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After a yearlong search for existing drugs that might help COVID-19 patients and point to a cure, a UCSF-led science team has identified what they say is an especially promising candidate: an anti-cancer drug that kills the coronavirus in lab studies and is almost 30 times more potent than remdesivir, one of the few antiviral drugs available to treat the disease. The new peer-reviewed research, published Monday in the journal Science, highlights a drug called Aplidin, which was originally extracted from an exotic marine creature called Aplidium albicans — a type of “sea squirt” found off the coast of Ibiza that looks a bit like a disembodied brain. (Fagone, 1/25)

A gorilla at the San Diego Zoo Safari Park in Escondido, Calif., underwent monoclonal antibody therapy after contracting COVID-19 this month. Winston, an elderly silverback gorilla, and several of his troop members tested positive for the coronavirus after they had symptoms such as mild coughing. Veterinary staff, concerned about Winston's age and underlying medical conditions, performed a diagnostic examination on him, a zoo statement said. He was found to have pneumonia and heart disease. (Jones, 1/25)

Cats and dogs may eventually need their own COVID-19 vaccines to prevent the coronavirus from evolving further and "spilling" back to humans, according to one group of researchers. SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is known to infect a number of animals besides humans, including cats, dogs, minks, tigers and gorillas. However, at this time, scientists don't think animals play a significant role in spreading the virus to people, and reports of COVID-19 in pets are rare, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC). (Rettner, 1/25)

Breast cancer wouldn’t have surprised her; being among the 1 in 8 women who develop it over their lifetime isn’t statistically improbable. Neither would have colorectal cancer; knowing the risk, Mandi Pike “definitely” planned to have colonoscopies as she grew older. But when a PET scan in November 2019 revealed that Pike, a 33-year-old oil trader, wife, and mother of two in Edmund, Okla., had lung cancer — she had been coughing and was initially misdiagnosed with pneumonia — her first reaction was, “but I never smoked,” she said. “It all seemed so surreal.” (Begley, 1/26)

Researchers at the University of Virginia Health System in Charlottesville are evaluating the use of a valve pressure relief device meant to alleviate the severe shortness of breath associated with congestive heart failure as part of a clinical trial, The Daily Progress reports. The device, an interatrial shunt, is a permanent implant that prevents the left ventricle from becoming backed up and placing pressure on the lungs by redirecting small amounts of blood from the left ventricle to the right ventricle. (Carbajal, 1/25)