SOME POWERFUL VICTORIES FOR GREENPEACE.

Good morning Nelson, How are things where you are? It’s been a summer of troubling events, from the ongoing pandemic to the tragic chemical explosion in Beirut. You might also have seen the news that the last intact ice shelf in the Canadian Arctic collapsed last month: yet another reminder of the urgent need to act on the climate crisis even amidst the global health crisis. But there are positive things happening in the world too. As a Greenpeace supporter, you’re part of creating the solutions that are essential to a green and peaceful future. And I’m writing to share with you some powerful victories you’ve helped make possible in recent weeks. Let me know below if they help boost your mood and inspire you! Greenpeace Canada is taking the Ontario government to court! In 2018, on behalf of Greenpeace Canada, Ecojustice filed a lawsuit against Ontario’s Ford government for illegally failing to consult with Ontarians before scrapping cap and trade. This photo was taken outside the court hearing in Toronto on April 1st, 2019. From left to right: Greenpeace Canada Legal Counsel, Priyanka Vittal, Ecojustice lawyers Amir Attaran and Ian Miron, and Greenpeace Canada Senior Energy Strategist Keith Stewart. You heard right! We are suing the Ontario Government for steamrolling through its legal and democratic obligation to consult Ontarians before changing environmental laws. In July, the Doug Ford government passed an economic recovery act that included major changes to environmental laws. The bill acted as a smokescreen to sneak in the wishlist of regulatory rollbacks Ford’s business buddies have been seeking since before the pandemic began. Together with our co-plaintiff Wilderness Committee and our representatives at Ecojustice, we are demanding that the government respect the Environmental Bill of Rights and consult Ontarians before snuffing out key environmental legislation. Stay tuned to Greenpeace’s social media for more updates on how this case develops! Total writes down $7 billion in tar sands assets Paris, 2017: Greenpeace activists carry out an action at Total’s headquarters, warning the world of the damage Total could do to the Amazon Reef if permitted to search and drill for oil in the surrounding area. The Canadian tar sands and oil lobby have one less friend: French oil company, Total.  News broke last month that Total has written down $7 billion in tar sands assets. In a dual blow to the Canadian tar sands, Total announced that it would quit Canada’s biggest oil lobby group, the Canadian Association of Petroleum Producers (CAPP), for its opposition to action on climate change. This move underscores the urgency of ensuring that COVID-19 stimulus plans grow a green economy and offer security and support to workers. As the world transitions away from fossil fuels, starting with the most polluting sources, the tar sands are hemorrhaging investors. It’s time we heard more from the federal Liberals on their progress toward the green stimulus plans they promised Canadians early on in the pandemic. Spain’s last remaining coal power plants to be decommissioned Last year, as part of the Rainbow Warrior "United for Climate Tour", Greenpeace activists protested at the coal power plant Los Barrios and placed a 30-metre-long banner on the harbour dock reading “Fabrica de cambio climatico” (Climate change factory). The action highlighted that to save the climate, fossil fuels have to stay in the ground. After 30 years of campaigning, Greenpeace and our allies in Spain are celebrating the beginning of the end of coal. In a move that will mean all coal power plants in Spain close earlier than anticipated, EDP (Energias de Portugal) has announced its plans to phase out its last two coal-powered plants in the country by 2025 or earlier. Greenpeace will continue to monitor coal plant closures and hold the company to their word to ensure that no coal plants operate in Spain past 2025. Greenpeace is now demanding with even greater urgency that the government expedite the country’s transition to a 100% renewable energy model. BP promises to reduce oil and gas production by 2030 Here photographed in June of 2019, Greenpeace campaigner Sarah North holds a banner reading "Climate Emergency" while floating in front of a BP oil rig on day 11 of the protest in the North Sea. Greenpeace is calling on BP to halt drilling for new oil in light of the climate emergency and refocus their business on renewable energy. This is huge. By 2030, major British oil company BP says it will cut oil and gas production by 35-40%, increase renewable energy production by 20 times their current amount, and multiply their low carbon investments by ten.  This announcement follows years of Greenpeace campaigning, calling on the company to reduce its emissions by cutting its new oil and gas investments, and cutting its overall oil and gas production. Slashing oil and gas production and investing in renewable energy is what the rest of the oil industry needs to do for the world to stand a chance of meeting our global climate targets. BP, like all other oil companies, must go further — but this is a necessary and encouraging start. Greenpeace builds a barrier around the Adlergrund marine reserve Here photographed on their third day of action in late July, Greenpeace activists sink granite rocks from the Beluga-II ship to prevent industrial bottom trawls from destroying what is supposed to be a protected ecosystem below. Protection can’t only be on paper. Now this is the kind of direct action I like to see: simple and effective! After years of witnessing industrial fishing companies plough through the Baltic Sea’s Adlergrund marine reserve with impunity, Greenpeace activists have gone ahead and started building a granite barrier around it. The activists have strategically placed granite rocks around the reserve’s perimeter to block the industrial fishing industry’s bottom trawlers from indiscriminately raking up sea creatures from the ocean floor. This is just one of the actions taken in Greenpeace’s ship, Beluga-II, as it travels to the protected areas of the North and the Baltic Seas, on a mission to secure "real protected areas" — domestically as well as internationally. New Zealand announces plan to phase out more single-use plastics This ‘River of Plastic’ was photographed on Green Island, Dunedin as part of Greenpeace’s Toxics Tour back in 1991. Nearly 30 years later, the government of New Zealand has announced plans to phase out some of the most problematic single-use plastics. But more still needs to be done. Good news from Aotearoa! After phasing out plastic bags, the New Zealand government announced plans this month to phase out hard-to-recycle plastics and seven of some of the most problematic single-use plastic items including plastic straws, drink stirrers, produce bags, tableware (e.g. plastic plates, bowls, cutlery) and non-compostable fruit stickers. This announcement comes after years of Greenpeace campaigning and public pressure. But plastic bottles, one of the biggest plastic pollution culprits, are still missing from the government’s clean-up plan. Over 35,000 Greenpeace supporters have already called for plastic bottles to be replaced with reusable alternatives — and we will keep up the pressure! So there you have it, Nelson. Some good Greenpeace news from around the world that the support of incredible people like you helps make possible. Thank you! So many of these stories reflect what I see as a changing tide. Even dirty industries are waking up to the immediate need to cut carbon emissions this decade. Let’s keep up the pressure — and harness the opportunity we have right now to create a green and just recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic. With gratitude, Christy Executive Director, Greenpeace Canada What did you think of this email? 1 2 3 4 5 Not for me Loved it! Powered by Typeform

