Comparison between Management and Pharmacotherapy of COVID-19 in Iran and Switzerland: Management and Pharmacotherapy of COVID-19 in Iran and Switzerland

Background: On 30 January 2020, the WHO declared the outbreak of SARS-CoV-2 as a public healthemergency. In the present study, we compared the preventative and therapeutic strategies and the success rates of Iran and Switzerland during the COVID-19 outbreak.Materials and Methods: This study was conducted using electronic databases such as PubMed, Scopus, andWeb of Science. In addition, the official documents of developed countries and WHO from 1st February until 15th May 2020 were studied. Relevant documents were reviewed in detail, and vital data were extracted.Results: Both countries have restriction policies to reduce the infection rate in the prevention setting. Thesepolicies, such as the recommendation to all citizens to stay home unless necessary, army participation, andnon-face-to-face counseling, were surveyed by similar techniques in both countries. Some policies wereimplemented in both countries with different protocols. These policies, including social distancing practices,smart distancing methods, business activities, border closures, border controls, and restrictions, travelrestrictions, testing and screening for infection and fever, and decreased working hours, were performed inboth countries. In the treatment setting, the therapeutic strategy used in Iran consisted of hydroxychloroquineor chloroquine phosphate and anti-viral drugs. Switzerland followed the guidelines of the European countries.The infection rate, recovery rate, and death rate were 0.139%, 78.73%, and 5.91% in Iran, while these rateswere 0.352%, 88.81%, and 6.15% in Switzerland, respectively.Conclusion: Due to the lack of special treatment for the disease, prevention must be considered the mostimportant factor in policymaking. Importantly, observing social distance is the most effective method amongthe preventative strategies. The capacity of the health care systems to provide optimal services and facilities isan important factor for patients recovery

Clinical perspective: Antibody-drug conjugates for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer

Antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs) are a promising class of cancer biopharmaceuticals that exploit the specificity of a monoclonal antibody (mAb) to selectively deliver highly cytotoxic small molecules to targeted cancer cells, leading to an enhanced therapeutic index through increased antitumor activity and decreased off-target toxicity. ADCs hold great promise for the treatment of patients with human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-positive breast cancer after the approval and tremendous success of trastuzumab emtansine and trastuzumab deruxtecan, representing a turning point in both HER2-positive breast cancer treatment and ADC technology. Additionally and importantly, a total of 29 ADC candidates are now being investigated in different stages of clinical development for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer. The purpose of this review is to provide an insight into the ADC field in cancer treatment and present a comprehensive overview of ADCs approved or under clinical investigation for the treatment of HER2-positive breast cancer