HONG KONG – Cambridge, U.K.-based Astrazeneca plc has resumed phase I/II trials in Japan for AZD-1222, the experimental, adenovirus vector-based candidate coronavirus vaccine that it is co-developing with the University of Oxford.
DUBLIN – Spybiotech Ltd. has secured a first vaccine deal for its proprietary Spytag/Spycatcher protein conjugation technology. The Serum Institute of India Pvt. Co. Ltd. (SIIPL) is employing the technology in a COVID-19 virus-like-particle (VLP)-based vaccine, which recently entered a phase I/II trial in Australia. An initial data readout is expected in October or November.
HONG KONG – Incheon, South Korea-based Celltrion Inc. is rapidly advancing CT-P59, its antiviral antibody treatment for the COVID-19 virus, after receiving its second green light to begin phase I trials.
HONG KONG – Suwon-based Olix Pharmaceuticals Inc. is completing the final preclinical work before starting clinical trials for its as-yet-unnamed COVID-19 drug candidate, developed inside three months using RNA interference (RNAi) technology.
HONG KONG – Mumbai, India-headquartered Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. have released statistically significant top-line results from a phase III trial showing that Fabiflu (favipiravir), an antiviral pyrazine RNA polymerase inhibitor, can treat cases of mild to moderate COVID-19 in four days.
BEIJING – Androgen receptor (AR) antagonist developer Kintor Pharmaceutical Ltd., of Suzhou, China, is going to provide its proxalutamide (GT-0918) to an ongoing clinical trial in male patients, led by U.S. firm Applied Biology Inc., in Brazil for COVID-19, after preliminary clinical research suggested a potential link between androgenetic alopecia and COVID-19 pathogenesis.
Bharat Biotech International Ltd. has successfully developed India’s first indigenous vaccine candidate for COVID-19 to enter human trials. Named Covaxin, the vaccine has been cleared by the Drug Controller General of India (DCGI) and Ministry of Health & Family Welfare for phase I and II trials after the company submitted positive preclinical study results regarding safety and immune response.
Research focused on finding viable solutions to counter the COVID-19 pandemic continues at an explosive pace with a total of 588 potential therapeutics and vaccines at the forefront of scientific efforts launched by industry, academia and government.
Countries and health care providers should hope for the best but prepare for the worst as a resurgence of COVID-19 is expected in the fall, just as the influenza season hits.
BEIJING – Chinese state-backed vaccine developer China National Biotec Group (CNBG), of Beijing, said on June 16 that its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate produced a seroconversion rate of up to 100% in a phase I/II trial that enrolled 1,120 healthy subjects.
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