LONDON – The COVAX initiative, set up in a bid to ensure equitable distribution of COVID-19 vaccines, is poised for a global rollout starting in Q1 2021, after sealing agreements to access 2 billion doses of a number of different products. That puts the world on a clear pathway to ending the acute phase of the pandemic, by protecting the most vulnerable people around the world, according to GAVI, the vaccines alliance, which is spearheading COVAX.

LONDON – The first of 800,000 commercial doses of Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine arrived in the U.K., after the Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) became the first regulator to grant conditional approval. A total of 1,500 immunization centers in the U.K. are preparing to receive the vaccine, with administration beginning Dec. 8.

Moderna Inc., late on Nov. 30, said it has asked the FDA to bless emergency use of its COVID-19 vaccine mRNA-1273 after phase III data confirmed it to be 94.1% effective in preventing symptomatic cases of the disease and 100% effective in preventing severe cases. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company said efficacy was "consistent across age, race and ethnicity and gender demographics."

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.

LONDON – COVID-19 research is generating a wealth of data every day, but it is coming from many and disparate sources, making it difficult to assess its quality, dovetail datasets together and decide how to apply it.

LONDON – The world’s first COVID-19 human challenge trial is due to start in London next year, after the government announced £33.6 million (US$43.5 million) funding for the project.

LONDON – Clinical care guidelines recommending the use of the HIV/AIDS combination lopinavir-ritonavir for the treatment of patients hospitalized with COVID-19 must now be updated, say the authors of a paper reporting the full results of a randomized U.K. study.

A large epidemiological study published in the July 6, 2020, advance online issue of The Lancet found that most individuals who became infected with SARS-CoV-2 developed antibodies to the virus, confirming that infection usually results in at least a short-term immune response.

Biopharma industry leaders in China who were the first to experience the chaos of the COVID-19 pandemic shared their thoughts during a closing plenary session of the virtual Bio-Europe Spring 2020 meeting.

LONDON – The EU launched a “Corona” response team, bringing together oversight of all the separate strands put in place to control the virus, as the infection spread to 18 of 27 member states, with 2,100 confirmed cases and 31 deaths.