PERTH, Australia – Engeneic Ltd. has begun a phase I trial of its nanocellular COVID-19 vaccine, which in preclinical animal studies stimulated a broad antiviral response against mutant strains of the virus, including the virulent Delta strain sweeping across Australia.
Eyegene Inc. has received the green light from South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) for EG-COVID, its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, to enter the clinic. Eyegene will now begin a phase I/IIa trial, to be conducted in two stages, to evaluate the vaccine’s safety, tolerability and immunogenicity.
The European Commission and Astrazeneca plc have ended their legal row over COVID-19 vaccines, while also reaching an agreement over supplies of remaining shots to Europe. The settlement brings to an end an unseemly row over vaccine supply, which further soured relations between the EU and U.K. following Brexit.
LONDON – Conflicting data from around the world on the extent to which the Delta variant of SARS-CoV-2 is reducing the effectiveness of vaccines is generating uncertainty over the need, or not, for booster programs.
The Biden administration’s plan to roll out COVID-19 boosters by Sept. 20 could get pushed back – pending the outcome of an FDA advisory committee meeting and how quickly the FDA acts on the adcom’s recommendation. Peter Marks, director of the FDA's Center for Biologics Research and Evaluation, announced Sept. 1 that the agency will convene its Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee for a virtual meeting Sept. 17.
A look at the COVID-19 cases and deaths globally and on a weekly basis suggest that the world is not doing any better than it was this time last year, even though numerous vaccines are now authorized and approved.
Higher antibody titer levels were found in participants receiving two doses of Moderna Inc.’s COVID-19 vaccine compared to those receiving the Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE vaccine, according to a research letter published in JAMA.
A closely watched phase IIb test of JNJ-9220, an investigational HIV vaccine regimen developed by Johnson & Johnson's Janssen Vaccines & Prevention BV, has been stopped because the regimen provided insufficient protection against HIV infection. Though safe, the candidate's efficacy was just 25.2%, according to statisticians who analyzed data from the study, called Imbokodo. Further analysis of the study will continue, and the study was deemed to have provided sufficient data for further immunological correlates research, according to J&J.
The CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) heard a safety update on COVID-19 vaccines, took up the matter of booster shots, and voted on whether to recommend the vaccine from Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE for people 16 and older, now that it’s fully licensed. Under an emergency use authorization, the vaccine can be given to people 12-15 years old.
With the Americas having the dubious distinction of the most COVID-19 cases in the world, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is answering that “wake-up call” with plans to develop a collaborative platform to develop mRNA vaccine production in Latin America and the Caribbean.
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