Despite concerns to the contrary, none of the mutations currently documented in the SARS-CoV-2 virus appear to increase its transmissibility in humans, according to a new analysis of viral genomes from 46,723 people in 99 countries who contracted COVID-19.
New York-based Hookipa Pharma Inc.’s positive interim data from a phase II study with what could become the first approved cytomegalovirus (CMV) vaccine, HB-101, lifted shares (NASDAQ:HOOK) to a high of $13.25 early in the day but the price leveled off later to close Nov. 30 at $11.60.
Moderna Inc. and Covaxx Inc. are readying for delivery more than 220 million doses of their respective COVID-19 vaccines to Europe and emerging countries in newly cut deals. Moderna, of Cambridge, Mass., said it granted an option to the European Commission to buy up to 80 million additional doses of mRNA-1273 and is set to manufacture 500 million to 1 billion doses globally in 2021. The company said the vaccine, if approved, will ship to the EU beginning in December. The company’s shares (NASDAQ:MRNA) had a solid day Nov. 25, with shares closing 10.78% upward at $109.18.
CAJICA, Colombia – Cuba’s Finlay Institute of Vaccines is moving forward with Soberana 2, a domestically developed conjugate vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. This is the second vaccine under development in the small country of 12 million people.
LONDON – A third COVID-19 vaccine has turned in positive results in the phase III interim analysis, with Astrazeneca plc/Oxford University reporting an average of 70.4% efficacy across two dose regimens for AZD-1222.
In a world more familiar with the 30% to 70% efficacy rates of seasonal flu vaccines, news of 95% efficacy rates for two of the major late-stage COVID-19 vaccines in development seems thrilling. But do such robust-sounding numbers, the product of relatively early analyses, really merit the enthusiasm they’ve garnered?
LONDON – Phase II data on Astrazeneca plc’s AZD-1222 COVID-19 vaccine show it prompts an equivalent immune response in healthy people aged 70, to that seen in people ages 18 to 55, despite the fact the elderly had fewer side effects from vaccination.
With the FDA’s required safety milestone notched in their phase III study of COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT-162b2, Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE said they will request emergency use authorization “within days.”
Concerns about biopharma executives profiting from stock sales aligned with releases of promising COVID-19 vaccine results could result in Congress requiring a cooling-off period for executives’ 10b5-1 plans that provide a safe harbor to insider trading.
A new report on the biopharma industry by cybersecurity firm Bluevoyant LLC found that the eight most prominent players in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine faced the highest volume of targeted, malicious cyberattacks, and 77% of the total 20 companies examined had unsecured remote desktop protocol (RDP) ports and email domains lacking basic measures to block hackers. “COVID-19 vaccines are the crown jewels of 2020 – and cyber attackers know it,” the report says.
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