LONDON – A second COVID-19 vaccine has reported positive results in an interim phase III analysis, with Russia’s Sputnik V showing 92% efficacy. The news comes two days after the first readout from a phase III COVID-19 vaccine trial reported 90% efficacy for Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE’s BNT-162b2.
BOGOTA, Colombia and VANCOUVER, Canada – Anvisa, Brazil’s health care surveillance agency, re-started phase III trials for Coronavac, the COVID-19 vaccine candidate developed by China-based Sinovac Biotech Ltd., after a suspension of just two days. “Anvisa understands that it has sufficient subsidies to allow the resumption of vaccination,” the regulator said on Nov. 11. Anvisa said it plans to continue monitoring “the possible relationship of causality” between an unexpected serious adverse event and the vaccine.
Moderna Inc.’s phase III win with its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, lifted spirits while validating the Cambridge, Mass.-based firm’s platform, as Wall Street buzzed with comparisons between the prospects that have yielded late-stage data thus far.
LONDON – A second phase III trial of Johnson & Johnson’s adenoviral-vectored COVID-19 vaccine is starting in the U.K. this week, amid concerns the positive news from the Pfizer Inc./Biontech SE vaccine study will deter volunteers from coming forward to take part.
The FDA has issued Sanofi SA a complete response letter (CRL) regarding its complement pathway inhibitor sutimlimab, citing deficiencies found during a pre-license inspection of a third-party manufacturing facility.
DUBLIN – The contest to bring a safe and effective gene therapy for X-linked retinitis pigmentosa (XLRP) to market is intensifying. Two of the three contenders with clinical-stage programs reported initial 12-month data from phase I/II trials and are now looking ahead to pivotal trials and beyond.