Business & Industry News Channel
Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) today announced that the first patient has been dosed in a new sub-trial of the National Institutes of Health's (NIH) Accelerating COVID-19 Therapeutic Interventions and Vaccines (ACTIV) Program Phase 3 clinical trial. 
Novartis today announced that the Phase III RUXCOVID study evaluating ruxolitinib on top of standard of care (SoC) therapy compared to SoC treatment alone in patients with COVID-19 did not meet its primary endpoint(1). Initial data show there was no statistically significant reduction in the proportion of patients on ruxolitinib plus SoC therapy who experienced severe complications, including death, respiratory failure requiring mechanical ventilation or admission to the intensive care unit (ICU) by Day 29, compared to SoC alone(1). Sanofi and GSK announce a delay in their adjuvanted recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine program to improve immune response in older adults. Phase 1/2 study interim results showed an immune response comparable to patients who recovered from COVID-19 in adults aged 18 to 49 years, but a low immune response in older adults likely due to an insufficient concentration of the antigen. 
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced that the New England Journal of Medicine has published safety and final efficacy results from the pivotal Phase 3 trial of BNT162b2, their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate. In the trial of 43,448 participants, who were 16 years and older, 21,720 of whom received BNT162b2 and 21,728 placebo, the two-dose regimen of 30 μg BNT162b2, which was given 21 days apart, was well-tolerated and demonstrated vaccine efficacy of 95% against COVID-19. 
Results of an interim analysis of the Phase III programme conducted by Oxford University with AZD1222, peer-reviewed and published in The Lancet today, demonstrated that the vaccine is safe and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19 and that it protects against severe disease and hospitalisation. The interim analysis for efficacy was based on 11,636 participants accruing 131 symptomatic infections from the Phase III UK and Brazil trials conducted by Oxford University. 
Janssen-Cilag International N.V., part of the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson, has initiated a rolling submission with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) for its investigational single-dose vaccine candidate for the prevention of COVID-19.
The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) enabled a rolling review of the investigational single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate based principally on positive non-clinical data showing that the vaccine candidate elicits a robust immune response, as demonstrated by neutralizing antibodies.
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) announced today that the Medicines & Healthcare Products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) in the U.K. has granted a temporary authorization for emergency use for their COVID-19 mRNA vaccine (BNT162b2), against COVID-19. This constitutes the first Emergency Use Authorization following a worldwide Phase 3 trial of a vaccine to help fight the pandemic.