Infectious disease
The COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline hit a snag that will delay the launch of a Phase III study due to an insufficient immune response in older trial patients.
It was an unusually busy week for clinical trial updates, largely because of the annual ASH meeting from Sunday December 5 through Wednesday December 9. There were also other meetings and the usual corporate updates.
AstraZeneca, which is jointly developing a COVID-19 vaccine with the University of Oxford, plans to begin clinical trials testing its vaccine in combination with Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine by the end of the year.
A Biogen corporate conference held in February at the Boston Marriott Long Wharf Hotel was initially traced to about 100 cases of COVID-19 that spread across the country. That number has grown exponentially.
A COVID-19 vaccine being developed by CSL Ltd., and the University of Queensland was scrapped this week after numerous vaccine recipients reported receiving false positives on certain HIV tests.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), a day after a positive advisory committee recommendation, granted an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) to Pfizer and BioNTech for their COVID-19 vaccine. Dosing is expected to begin in days.
Every week there are numerous scientific studies published. Here’s a look at some of the more interesting ones.
All eyes on the FDA as they review a COVID-19 vaccine, FDA approval of an Emergency Use Authorization to LabCorp’s home test kit for COVID-19, the first testing device that does not require a prescription and more news.
Viruses mutate, and SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, is not different. Luckily, it appears to mutate relatively slowly. Meanwhile, researchers are beginning to get a grip on the virus’s evolution.
Aridis’ COVID-19 therapy is particularly exciting. AR-711 is an inhaled, self-administered, at-home treatment for mild-to-moderate SARS-CoV-2 infections.
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