbal, and institutional approval.) The fact that inflammation markers looked so similar in groups from industrialized regions, but so different from the others, is striking, said Aurelia Santoro, an associate professor at the University of Bologna who was not involved in the study. 'This suggests that immune cells are activated in fundamentally different ways depending on context.' The Tsimane population's protein markers were less linked to inflammaging than the Orang Asli's; authors speculated that this might be because of differences in lifestyle and diet. Some experts questioned the findings' significance. Vishwa Deep Dixit, director of the Yale Center for Research on Aging, said it's not surprising that lifestyles with less exposure to pollution are linked to lower rates of chronic disease. 'This becomes a circular argument' that doesn't prove or disprove whether inflammation causes chronic disease, he said. Either way, the findings need to be validated in larger, more diverse studies that follow people over time, experts said. While they had lower rates of chronic disease, the two Indigenous populations tended to have life spans shorter than those of people in industrialized regions, meaning they may simply not have lived long enough to develop inflammaging, Santoro said. The problem may be tied to urban living. Because the study looked at protein markers in blood samples, and not specific lifestyle or diet differences among populations, scientists had to make educated guesses about why industrialized groups experience more inflammaging, Cohen said. McDade, who has previously studied inflammation in the Tsimane group, speculated that populations in nonindustrialized regions might be exposed to certain microbes in water, food, soil and domestic animals earlier in their lives, bolstering their immune response later in life. At the same time, people in urbanized, industrial environments are 'exposed to a lot of pollutants and toxins,' many of which have 'demonstrated pro-inflammatory effects,' he said. Diet and lifestyle could also play a part: The Tsimane tend to live in small settlements with their extended family and eat a largely plant-based diet, he said. There might also be good and bad types of inflammation, Cohen said. While the Indigenous populations did experience inflammation from infection, those levels weren't tied to chronic disease later in life. That could mean that the presence of inflammation alone isn't as bad as we thought, he added. It's not clear if people can do anything to manage inflammaging late in life. People who want to age more healthily may be better off eating better and exercising more to regulate immune response in the long run, instead of focusing on drugs or supplements advertised to target inflammation, Cohen said. This article originally appeared in The New York Times. Copyright 2025
New York Times
02-05-2025
- Health
- New York Times
Jeremy Renner and the Science of Extraordinary Near-Death Experiences
A little over two years ago, the actor Jeremy Renner was run over by a seven-ton snowplow. In a new memoir, he wrote that as he lay near death, he experienced something extraordinary. He could see his entire life at once, and felt an 'exhilarating peace' and a connection to the world. He also saw family and friends arrayed before him, telling him not to let go. 'What I felt was energy, a constantly connected, beautiful and fantastic energy,' Mr. Renner wrote. 'There was no time, place or space, and nothing to see, except a kind of electric, two-way vision made from strands of that inconceivable energy, like the whipping lines of cars' taillights photographed by a time-lapse camera.' What Mr. Renner described is 'classic for near-death experiences,' the term researchers use for such events, said Dr. Jeffrey Long, the founder of the Near-Death Experience Research Foundation. Dr. Long's foundation has collected more than 4,000 accounts similar to Mr. Renner's. Some people who have come close to death have recounted a sense of energy, peace and absence of time, as Mr. Renner did. Some have also described watching their body from above, moving through a tunnel toward a light and even meeting God. The general public may be familiar with these events through a genre of memoirs that present near-death experiences as proof of a Christian afterlife. But they have been reported across countries, demographics and religions, as well as by atheists, and have been a subject of scientific research for decades. There is no scientific consensus on what causes near-death experiences. But whatever their cause, they can change people's lives. Some lose all fear of death; others change careers or leave relationships. The reactions to near-death experiences seem to outstrip what researchers have seen in people who nearly die but don't have such an experience. For those people, 'usually it's like, yeah, you almost died, so you become more appreciative of life,' said Marieta Pehlivanova, a research assistant professor of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences at the University of Virginia School of Medicine's Division of Perceptual Studies, which researches near-death experiences. But, Dr. Pehlivanova