“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
Pfizer, Inc. of New York and BioNTech SE of Mainz, Germany have announced that human clinical trials for an experimental COVID-19 vaccine they have co-developed, known as BNT162, have begun in the United States.1 As part of a global clinical development program, the first human subjects in the U.S. Phase I and Phase clinical II […]
Story Highlights Researchers at Texas A&M University and five other academic institutions have begun a phase 4 clinical trial re-purposing a live attenuated tuberculosis vaccine to treat COVID-19. The researchers believe that the TICE® BCG vaccine, which is licensed to prevent and treat bladder cancer, may help mitigate the severity of COVID-19. The research team […]
Story Highlights The Chicago Department of Public Health has launched a website and a mobile device application encouraging residents to pre-register to get for a future COVID-19 vaccine. Chicago’s Mayor said the electronic database will be used to prepare plans for mass vaccination of all residents after a COVID-19 vaccine is licensed by the FDA […]
Story Highlights GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi Pasteur are partnering to develop an experimental COVID-19 vaccine. The two global vaccine manufacturers are using existing recombinant DNA vaccine technology and a squalene adjuvant for their COVID-19 vaccine. Clinical trials are scheduled to begin in the second half of 2020 and, if successful, the vaccine will be available in […]
In recent weeks Inovio Pharmaceuticals of Pennsylvania and representatives of the German biotechnology firm CureVac AG and the University of Oxford in the United Kingdom have announced that their experimental COVID-19 vaccines will be ready for use by September 2020. On Apr. 29, 2020, Pfizer, Inc. of New York stated in a news release that […]
Story Highlights Inovio Pharmaceuticals has started Phase 1 testing of its experimental COVID-19 DNA vaccine in healthy volunteers. The U.S. biotech firm has already produced enough of the vaccine to support Phase 1 (immune system reactivity and safety) and Phase 2 (efficacy) testing and plans to have one million doses ready for distribution by the […]
Opinion | Ever since the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) began recommending that all Americans six months of age and older get an annual flu shot, it’s been touted as the best method of preventing influenza. While it’s true that influenza is a highly infectious airborne disease, controversy exists over the use […]
There appears to be a consensus opinion among leading public health authorities that a coronavirus vaccine for COVID-19 would take at least 12-18 months to develop, test and be ready for market distribution. The projection assumes that an aggressive development schedule would produce a licensed vaccine proven safe and effective for use in humans no […]
After officials at the World Health Organization (WHO) declared on Mar. 11, 2020 that outbreaks of a mutated coronavirus (COVID-19)1 2 had become a global pandemic and urged countries to take strong action to stop its spread,3 4 the governments of countries representing one-third of the world’s population5 closed borders, restricted or halted travel between […]
Story Highlights The FDA has reported its first drug shortage as a result of the COVID-19 outbreak in China. Many drug ingredients and finished drug products used in the U.S are sourced and manufactured in China. The possibility of potential drug shortages highlights the issue of how the U.S. is heavily reliant on China for […]