The first symptom is a fever.

If you have COVID-19, this is The first symptom you will get.

Researchers from the University of Southern California released a new study, published in the journal Frontier Public Health, which road mapped the usual order in which symptoms of the coronavirus appear.

COVID-19 symptoms tend to appear in a specific order, according to a new study.

Researchers from the University of Southern California released a new study, published in the journal Frontier Public Health, which road mapped the usual order in which symptoms of the coronavirus appear.

While the core symptoms of the coronavirus are cough, shortness of breath, and fever, the order in which they appear can help with earlier detection and possibly help treat patients faster. The study found that fever occurs first, followed by cough and muscle pain. Other symptoms like nausea and vomiting occur after, followed by diarrhea.

“This order is especially important to know when we have overlapping cycles of illnesses like the flu that coincide with infections of COVID-19,” said USC professor Peter Kuhn in a press release. “Doctors can determine what steps to take to care for the patient, and they may prevent the patient’s condition from worsening.”

Researchers examined more than 55,000 confirmed cases of the coronavirus in China through data compiled by the World Health Organization. They also looked at nearly 2,500 cases scattered across the world where they cross-examined symptoms reported for influenza from 1994 to 1998.

Joseph Larsen, one of the study’s authors, said that the study’s findings are important.

“The order of the symptoms matter. Knowing that each illness progresses differently means that doctors can identify sooner whether someone likely has COVID-19, or another illness, which can help them make better treatment decisions,” Larsen said.

A FASTER TEST MEANS FASTER DETECTION, PREVENTION AND TREATMENT.

Sorrento Announces License From Columbia University For Rapid On-Site Detection Test For SARS-CoV-2 Virus In Saliva

-- Test gives simple positive or negative color change results in 30 minutes or less

-- No special laboratory equipment required, hence practical for on-site deployment

-- Test uses saliva, eliminating need for painful nasal swabbing

-- Study shows sensitivity and specificity of 97% and 100%, respectively

 

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NEWS PROVIDED BY

Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. 

Jul 29, 2020, 09:00 ET

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SAN DIEGO, July 29, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: SRNE) ("Sorrento") today announced it has entered into a licensing agreement with Columbia University ("Columbia") for the rights to a rapid, one-step diagnostic test that detects SARS-CoV-2 virus in as little as 30 minutes from a sample of saliva. Unlike other commercially available diagnostic products, the test developed by Columbia's team, to be marketed by Sorrento under the COVI-TRACE™ name, holds all of the testing materials in a single tube and requires no specialized laboratory equipment, making it easily deployable for point of care, on-site or potentially at-home testing.