said, 'the changes we see in these people who almost died but didn't have an N.D.E. are much more subtle and do not continue over such a long period of time.' Why do these experiences happen? Near-death experiences are hard to study because the catastrophic injuries and illnesses that can lead to them don't lend themselves to controlled experiments. But neuroscientists have proposed a range of theories as to what causes them, and many believe the experiences stem from a complex cascade of neurological and physiological processes. In a paper published in March, seven researchers proposed an explanation that linked near-death experiences to a burst of brain chemicals called neurotransmitters, and an activation of specific receptors in the brain that produces a sense of calm and vivid imagery. The paper also posits that near-death experiences might occur when partly conscious people go through aspects of rapid-eye-movement sleep, which is when the most robust and complex dreaming happens. Other scientists' theories include one that involves the same neural receptors that facilitate the effects of ketamine. Another suggests aspects of N.D.E.s might arise from dysfunction in the area of the brain responsible for combining sights, sounds, motion and our innate sense of where we are into a single sensory experience. That might explain one of the most curious parts of near-death experiences: that some people later say they watched their body from above, and are able to describe details of what was happening around them that it seems like they shouldn't be able to know. Dr. Kevin Nelson, a professor of neurology at the University of Kentucky who was an author of the March study, noted that people might be able to hear even when apparently unresponsive, and that patients' eyelids were often open during resuscitation efforts. So they might take in sight and sound in real time but, because their brain is disrupted by a lack of blood flow, recall it as coming from a perspective above their body. Processing a life-altering experience Some researchers — and a great number of people who have had near-death experiences — believe that none of the proposed scientific explanations can account for all the elements, and that these experiences are true encounters with an afterlife. That idea is anathema to many neuroscientists for whom a fundamental precept is that consciousness arises from the brain. 'Faith and science often get confused on this topic, in part because it has such a profound emotional valence,' Dr. Nelson said. But, he added, 'There is no scientific evidence that we can have human experience outside of the brain.' But Dr. Long, whose medical training and practice are in radiation oncology, believes people's consciousness does leave their bodies during near-death experiences in a way that neuroscience can't account for. He is particularly convinced that science cannot explain the accuracy and detail of what patients recall seeing and hearing from outside their body. Dr. Pehlivanova and her colleagues at the University of Virginia institute also believe the experiences could involve a real separation between consciousness and the brain, though they have not dismissed the possibility of neurological or physiological explanations. Dr. Bruce Greyson, a professor emeritus of psychiatry and neurobehavioral sciences in that institute, has studied near-death experiences for 50 years. These days, he is mostly focused not on causes but on how medical professionals could best help people who go through these experiences process what they experienced. Doctors and nurses tend to be the first people to whom patients describe their experiences, hoping to 'get some perspective on it,' Dr. Greyson said. And sometimes, those professionals respond dismissively. 'For almost all near-death experiencers, they regard this as one of the most important things, if not the most important thing, that's ever happened in their lives,' he said. 'And while it may seem inconsequential to the health care worker, it's not at all to the experiencer.'
Yahoo
14-03-2025
- Health
- Yahoo
Dr. Michael Lebow Announces Scholarship to Support Aspiring Medical Professionals
Dr. Michael Lebow ATLANTA, March 14, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Dr. Michael Lebow, a board-certified vascular surgeon and advocate for medical education, is pleased to announce the Dr. Michael Lebow Scholarship for Future Doctors—a $1,000 one-time award designed to support undergraduate students pursuing careers in medicine. This scholarship aims to recognize and assist dedicated students who demonstrate academic excellence and a strong commitment to the medical profession. Applications are now open, with the deadline set for December 15, 2025, and the winner will be announced on January 15, 2026. The scholarship is available to undergraduate students currently enrolled at an accredited college or university in the United States. Eligible applicants must be aspiring medical professionals, including those pursuing pre-medical studies, nursing, or other healthcare-related fields. To apply, students must submit a 1,000-word original essay addressing the prompt: 'What inspired