3 November 2020
Aspen announced that one of its South African subsidiaries, Aspen Pharmacare, has entered into an agreement with two Johnson & Johnson companies to support the development of itsCovid-19 vaccine, Ad26.COV2-S. Aspen has agreed to provide the capacity to manufacture the vaccine candidate at its Port Elizabeth facility in South Africa.
CureVac announced positive results from its Phase I study that evaluated the safety of CVnCoV, an investigational Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The vaccine was tolerated across all tested doses and showed strong neutralising antibody responses against the SAR-CoV2 virus, which causes Covid-19. CVnCoV is also being tested in a Phase IIa clinical trial in Peru and Panama in older adults.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations has extended its partnership with Sichuan Clover Biopharmaceuticals to fund the development of a protein-based S-Trimer Covid-19 vaccine candidate. The $328m funding is expected to begin by the end of 2020, and will support the vaccine’s licensure in China and globally, if the candidate is found to be safe and effective.
Tiziana Life Sciences announced the initiation of a clinical trial of the nasally administered Foralumab among Covid-19 patients in Brazil. The therapeutic can either be taken alone or in combination with orally administered dexamethasone. Scientific teams from Harvard Medical School, Santa Casa de Misericórdia de Santos Hospital in Brazil and Tiziana have collaborated to expedite the development of the therapeutic for Covid-19; clinical results are expected towards the end of the year.