Figure 1: COVI-TRACE On-Site Testing Steps for SARS-CoV-2 Viral Detection

Current diagnostic tests for SARS-CoV-2 detect viral ribonucleic acid (RNA) but must be shipped to a reference laboratory unless the facility collecting the samples has purchased costly instrumentation, cartridges and consumables to extract viral RNA from the fluid in which the sample — either a nasopharyngeal swab or saliva — is placed. The current backlog in SARS-CoV-2 testing has resulted in average turnaround times of between several days to over a week, and laboratories across the country are reportedly struggling to keep up with increased testing demand.

Developed by Zev Williams, MD, PhD, and his team at the Columbia University Fertility Center, the COVI-TRACE approach eliminates the extraction step and simplifies overall sample processing. A small sample of saliva is collected in a cup and then placed into a tube containing enzymes and reagents that can detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus's RNA. The tube is then placed into a simple heat block or water bath to keep the sample warm throughout the chemical reaction, which takes 30 minutes or less to provide a colorimetric reading based on detection of the presence of the virus.

Preliminary study results were published in a paper by Williams and colleagues at Columbia University Irving Medical Center titled, "Field-deployable, rapid and direct diagnostic testing of saliva samples for SARS-CoV-2," in MedRxiv on June 16, 2020. The study evaluated the new test in 60 samples, including 30 samples with virus and 30 without. The study found sensitivity and specificity of 97% and 100%, respectively, and the ability to detect as few as 1 or 2 copies of the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a microliter of saliva.

Dr. Zev Williams, Director of the Columbia University Fertility Center, stated, "Testing for SARS-CoV-2 needs to be fast, frequent, and far-reaching. We are delighted to work with Sorrento Therapeutics in the hope that COVI-TRACE may be scaled and deployed in the U.S. and around the world to combat the spread of COVID-19."

Dr. Henry Ji, Chairman and CEO of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., stated, "We are building a portfolio of highly relevant COVID-19 solutions that spans diagnostics, prevention, early intervention and rescue therapies. COVI-TRACE will be a key asset in our diagnostic solutions, and we intend to move rapidly to submit an emergency use authorization request to the FDA and prepare for full-scale production. Such a simple, deployable and cost-effective solution, in synergy with our potentially neutralizing antibodies, could become the 'economy opener' our country has been waiting for."

Reading test results is designed to be simple (Figure 1): If the fluid in the tube turns yellow, the test is considered positive (virus RNA present), and if the fluid turns red, the test is considered negative (no virus RNA present).

About Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

Sorrento is a clinical stage, antibody-centric, biopharmaceutical company developing new therapies to treat cancers. Sorrento's multimodal, multipronged approach to fighting cancer is made possible by its extensive immuno-oncology platforms, including key assets such as fully human antibodies ("G-MAB™ library"), clinical stage immuno-cellular therapies ("CAR-T", "DAR-T™"), antibody-drug conjugates ("ADCs"), and clinical stage oncolytic virus ("Seprehvir™", "Seprehvec™"). Sorrento is also developing potential antiviral therapies and vaccines against coronaviruses, including COVIDTRAP™, ACE-MAB™, COVI-MAB™, COVI-GUARD™, COVI-SHIELD™ and T-VIVA-19™; and diagnostic test solutions, including COVI-TRACK™ and COVI-TRACE™.

Sorrento's commitment to life-enhancing therapies for patients is also demonstrated by our effort to advance a first-in-class (TRPV1 agonist) non-opioid pain management small molecule, resiniferatoxin ("RTX"), and ZTlido® (lidocaine topical system) 1.8% for the treatment of post-herpetic neuralgia. RTX is completing a phase IB trial for intractable pain associated with cancer and a phase 1B trial in osteoarthritis patients. ZTlido® was approved by the FDA on February 28, 2018.