you to pursue a career in medicine, and how do you envision making a meaningful impact in the healthcare industry?' Essays will be evaluated on originality, clarity, and depth of insight, providing applicants with an opportunity to share their personal experiences, career aspirations, and vision for the future of healthcare. A Commitment to the Next Generation of Medical Leaders Dr. Michael Lebow has dedicated his career to advancing medical innovation and improving patient outcomes. As a highly respected vascular surgeon specializing in minimally invasive procedures for peripheral artery disease, chronic venous insufficiency, and critical limb ischemia, he understands the importance of fostering the next generation of healthcare professionals. Through the Dr. Michael Lebow Scholarship for Future Doctors, he seeks to provide financial assistance to students who are committed to the medical field and its evolving challenges. Dr. Michael Lebow's extensive medical journey began with his undergraduate studies at Brown University, followed by earning his Doctor of Medicine (MD) degree from the University of Virginia School of Medicine. His surgical expertise was further refined through a general surgery residency at Louisiana State University and a vascular surgery fellowship at the University of Tennessee. In addition to his contributions to vascular research and patient care, Dr. Michael Lebow has remained a dedicated mentor, guiding future physicians through education and scholarship opportunities. Encouraging Excellence in Healthcare Education The Dr. Michael Lebow Scholarship for Future Doctors serves as an initiative to support the educational pursuits of students passionate about medicine. As the healthcare industry faces constant advancements and growing patient needs, scholarships like this play a vital role in ensuring that the next generation of medical professionals is well-prepared to address these challenges. By offering this financial assistance, Dr. Michael Lebow aims to encourage students to focus on their education, research, and hands-on experience without the added burden of financial constraints. Dr. Michael Lebow's experience in both military service and the medical field has reinforced his belief in leadership, resilience, and continuous learning. His tenure in the U.S. Army's 82nd Airborne Division instilled in him the values of discipline and commitment—qualities that he hopes to inspire in future scholarship recipients. Application Process & Deadline Interested applicants are encouraged to visit the official scholarship website at to review the full eligibility requirements and application details. The deadline to submit applications is December 15, 2025, and the recipient will be announced on January 15, 2026. Dr. Michael Lebow remains committed to supporting the educational journeys of future medical professionals and looks forward to reading the inspiring stories and aspirations of scholarship applicants. This scholarship reflects his ongoing efforts to foster medical innovation, education, and compassionate patient care. Contact Info: Spokesperson: Dr. Michael Lebow Organization: Dr. Michael Lebow Scholarship Website: Email: apply@
Associated Press
12-03-2025
- Health
- Associated Press
Late-Breaking at CROI 2025: SCORPIO-PEP Phase 3 Trial: Ensitrelvir is the First and Only COVID-19 Oral Antiviral to Demonstrate Prevention of COVID-19 as Post Exposure Prophylaxis
Shionogi & Co., Ltd. (Head Office: Osaka, Japan; Chief Executive Officer: Isao Teshirogi, Ph.D.; hereafter 'Shionogi') delivered a late-breaking scientific oral presentation at the Conference of Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) 2025, including new data from its global, double-blind, randomized, placebo-controlled Phase 3 study, S topping CO VID-19 p R ogression with early P rotease I nhibit O r treatment – P ost- E xposure P rophylaxis (SCORPIO-PEP) assessing ensitrelvir (Generic name: ensitrelvir fumaric acid, Code No.: S-217622, hereafter 'ensitrelvir') as oral post-exposure prophylaxis. SCORPIO-PEP is the first and only Phase 3 study of a COVID-19 oral antiviral as a post-exposure prophylaxis to meet the primary endpoint of preventing COVID-19. * The study met both the primary endpoint and the key secondary endpoint. The primary analysis population included 2,041 household contact participants with a negative screening SARS-CoV-2 test and excluded those found to already be positive by PCR at the central laboratory. 1 Of the study participants treated with ensitrelvir, 2.9% developed symptomatic COVID-19 compared to 9.0% of participants on placebo (risk ratio: 0.33; 95% CI: 0.22-0.49; p<0.0001) at Day 10, the primary endpoint, representing a 67% relative risk reduction. 1 The secondary analysis population included 2,387 household contact participants who had a negative local test for SARS-CoV-2 but did not exclude those with a central laboratory positive SARS-CoV-2 PCR at baseline. 1 The results were similar to the primary analysis population with 4.4% of participants treated with ensitrelvir developing symptomatic COVID-19 compared to 10.2% of participants on placebo (risk ratio: 0.43; 95% CI: 0.32-0.59; p<0.0001). 