Coronavirus company news summary – Inovio has placed a clinical hold on its Phase II/III vaccine trials – COVAXX launches Phase I vaccine study in Taiwan

29 September 2020 

The US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has placed partial clinical hold on Inovio Pharmaceuticals‘ planned Phase II/III clinical trial of its potential Covid-19 vaccine, INO-4800. The regulator asked the company to provide more information on the trial, including details about the use of CELLECTRA 2000 delivery device. Inovio would respond to FDA’s queries in October, after which the agency will have up to 30 days to decide whether the trial may proceed.

COVAXX has started dosing healthy adult participants in its open-label, dose-escalation Phase I trial of Covid-19 vaccine candidate, UB-612, in Taiwan. UB-612, a multitope peptide-based vaccine candidate, will be assessed for its safety, tolerability and immunogenicity. Currently, the trial is recruiting 60 participants aged 20-55 years.

Interim data from a clinical trial in India has showed that an Ayurvedic remedy named Immunofree by Corival Life Sciences and a nutraceutical called Reginmune by Biogetica have resolved most Covid-19 symptoms earlier than other, standard drugs, according to IANS news agency. Also, these traditional medicines were said to have led to between 20% and 60% improvement, compared to conventional treatment.

IONTAS and FairJourney Biologics have discovered certain neutralising antibodies as potential therapies for Covid-19. The companies selected a panel of 15 potent antibodies that are ideal for clinical development and manufacturing. In pseudoviral assays and live coronavirus assays, these antibodies were observed to block infection when given at low doses.