CDC director Rochelle Walensky’s early morning announcement on Sept. 24 recommending boosters for certain frontline workers was considered wise by some but as undermining her advisers and the process by others. She endorsed the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices’ recommendation for booster doses of the Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE COVID-19 vaccine but overruled one of the panel’s Sept. 23 decisions by adding boosters for people ages 18 to 64 who are at increased risk of COVID-19 exposure and transmission due to occupational or institutional setting, based on their individual benefits and risks.
Constrained by the U.S. FDA’s authorized conditions of use for a booster dose of Pfizer Inc. and Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) struggled with making recommendations Sept. 23 for the use of the booster, with several members questioning the need for a third dose in some of the populations the FDA identified.
Trimers of nanobodies, a simpler form of antibody made by some animal species, were effective at preventing and treating COVID-19 in preclinical studies, researchers reported in the Sept. 22, 2021, issue of Nature Communications. The findings, along with others, could form the basis of an inhaled biologics treatment for COVID-19 and, ultimately, other respiratory diseases.
Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Biocartis, BK Medical, Digital Therapeutics Alliance, Draper, Evoendo, Gamma Biosciences, GE Healthcare, Neuroone, Orasure Technologies, Roche Diagnostics Canada, Second Genome, Squid Healthcare, Theromics.
LONDON – Self-amplifying RNA (saRNA) specialist Vaxequity Ltd. has sealed a commercialization deal with Astrazeneca plc after delivering safety data in a phase I/II trial of the technology in a COVID-19 vaccine.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Advaccine, Algernon, Arcturus, Bluebird, Carisma, Cytodyn, Incyte, Inovio, Inventiva, Moberg, Pharmamar, Radius Health, Rhythm, Taysha Gene Therapies, Tryp.
Five days after an FDA advisory committee recommended a booster dose of Pfizer Inc.-Biontech SE’s COVID-19 vaccine, Comirnaty, for people 65 and older or those who are at high risk of a serious infection, the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) struggled Sept. 22 with what a U.S. booster program would look like if only one booster is available when three different COVID-19 vaccines are being used in the country.
Autumn's arrival in the Northern Hemisphere on Sept. 22 swept in significant news of progress for the global fight against COVID-19. A protein-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate from Clover Biopharmaceuticals Ltd. and Dynavax Technologies Corp. appeared wholly effective in preventing severe disease and hospitalization, sending Dynavax shares (NASDAQ:DVAX) climbing 26.5% to close at $18.79 on Sept. 22. In another study of Gilead Sciences Inc.'s Veklury (remdesivir), the drug significantly reduced hospitalization in high-risk patients with COVID-19. Meanwhile, governments and companies continued to expand efforts to supply new vaccines and therapeutics against the disease even as efforts continued far and wide to evaluate the efficacy of new and emerging candidates in both categories.
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