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Two new studies describe the benefits of the antiviral drugs nirmatrelvir-ritonavir (Paxlovid) and molnupiravir in reducing SARS-CoV-2 Omicron hospitalizations and death, with one finding that the former is more effective than the latter at lowering death rates. Paxlovid and molnupiravir are used to treat nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients at high risk for severe illness within 5 days after symptom onset. (Van Beusekom, 9/21)

In a real-world study of people with Covid-19, Pfizer Inc.’s antiviral Paxlovid was less effective at preventing the infection’s most serious cases than it was in initial trials. The pill was just 37% effective at preventing hospitalization or death in high-risk patients when compared to no Covid treatment at all, according to an observational study published Thursday in JAMA Network Open. In earlier studies, it cut the risk of hospitalization or death by as much as 89%. (Cattan, 9/21)

Access to COVID-19 therapeutics, like almost every other facet of the pandemic, is defined by sociodemographic-based disparities, according to a new survey published in JAMA Network Open. The study was based on data taken from the COVID-19 Public Therapeutic Locator, and the researchers paired the data with county-level population to assess geospatial differences in access to COVID-19 therapeutics, including monoclonal antibodies. (Soucheray, 9/21)

In a research letter today in the New England Journal of Medicine, researchers estimate that a smallpox vaccine dose given a median of 13 years earlier is 72% to 75% effective against mpox among US veterans. (Van Beusekom, 9/21)

Analysis of data from a large public healthcare system in New York City shows concerning changes in the numbers and epidemiology of carbapenem-resistant Klebsiella pneumoniae (CRKP) infections since 2016. The data, published yesterday in Emerging Infectious Diseases, show a notable increase in CRKP infections in the New York City Health and Hospitals Enterprise during the COVID-19 pandemic, more cases originating in the community, and the rise of newer resistance mechanisms that challenge first-line antibiotics. (Dall, 9/21)

Major drugmakers are using artificial intelligence to find patients for clinical trials quickly, or to reduce the number of people needed to test medicines, both accelerating drug development and potentially saving millions of dollars. Human studies are the most expensive and time-consuming part of drug development as it can take years to recruit patients and trial new medicines in a process that can cost over a billion dollars from the discovery of a drug to the finishing line. (Grover and Coulter, 9/22)

Your doctor or therapist might not be the only one listening in during your next visit. Artificial intelligence may be tuning in as well. Health care is racing to incorporate generative AI and natural language processing to help wrangle patient information, provide reliable care summaries and flag health risks. But the efforts come with quality and privacy concerns that people developing these tools acknowledge. (Reed, 9/22)

How satisfied people are with their night’s sleep has a major impact on how well they feel the next day, regardless of what a tracking device might indicate about the quality of that sleep. (Sadick, 9/21)

The prestigious Lasker Awards were given on Thursday to scientists making advances in the diagnosis of eye disease, the prediction of cellular protein structure and the intricacies of the immune system. The awards, closely watched by researchers in biomedical fields, often foreshadow Nobel Prizes. The Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award was given to a team of three scientists, led by James G. Fujimoto, a professor of electrical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, who helped invent optical coherence tomography. (Weiland and Metz, 9/21)

The prestigious Lasker Awards for biomedical research are sometimes referred to as “America’s Nobel,” and with good reason — about a fourth of Lasker laureates have gone on to receive the Swedish award, too. The winners of the 2023 awards, announced on Thursday in New York, distinguished themselves in AI-enabled protein modeling, groundbreaking eye test technology, and in a wide-ranging career in medical science that combined innovative discoveries with attention to mentorship and leadership. (Merelli, 9/21)