For more information visit www.sorrentotherapeutics.com

Forward-Looking Statements

This press release and any statements made for and during any presentation or meeting contain forward-looking statements related to Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc., under the safe harbor provisions of Section 21E of the Private Securities Litigation Reform Act of 1995 and subject to risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those projected. Forward-looking statements include statements regarding potential deployment points for COVI-TRACE; COVI-TRACE's ability to detect the SARS-CoV-2 virus; the receipt of emergency use authorization (EUA) approval for COVI-TRACE; the expected regulatory, development and commercialization path for COVI-TRACE; the readiness of Sorrento for full-scale production of COVI-TRACE; the cost-effectiveness of COVI-TRACE; the neutralizing effects of Sorrento's antibodies; the impact that Sorrento's products and product candidates may have on the U.S. economy; Sorrento's pipeline of product candidates for the potential detection, vaccination and treatment of COVID-19; and Sorrento's potential position in the anti-viral immunity industry. Risks and uncertainties that could cause our actual results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in our forward-looking statements, include, but are not limited to: risks related to Sorrento's and its subsidiaries', affiliates' and partners' technologies and prospects and collaborations with partners, including, but not limited to risks related to seeking EUA regulatory approval for COVI-TRACE; the clinical and commercial success of the detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus infections using COVI-TRACE; the viability and success of using COVI-TRACE for detection of the SARS-CoV-2 virus; clinical development risks, including risks in the progress, timing, cost, and results of clinical trials and product development programs; risk of difficulties or delays in obtaining regulatory approvals; risks that clinical study results may not meet any or all endpoints of a clinical study and that any data generated from such studies may not support a regulatory submission or approval; risks of manufacturing and supplying drug product; risks related to leveraging the expertise of its employees, subsidiaries, affiliates and partners to assist the company in the execution of its COVI-TRACE strategies; risks related to the global impact of COVID-19; and other risks that are described in Sorrento's most recent periodic reports filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including Sorrento's Annual Report on Form 10-K for the year ended December 31, 2019, and subsequent Quarterly Reports on Form 10-Q filed with the Securities and Exchange Commission, including the risk factors set forth in those filings. Investors are cautioned not to place undue reliance on these forward-looking statements, which speak only as of the date of this release and we undertake no obligation to update any forward-looking statement in this press release except as required by law.

Media and Investor Relations
Contact: Dani Frank 
Email: sorrentotherapeutics@factorypr.com

Sorrento® and the Sorrento logo are registered trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

G-MAB™, COVI-GUARD™, COVI-SHIELD™, COVIDTRAP™, T-VIVA-19™, COVI-MAB™, ACE-MAB™, COVI-TRACK™, COVI-TRACE™, Saving-Life™ and Improving-Life™ are trademarks of Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

ZTlido® is a trademark owned by Scilex Pharmaceuticals Inc.
All other trademarks are the property of their respective owners.
© 2020 Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

SOURCE Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc.

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Dramatic findings of blood clotting from Covid-19

Blood clotting in every organ found inside Covid-19 victims.

Gentle people: Apparently SARScoV-2 can travel undetected into every cell and into every organ of our bodies. Blood clots within every organ have been found inside dead Covid-19 victims. Blood clots have been located inside every organ and I presume that would include the brain. When blood clots are created inside the brain, patients often die.
 One important question is what is causing the blood clots? Does the body's immune system attack any area where the SARS Cov-2 finally shows itself, thus creating a blood clot? 
 Megakaryocytes produce large bone marrow platelet cells.  Platelets are implicated in the production of blood clots. Two important questions are 1. How does SARSCoV-2 infect megakaryocytes, and 2. How are large platelet cells stimulated to create blood clots outside the bone marrow?

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(CNN)Autopsies on people who died of the coronavirus are helping doctors understand how the disease affects the body -- and one of the most remarkable findings concerned blood clotting, a pathologist says.

Dr. Amy Rapkiewicz, the chairman of the department of pathology at NYU Langone Medical Center, spoke to Erin Burnett on OutFront Thursday night.

Some Covid-19 patients are known to develop blood clotting issues, but the degree and the extent to which that occurs was described as "dramatic" by Rapkiewicz.

In the early stages of the pandemic, bedside clinicians noticed a lot of blood clotting "in lines and various large vessels," she said.

"What we saw at autopsy was sort of an extension of that," she said. "The clotting was not only in the large vessels but also in the smaller vessels.

"And this was dramatic, because though we might have expected it in the lungs, we found it in almost every organ that we looked at in our autopsy study," she said. Rapkiewicz's study outlining her findings was published at the end of June in The Lancet journal EClinicalMedicine.

The autopsies also showed something unusual about megakaryocytes, or large bone marrow cells. They usually don't circulate outside the bones and lungs, Rapkiewicz said.

"We found them in the heart and the kidneys and the liver and other organs," she said. "Notably in the heart, megakaryocytes produce something called platelets that are intimately involved in blood clotting."
Researchers hope to discover how these cells influence small vessel clotting in Covid-19, she said.

Pathologists have been surprised by something they didn't find.

During early stages of the pandemic, doctors thought the virus would provoke inflammation in the heart with myocarditis, she said.

But autopsies have found a very low incidents of myocarditis, Rapkiewicz said.

She said that one of the "opportunities -- if there is one to count in the virus" is that pathologists have had a chance to examine the organs of many Covid-19 victims and investigate the disease processes that take place. She said that opportunity really wasn't available with H1N1 or the original SARS outbreak.