1 'COVID-19 remains a major threat to public health, and the best way to avoid the serious and long-term complications associated with the virus is to reduce the risk of being infected in the first place,' said Frederick Hayden, MD, Professor Emeritus of Clinical Virology and Professor Emeritus of Medicine, University of Virginia School of Medicine. 'In addition to vaccination, post-exposure prophylaxis with timely use of an oral antiviral would be a valuable way to help prevent COVID-19 illness in people who have been exposed, especially people at high risk for severe disease.' Ensitrelvir, known as Xocova ® in countries where it is approved, received emergency regulatory approval in Japan in 2022 and full approval in March 2024 for the treatment of COVID-19. It became available in Singapore via a Special Access Route application in 2023, and it is currently under regulatory review in Taiwan. Ensitrelvir was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in 2025 for post-exposure prophylaxis of COVID-19 following contact with an individual who has COVID-19. 3 In addition, ensitrelvir was granted Fast Track designation by the U.S. FDA in 2023 for the treatment of COVID-19. Ensitrelvir is an investigational drug outside of Japan and Singapore. In addition, the brand name Xocova ® has not been approved for use outside of Japan and Singapore and pertains only to the approved drug in Japan and Singapore. SCORPIO-PEP assessed 2,387 study participants aged 12 years and older with a negative screening test for SARS-CoV-2 infection and no symptoms at the time of enrollment, who were exposed to a person living in their household with symptomatic COVID-19. 1 Study participants were randomly assigned in a 1:1 ratio to receive ensitrelvir (125 mg) or placebo, once daily, and began treatment within three days of when the household member with COVID-19 began showing symptoms. 1 Participants then continued ensitrelvir or placebo for five days. 1 Overall, ensitrelvir was generally well tolerated, with similar rates of adverse events in the ensitrelvir group and the placebo group (15.1% and 15.5%, respectively). 1 There were no COVID-19 related hospitalizations or deaths. 1 'SARS-CoV-2 continues to circulate and there are still thousands of hospitalizations and hundreds of COVID-19 deaths each week,' said Simon Portsmouth, MD, FRCP, Senior Vice President, Head of Clinical Development. 'If we can reduce the risk of infection among individuals who are exposed to SARS-CoV-2, this fulfills an important unmet medical need. Oral antivirals have changed the way we treat and prevent other infectious diseases, including influenza and HIV, and there is an opportunity to do the same with COVID-19.' COVID-19 continues to pose a health risk for many people and remains a public health threat. 4,5 It can impact quality of life, lead to absence from work, cause long COVID, and can progress to severe disease, hospitalizations and death. 4,5 Additional protective options are needed for those who have close contact with people with COVID-19. Post-exposure prophylaxis (PEP) is needed to reduce the risk of developing the disease after exposure, particularly those at high risk of developing severe illness, such as those with weakened immune systems, chronic health conditions, the elderly or those who could transmit COVID-19 to high-risk populations. 6 In settings like hospitals, nursing homes, or long-term facilities, PEP could help protect against COVID-19 and contain the potential clinical and economic impact. 7,8 PEP may help reduce the risk of developing acute COVID-19, thereby reducing the risk of developing long COVID. 8,9 PEP is also an important preventive option as new variants emerge, which may escape vaccine-induced or infection-acquired immunity. 10 Additionally, low vaccination rates and waning immunity after vaccination call for additional preventative measures. 11 About ensitrelvir Ensitrelvir is a 3CL protease inhibitor created through joint research between Hokkaido University and Shionogi. SARS-CoV-2 has an enzyme called 3CL protease, which is essential for the replication of the virus. 12 Ensitrelvir suppresses the replication of SARS-CoV-2 by selectively inhibiting the 3CL protease. 12 Shionogi evaluated the safety and efficacy of ensitrelvir through SCORPIO-SR, a Phase 3 study conducted in Asia, during the Omicron-dominant phase of the epidemic. 13 In this study, ensitrelvir showed both clinical symptomatic efficacy (symptom resolution sustained for at least 24 hours) for five typical Omicron-related symptoms (primary endpoint) and antiviral efficacy (key secondary endpoint) in a predominantly vaccinated population of patients with mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infection, regardless of risk factors. 13 Regarding safety, most adverse events were mild in severity and no deaths were seen in the study. 13 Among the most common treatment-related adverse events were temporary decreases in high-density lipoprotein and increased blood triglycerides, as observed in previous studies. 