24 November 2020
AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford have announced their Covid-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222 was highly effective in preventing Covid-19 in clinical trials conducted in Brazil and the UK. Interim data from the trial showed no hospitalisations or disease progress among participants in the vaccine group. As a result, AstraZeneca plans to immediately prepare global regulatory submissions for conditional or early approval of AZD1222.
CureVac and Wacker Chemie have signed a manufacturing contract for CVnCoV, the former’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate. As per the agreement, Wacker Chemie will produce over 100 million doses of the vaccine every year at its Amsterdam site from the beginning of 2021. Test runs and technology transfers have already begun at the site.
HiFiBiO Therapeutics has entered into a partnership with Russian pharma company Pharmsynthez as well as the Shemyakin and Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry RAS to advance HFB30132A, a SARS-CoV-2 neutralising antibody for treating the Covid-19 disease, in Russia. The partnership seeks to enhance clinical development and commercialisation of the antibody, after seeking approval from the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation.
Phoenix-based biotech Sotira announced KEPTIDE COVID, its Covid-19 vaccine-alternative, successfully completed the second phase of pre-clinical testing in humanised mice. The company confirmed that the therapy was completely effective in preventing lung and kidney damage caused by the SARS-CoV-2 infection. The scientific team also found that the intranasal treatment prevented acute death from Covid-19 in the humanised mice.
