26 October 2020
Genetic medicine company Precision NanoSystems has been awarded $13.8m (C$18.2m) in funds to develop a Covid-19 mRNA vaccine candidate from the Canadian Government. The funding is part of the government’s Innovation, Science and Economic Development’s Strategic Innovation Fund aimed at combating Covid-19.
Bharat Biotech has received approval from the Drugs Controller General of India to perform a Phase III clinical trial on its Covaxin Covid-19 vaccine. The approval was given after the regulator evaluated safety and immunogenicity data from Phase I and II clinical trials of the vaccine.
Johnson & Johnson (J&J) has announced plans to resume enrolment for its ENSEMBLE Phase III clinical trial on its subsidiary Janssen‘s Covid-19 vaccine in the US. The trial was paused over an adverse event reported in one of the participants. J&J is resuming the trial after recommendation from the trial’s independent Data Safety and Monitoring Board and after consultation with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA).
Entos Pharmaceuticals has received $3.8m (C$5m) in funds from the Canadian Government to develop a Covid-19 vaccine. The funds were awarded as part of the government’s National Research Council of Canada Industrial Research Assistance Program aimed at developing domestic Covid-19 vaccines.
The US FDA has approved the restart of Phase III clinical trials on AstraZeneca/University of Oxford AZD1222 Covid-19 vaccine after reviewing safety data related to the trial globally. This trial was paused due to an illness reported in one of the volunteers. Clinical trials on the vaccine will resume across the US, UK, Brazil, South Africa and Japan.