13 The data from this study were published in JAMA Network Open. Additionally, the Phase 3 SCORPIO-HR study assessed ensitrelvir in a broad range of symptomatic, non-hospitalized participants with COVID-19, regardless of past SARS-CoV-2 infection. The study did not meet its primary endpoint of a statistically significant reduction in time to sustained resolution (symptom resolution sustained for at least 48 hours) of 15 common COVID-19 related symptoms for once-daily ensitrelvir compared to placebo. 14 No new safety concerns were identified in the study, and treatment with ensitrelvir was well tolerated, with a similar adverse event profile as placebo. 14 An investigator-initiated research study with ensitrelvir is ongoing in hospitalized patients for the management of COVID-19 as part of the Strategies and Treatments for Respiratory Infections & Viral Emergencies (STRIVE) platform protocol. STRIVE was developed under the auspices of NIH's Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) public-private partnership. Shionogi also recently released preliminary results from a multicenter, randomized, double-blind, placebo-controlled trial of ensitrelvir in mild to moderate COVID-19 patients aged 6 to under 12 years in Japan. The study confirmed safety and tolerability and found the pharmacokinetics of ensitrelvir in this age group similar to adults. 15 Forward-Looking Statements This announcement contains forward-looking statements. These statements are based on expectations in light of the information currently available, assumptions that are subject to risks and uncertainties which could cause actual results to differ materially from these statements. Risks and uncertainties include general domestic and international economic conditions such as general industry and market conditions, and changes of interest rate and currency exchange rate. These risks and uncertainties particularly apply with respect to product-related forward-looking statements. Product risks and uncertainties include, but are not limited to, completion and discontinuation of clinical trials; obtaining regulatory approvals; claims and concerns about product safety and efficacy; technological advances; adverse outcome of important litigation; domestic and foreign healthcare reforms and changes of laws and regulations. Also for existing products, there are manufacturing and marketing risks, which include, but are not limited to, inability to build production capacity to meet demand, lack of availability of raw materials and entry of competitive products. The company disclaims any intention or obligation to update or revise any forward-looking statements whether as a result of new information, future events or otherwise. * Literature search conducted December 2024. Reference List: Hayden F. Ensitrelvir to Prevent COVID-19 in Households: SCORPIO-PEP Phase III Placebo-Controlled Trial Results. Abstract 200. Presented at CROI 2025, San Francisco, CA: March 9-12, 2025. U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Available at: U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Fast Track Designation of S-217622 (ensitrelvir). The changing threat of COVID-19. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed February 24, 2025. Available at: Long COVID Basics. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Accessed February 24, 2025. Available at: effects/?CDC_AAref_Val= Bartoszko JJ, et al. Prophylaxis against covid-19: living systematic review and network meta-analysis. BMJ. 26 Apr 2021;373:n949. doi:10.1136/bmj.n949. Lee SH, Son H, Peck KR. Can post-exposure prophylaxis for COVID-19 be considered as an outbreak response strategy in long-term care hospitals? Science Direct. 17 Apr 2020;55:6. doi:10.1016/ Gentile I, Maraolo AE, Piscitelli P, Colao A. COVID-19: Time for Post-Exposure Prophylaxis? Int J Environ Res Public Health. 2020 Jun 4;17(11):3997. doi:10.3390/ijerph17113997. Al-Aly Z, Topol E. Solving the puzzle of Long Covid. Science. 22 Feb 2024; 383:6685,830-832. doiI:10.1126/ Carabelli AM, Peacock TP, Thorne LG, et al. SARS-CoV-2 variant biology: immune escape, transmission and fitness. Nature Reviews Microbiology. 18 Jan 2023;21:162–177. doi:10.1038/s41579-022-00841-7. Kriss JL, Black CL, Razzaghi H, et al. Influenza, COVID-19, and Respiratory Syncytial Virus Vaccination Coverage Among Adults — United States, Fall 2024. MMWR Morb Mortal Wkly Rep. 21 Nov 2024;73:1044–1051. doi:10.15585/ Unoh Y, et al. Discovery of S-217622, a noncovalent oral SARS-CoV-2 3CL protease inhibitor clinical candidate for treating COVID-19. Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. 30 Mar 2022;65:9,6499-6512. doi:10.1021/ Yotsuyanagi H, et al. Efficacy and safety of 5-day oral Ensitrelvir for patients with mild to moderate COVID-19. JAMA Netw Open. 9 Feb 2024;7(2):e2354991. doi:10.1001/jamanetworkopen.2023.54991. Luetkemeyer A, et al. Ensitrelvir for the Treatment of Nonhospitalized Adults with COVID-19: Results from the SCORPIO-HR, Phase 3, Randomized, Double-blind, Placebo-Controlled Trial, Clinical Infectious Diseases, 2025;, ciaf029, 3 rd Quarter of Fiscal 2024 Financial Results. January 31, 2025. Page 20. Accessed March 5, 2025. Available at: . KEYWORD: JAPAN ASIA PACIFIC SOURCE: Shionogi USA Copyright Business Wire 2025. PUB: 03/12/2025 11:25 AM/DISC: 03/12/2025 11:25 AM
