AstraZeneca resumed clinical trials for its investigational COVID-19 vaccine Saturday, after briefly pausing the trial globally to investigate reports of a potential severe adverse in a patient in the United Kingdom. In a brief press release, AstraZeneca announced that Phase 3 trials for the vaccine, AZD1222, have resumed in the UK on 12 September following […] Continue reading ->
COVID-19 has the potential to change how vaccines are sold and distributed, but industry leaders, academics, policymakers, and advocates are still struggling to decide the direction those changes should take. A successful COVID-19 vaccine should only be sold by companies to countries if it fits within an equitable distribution platform made by a neutral third […] Continue reading ->
AstraZeneca on Tuesday night suspended the Phase 3 trial of their experimental COVID-19 vaccine in order to investigate a a suspected severe adverse reaction in a volunteer reported in the United Kingdom. The trial suspension follows just on the heels of AstraZeneca’s chief executive officer’s pledge to seek regulatory approval for a COVID-19 vaccine only […] Continue reading ->
The chief executive officers of nine biopharmaceutical companies at the forefront of the COVID-19 vaccine development race have signed a pledge to fully test the safety and efficacy of an investigational vaccine before rolling it out for mass use. The top executives of AstraZeneca, BioNTech, GlaxoKlineSmith, Johnson&Johnson, Merck, Moderna, Novavax, Sanofi, and Pfizer signed the […] Continue reading ->
Countries would be better off waiting until Phase 3 clinical trials, which test the safety and efficacy of an experimental vaccine in tens of thousands of people, are completed before rolling out the vaccine for wider use, World Health Organization Chief Scientist Soumya Swaminathan said on Monday. Although some countries, including China, Russia and the […] Continue reading ->
As global stocks of remdesivir, one of the few promising therapeutics for COVID-19, run low, the drug’s maker Gilead Sciences says that voluntary licensing to enable more manufacturers to produce the drug will not help expand access, countering advocates’ calls.  Rather, the lack of a “coordinated global supply chain” is to blame for worldwide shortages […] Continue reading ->
The US Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Agency (BARDA) is investigating Moderna’s patents for allegedly failing to disclose federal funding, making it the second US agency to review the company’s patents. The BARDA probe comes just days after the US Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) began an investigation into Moderna’s patents, after pharma watchdog […] Continue reading ->
The United States Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is investigating Moderna, a company developing a much hyped COVID-19 vaccine candidate, for allegedly failing to disclose federal funding on its US patent applications. A Moderna spokesperson on Monday told Health Policy Watch that “the Company believes it has complied with applicable patent reporting requirements regarding patent filings.” […] Continue reading ->