Following a recent string of emergency use authorizations (EUA) for their jointly developed COVID-19 vaccine, BNT-162b2, Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE said Dec. 14 that results from an ongoing German trial have helped illustrate "the multiple arms of the immune system that are activated" by the product to fight SARS-CoV-2. Separately, Moderna Inc. raised to 200 million the number of doses of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate it will supply to the U.S. government.
A day after the FDA granted emergency authorization for the use of the Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE COVID-19 vaccine, the U.S. CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) gave a thumb’s up for the vaccine, as did the Western States Scientific Safety Review Workgroup.
LONDON – The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Agency (MHRA) has given approval for the first-in-human study of Codagenix Inc.’s COVI-VAC, a live, attenuated whole virus COVID-19 vaccine, which is engineered to be structurally identical to wild-type SARS-CoV-2, but is much slower to replicate.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting biopharma, including: Health Canada to extend COVID-19 flexibilities; USTR seeking input on nations with poor IP protections.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Abbvie, Acceleron, Amag, Ascletis, Antengene, Astrazeneca, Avelas, Biontech, Codagenix, Daiichi Sankyo, EMD, Gamida, Gannex, Graphite, Legend, Merck KGaA, Mindmed, Open Orphan, Pfizer, Sobi.
The Sanofi SA-Glaxosmithkline plc COVID-19 vaccine program is taking a step backward to recalibrate as weak interim phase I/II data showed an insufficient response in patients age 50 and older. The step is a large one, delaying a potential launch until mid-2021 at the earliest and the end of next year at the latest.
LONDON – A study of genetic variants in patients with life-threatening COVID-19 has shed light on the mechanisms that underpin severe disease, uncovered new drug targets and pointed to approved drugs, including JAK inhibitors and phosphodiesterase type 4 inhibitors, as therapies that could aid recovery.