From Russia With News

MOSCOW (UrduPoint News / Sputnik - 20th April, 2023) In this digest, we will tell you about a drug developed by Russian scientists for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, a rare hybrid solar eclipse that appeared for the first time in a decade, and how Russians perceive USSR founder Vladimir Lenin today.

Scientists at Russia's BIOCAD biotechnological company have developed a drug for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, the developer told Sputnik.

"The Russian Health Ministry has registered the first Russian pegylated interferon beta-1a for the treatment of multiple sclerosis, created by scientists from biotechnology company Biocad. The innovative development received the trade name Tenexia," the company said.

The drug is a pegylated interferon for the treatment of patients with relapsing-remitting multiple sclerosis, the most common type of the disease. Its development, preclinical and clinical trials took 10 years.

The registration study was based at 30 research centers in Russia and Belarus, the developer said, adding that about 400 patients with multiple sclerosis took part in clinical trials.

"Studies have shown improvements in patient disease progression, fewer cases of the aggravation of the disease, and increased adherence to therapy," the company added.

Drug administration is intramuscular, which will reduce the incidence of adverse events such as local reactions at injection sites.

Skygazers had the opportunity to witness a rare hybrid solar eclipse � a combination of a total and annular eclipse � on Wednesday night, the Moscow Planetarium announced.

"The first eclipse of 2023: a rare hybrid ... solar eclipse will occur on April 20," the planetarium said in a statement.

The eclipse was visible in Southeast Asia, East India, Australia, the Philippines, the Indian and Pacific oceans, and Antarctica from 01:36 to 06:59 GMT. The phenomenon peaked at 04:16:37 GMT and lasted 1 minute and 16 seconds.

After Wednesday night, people will be able to observe the next hybrid eclipse only in 2031.

A hybrid eclipse is a rare type of solar eclipse that changes in appearance as the Moon passes between our planet and the Sun. At the beginning or end of the path of the Moon's shadow across the surface of the Earth, the eclipse is annular, and in the middle, it is total.

USSR founder Vladimir Lenin is still positively perceived by a majority of Russians despite some age differentiation, Valery Fedorov, the director general of the Russian Public Opinion Research Center (VCIOM), told Sputnik.

"So, attempts to smear Lenin with black paint failed, and he is still perceived rather positively by the majority of Russians ... There is certainly an age differentiation, it is clear and predictable that young people know less on the matter ... And for the older generation he is a historical figure, they know about him and think of and assess him rather positively," Fedorov said.

Vladimir Lenin (Ulyanov), a Russian revolutionary, politician, and political theorist, was born on April 22, 1870. He served as the first and founding government leader of Soviet Russia from 1917-1924 and of the Soviet Union from 1922-1924. Russia, and later the Soviet Union, became a one-party socialist state governed by the Communist Party (CPSU) under Lenin's leadership. The first Soviet leader died on January 21, 1924.