Pfizer and BioNTech have revealed positive top-line data for their COVID-19 vaccine – BNT162b2 – in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years old. The vaccine demonstrated 100% efficacy in a Phase III trial in adolescents aged 12 to 15 years old, with or without prior evidence of SARS-CoV-2 infection. BNT162b2 also produced ‘robust’ antibody responses in the younger population, exceeding those reported in an earlier trial in participants aged 15 to 25 years old. The jab was also found to be well tolerated in the 12 to 15 age group. The companies are now planning to submit the data to the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in the US and the European Medicines Agency (EMA) to extend the use of the vaccine for this age group ‘as quickly as possible’. Pfizer and BioNTech will also continue to monitor the participants for long-term protection and safety for an additional two years after their ...
AstraZeneca (AZ) has issued an update on the safety of its COVID-19 vaccine, saying a review showed no evidence of an increased risk of blood clots among people vaccinated with its jab. In a statement, AZ said that across the EU and UK, there have been 15 events of deep vein thrombosis (DVT) and 22 events of pulmonary embolism reported among people given its vaccine – based on the number of cases the company has received as of 8 March. AZ added that a ‘careful’ review of all available safety data – including more than 17 million people vaccinated in the EU and UK with its COVID-19 vaccine – has shown ‘no evidence of an increased risk of pulmonary embolism, DVT or thrombocytopenia, in any defined age group, gender, batch or in any particular country.’ The cases reported so far are ‘much lower’ than what would be expected to naturally ...
A new social media campaign, launched by the UK government and the NHS, will allow people to show their support for the COVID-19 vaccine roll-out from today. The initiative will enable users to update their social media profiles with specially designed profile frames and graphics. This allows people to show either that ‘I’ve had my vaccine’ or make a pledge that ‘I will get my vaccine’ in an effort to bolster the nationwide vaccination programme. The range of Facebook frames and Instagram GIFs will be ready for use on social media from 19 February, and will be available in 13 languages from 22 February. “We know people are turning to social media more than ever to stay in touch with family and friends,” said Health and Social Care Secretary Matt Hancock. “These new graphics will make it easy for people to share their support for the jab and thank the ...
The NHS has now offered COVID-19 vaccinations to residents at all eligible care homes in England, according to official figures. In a statement, the health service said this marked a ‘major milestone for the NHS vaccination programme’, with vaccines having been offered to people living in over 10,000 care homes with older residents. The NHS added that a small number of care homes have had visits by vaccination staff deferred for safety reasons, although these homes will be visited as soon as possible. “Today marks a crucial milestone in our ongoing race to vaccinate the most vulnerable against this deadly disease,” said Prime Minister Boris Johnson. “We said we would prioritise and protect care home residents, and that is exactly what we have done,” he added. Johnson also added that 8.9 million people have now received the first dose of a COVID-19 vaccine. Older care home residents and staff were ...
The first COVID-19 vaccine for the UK, developed by Pfizer/BioNTech, has today been given approval for use following a thorough review carried out by the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA). The decision by the UK regulatory authority was made with advice from the Commission on Human Medicines (CHM), the government’s independent expert scientific advisory body. A dedicated team of MHRA scientists and clinicians carried out a rigorous, scientific and detailed review of all the available data, starting in October 2020. This was done using a regulatory process known as a ‘rolling review’. A ‘rolling review’ can be used to complete the assessment of a promising medicine or vaccine during a public health emergency in the shortest time possible. This is done as the packages of data become available from ongoing studies on a staggered basis. The MHRA expert scientists and clinicians reviewed data from the laboratory pre-clinical studies, ...
30 November 2020 The Phase 3 COVE trial is a randomized, 1:1 placebo-controlled study testing mRNA-1273 at the 100 µg dose level in 30,000 participants in the U.S., ages 18 and older. The primary endpoint is the prevention of symptomatic COVID-19 disease. Key secondary endpoints include prevention of severe COVID-19 disease and prevention of infection by SARS-CoV-2. The trial will continue to accrue additional data relevant to safety and efficacy even after an EUA is submitted. The final estimates of vaccine efficacy for both primary and secondary endpoints will depend on the totality of data that will accumulate to inform the final analysis. Moderna worked closely with BARDA and the NIH, including NIAID’s COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), to conduct the Phase 3 COVE study under Operation Warp Speed. Moderna’s partner PPD (Nasdaq: PPD), a leading global contract research organization providing comprehensive, integrated drug development, laboratory and lifecycle management services, has ...
A COMPARISON OF NEUTRALIZATION TITERS AND PROTECTION DATA ACROSS CANDIDATES AND AGE GROUPS BY SELINA KOCH, EXECUTIVE EDITOR NOV 20, 2020 | 10:34 AM CST UPDATED ON NOV 20, 2020 AT 11:03 AM CST A pressing question about COVID-19 vaccines is how well they will perform in the elderly, who are at higher risk for severe disease. Wednesday’s report of strong efficacy in subjects over 65 given Pfizer and BioNTech’s mRNA vaccine could portend good news for several of the next candidates. In early-stage clinical trials, at least four other vaccines produced neutralizing antibody levels in non-elderly adults that were in line with those of BNT162b2 from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX), and for the most part, the vaccines’ titers fell less with age than BNT162b2. Only Ad5-nCoV from CanSino Biologics Inc. (HKEX:6185; Shanghai:688185) produced somewhat lower neutralization titers that fell farther with age than BNT162b2 in a live virus assay. Moderna Inc. ...
How prepared is the existing global cold chain, and especially refrigerated transport, to cope with the full temperature ranges required for the multiple COVID-19 vaccine candidates? A cold chain expert responds. “Overall, securing an end-to-end unbroken cold chain – from vaccine manufacturer to the site of injection, is an extremely hard thing to do. It requires constant monitoring and remedial action. “Why? The constituent parts of the cold chain are vastly distinct. They are separately operated but uniformly coordinated systems within an overall vaccine supply chain,” said Raja Rao, director, cold chain strategy and markets, B Medical Systems. Storage Vaccine distribution is complexity at its finest, he said. “It is almost always the case that the cold chain is relatively strongest between the site of manufacture and arrival at the port of entry, from Belgium to Nairobi, for example. This is because vaccines are air-shipped in modern, cold storage containers, ...
The companies announced the conclusion of the vaccine’s Phase 3 trial earlier this week: reporting 95% efficacy. They also announced that they had gathered the two months of safety data required by the US’ Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for a Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) submission. Dr. Albert Bourla, Pfizer Chairman and CEO, said: “Filing in the US represents a critical milestone in our journey to deliver a COVID-19 vaccine to the world and we now have a more complete picture of both the efficacy and safety profile of our vaccine, giving us confidence in its potential. “We look forward to the upcoming Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee discussion and continue to work closely with the FDA and regulatory authorities worldwide to secure authorization of our vaccine candidate as quickly as possible.” Other regulatory submissions will follow ‘immediately’ Pfizer and BioNTech have already started rolling reviews of the ...
Go to Page Go
your submission has already been received.
OK
Please enter a valid Email address!
Submit
The most relevant industry news & insight will be sent to you every two weeks.