Astrazeneca plc said it has received about $486 million from the U.S. government to support the development and supply of a long-acting antibody combination under evaluation for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19. Phase III trials of the candidate, AZD-7442, are slated to begin later this month, the company told BioWorld. One trial will enroll more than 6,000 adults for the prevention of COVID-19 with additional trials set to enroll about 4,000 adults for the treatment of the infection, the Cambridge, U.K.-based company said.
LONDON – The first confirmed case of COVID-19 reinfection in the U.S. has been reported, with a patient testing positive for two distinct SARS-CoV-2 strains within 48 days, while testing negative in between contracting the two infections.
The latest global regulatory news, changes and updates affecting biopharma, including: ICER cost models going global; Canada prepares for ICH Q12; HHS partners on Lyme innovation.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Alexion, Avenue, Astrazeneca, Celltrion, Gannex, Immunomedics, Oncopeptides, Oxular.
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Altimmune, Antengene, Auravax, Bausch, Cstone, Curon, Eyenovia, Hitgen, Innocan, Ligand, Novabay, Pfizer, Rhizen, Wuxi.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Beckman Coulter, Genmark Diagnostics, Oxford Nanopore.
As clinical trials, halted due to the COVID-19 pandemic, begin to resume and biopharma companies find workarounds to keep the research going, activity in phase I, II and III studies picked up by more than 40% in September.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Apellis, Bold, Caladrius, CSL, Emergent, Gilead, Grifols, Pfizer, Rigel, Sobi, Sumitomo Dainippon, Takeda, University of Oxford.
COVID-19 stalled clinical trials, halted elective surgeries, and body slammed many med-tech companies’ revenues. Despite that, an industry report released by Ernst & Young (EY) finds that the pandemic also drove some positive changes in the med-tech industry including long-neglected attention to enterprise-wide business continuity.