LONDON – A further U.K. real-world study of COVID-19 vaccines has found a single dose dramatically reduces the chances of the most elderly and frail being admitted to the hospital as a result of serious infection.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting medical devices and technologies, including: FDA updates recognized standards list; Advisory hearing scheduled for Transmedics’ OCS; GAO said ‘no’ to Spartan Medical appeal; CDC posts updates on SARS sequencing.
LONDON – The SARS-CoV-2 variant of concern that caused a wave of infection in Manaus, Brazil, in December and January has been found to be both more transmissible and to evade immunity conferred by prior natural infection with the virus.
With several more emergency use authorizations (EUAs) across the globe, COVID-19 efforts to flatten the emerging variants with cocktail therapies and tweaked vaccines are frantically underway. BioWorld has tracked 884 therapeutics and vaccines that have entered development for the deadly SARS-CoV-2 virus since it first emerged more than a year ago, and the U.S. government has now provided EUAs to three vaccines and six therapies.
Non-clinical testing for the SARS-CoV-2 virus has been a major goal for regulators across the globe for months. Emergency use authorization (EUA) was just granted by the FDA is for the Quidel Quickvue COVID-19 test, an at-home antigen test with a turnaround time of 10 minutes. It’s the latest in a series of approvals of home tests and collection kits that promises to help control the pandemic.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Clinical Enterprise, Fluidigm, Invo Bioscience, Memic Innovative Surgery, Mobidiag, Opgen, Perimeter Medical Imaging AI, Vascular Grafts Solutions, Vetex Medical.
With the FDA’s granting of emergency use authorization (EUA) to Johnson & Johnson (J&J), there is now a third vaccine – and the first requiring only a single shot – against COVID-19 for adult Americans. Though it packs less of an efficacy punch, the EUA allows J&J’s Ad26.COV2.S to join mRNA vaccines from Moderna Inc. and Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE as protection against the virus.
A new study by Mayo Clinic and Nference Inc. researchers suggests that prior childhood and adult vaccinations for illnesses such as polio, measles and flu may provide protection against COVID-19 infection. The study, which analyzed patient data using Nference artificial intelligence (AI) software, underscores the critical role immunizations play in curbing the spread of diseases and preventing future pandemics. “What we discovered represents compelling evidence that vaccinations are a critical element in prevention of disease, even diseases one doesn’t anticipate,” said Venky Soundararajan, co-founder and chief scientific officer of the Cambridge, Mass.-based company.
