Clinical Trials & Research

Print this page London, UK and Paris, France 03 September 2020 — Sanofi and GSK announce today the start of the Phase 1/2 clinical trial for their adjuvanted COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine candidate, developed in partnership by Sanofi and GSK, uses the same recombinant protein-based technology as one of Sanofi’s seasonal influenza vaccines with GSK’s

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 14 2020 Staying close to home and avoiding crowded places can help older adults reduce their risk of COVID-19. But a new national poll suggests it comes with a cost, especially for those with health challenges. In June of this year, 56% of people over the age of 50 said

Print this page NEW YORK, September 8, 2020 — The CEOs of AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN), BioNTech (NASDAQ: BNTX), GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ), Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE), and Sanofi (NASDAQ: SNY),

Print this page KENILWORTH, N.J.–(BUSINESS WIRE) September 8, 2020 — Merck (NYSE: MRK), known as MSD outside the United States and Canada, has announced the results from two pivotal Phase 3 trials (COUGH-1 and COUGH-2) evaluating the efficacy and safety of gefapixant (MK-7264), an investigational, orally administered, selective P2X3 receptor antagonist, for the potential treatment

Nine months into the COVID-19 pandemic, scientists are still seeking to understand the protective immunity that develops against the causative agent severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). Despite the increasing need for serological tests in epidemiology, their clinical value has not been fully established. A new paper published in the Journal of Medical Virology

Print this page 09 September 2020 — As part of the ongoing randomised, controlled clinical trials of the AstraZeneca Oxford coronavirus vaccine, AZD1222, a standard review process has been triggered, leading to the voluntary pause of vaccination across all trials to allow an independent committee to review the safety data of a single event of an unexplained

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 9 2020 Drinking eight or more alcoholic beverages a week may increase the risk of high blood pressure (also called hypertension) among adults with Type 2 diabetes, according to new research published today in the Journal of the American Heart Association, an open access journal of the American Heart Association.

Print this page 19 August 2020 – GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) today announced that patient dosing has begun in a phase III clinical programme investigating its 5-in-1 meningitis (MenABCWY) vaccine candidate compared to licensed meningococcal vaccines, Bexsero and Menveo. Emmanuel Hanon, Senior Vice President and Head of Vaccines R&D for GSK, said: “Entering the final stage of

Sep 7 2020 Thought LeadersDr. Bradlee L. HeckmannJohn H. Sununu Endowed Fellow in ImmunologySt. Jude Children’s Research Hospital In this interview, Dr. Bradlee. L. Heckmann from St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital speaks to News-Medical about a new pathway that could potentially treat Alzheimer’s disease. Alzheimer’s is the 6th leading cause of death in the US.

Print this page TARRYTOWN, N.Y., Aug. 19, 2020 /PRNewswire/ — Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: REGN) today announced that the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) published positive results from the Phase 3 trial of evinacumab in 65 patients with homozygous familial hypercholesterolemia (HoFH). Evinacumab is an investigational medicine that binds to and blocks the function of angiopoietin-like 3 (ANGPTL3), and is

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 4 2020 In contrast to WHO´s and other expert´s advice, the worst-off countries should be extra prioritised when it comes to COVID-19 vaccine allocation, according to Professor Ole Frithjof Norheim at the University of Bergen. Once effective COVID-19 vaccines are approved, they will be scarce. WHO and others have promised

Print this page CAMBRIDGE, Mass.–(BUSINESS WIRE)– September 2, 2020 — Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a pharmaceutical company focused on developing new treatments for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Alzheimer’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases, today announced the publication of results from the pivotal CENTAUR trial evaluating AMX0035 – an investigational neuroprotective therapy designed to reduce the death

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Sep 3 2020 Old. Chronically ill. Black. People who fit this description are more likely to die from COVID-19 than any other group in the country. They are perishing quietly, out of sight, in homes and apartment buildings, senior housing complexes, nursing homes and hospitals, disproportionately poor, frail and ill, after

Print this page NEW YORK and MAINZ, Germany, Aug. 20, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) —  Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today shared additional Phase 1 safety and immunogenicity data from their ongoing U.S. study of the BNT162 mRNA-based vaccine program against SARS-CoV-2, which has advanced into Phase 2/3 evaluation. The newly released manuscript describes key

A new study published on the preprint server bioRxiv* in August 2020 shows that the man-made compound silicon nitride, which is used in medical implants and high mechanical performance engineering applications, is capable of inactivating severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) at varying concentrations without causing cell cytotoxicity. This finding should be investigated to

Print this page GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 24, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced that the first volunteers have been enrolled in the Phase 2 portion of its ongoing clinical trial to evaluate the immunogenicity and safety of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate. The

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration announced that a public meeting of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee will be held on CutOct. 22, 2020, to discuss the general matter of the development, authorization, and/or licensure of vaccines indicated to prevent COVID-19. The FDA has scheduled a meeting of its Vaccines and Related

Print this page FOSTER CITY, Calif.–(BUSINESS WIRE)–Aug. 28, 2020– Gilead Sciences, Inc. (Nasdaq: GILD) today announced the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) enabling use of the investigational antiviral Veklury® (remdesivir) to treat all hospitalized patients with COVID-19, in addition to the previous authorization for patients hospitalized with severe COVID-19. The expanded EUA is

insights from industryProf. Aline Miller Chief Executive Office, Director and FounderManchester BIOGEL An interview with Prof. Aline Miller, BSc(Hons) PhD FRSC FInstP, Chief Executive Office, Director and Founder, Manchester BIOGEL Please give an overview of organoids. Why are they an important research model? Organoids are 3-dimensional (3D) clusters of stem cells that come together and

Print this page Brisbane, Australia — 26 August 2020 Pre-clinical testing of The University of Queensland’s COVID-19 vaccine has produced positive indications about its potential effectiveness and manufacturability. Project co-leader Associate Professor Keith Chappell has reported to the International Society for Vaccines on data from animal trials conducted by Viroclinics-DDL in the Netherlands. “The neutralizing immune response

Aug 26 2020 Ziath reports strong uptake of its Mohawk semi-automated tube picker in smaller biobanks and biorepositories. Small biobanks and biorepositories need to select tubes from cold racks straight from the freezer, but cannot afford the huge investment in robotics to fully automatically pick and place tubes from racks. The Mohawk, being small and

Print this page Tokyo, Basking Ridge, N.J. and Munich – (August 6, 2020) – Daiichi Sankyo Company, Limited (hereafter, Daiichi Sankyo) announced that it has entered into a clinical trial collaboration with AstraZeneca (LSE/STO/NYSE: AZN) to evaluate the combination of patritumab deruxtecan (U3-1402), a HER3 directed DXd antibody drug conjugate (ADC), and TAGRISSO (osimertinib), an epidermal

Aug 24 2020 Bioinsider, leading virtual meeting venue for communication among the scientific, policymaker and business communities, has opened registration for its upcoming virtual meeting ‘Therapeutic Pipeline for COVID-19’ on September 17, 2020. After the successful ‘Diagnostic Landscape for COVID-19’ event held in June, the upcoming ‘Therapeutic Pipeline for COVID-19’ meeting virtually convenes experts in

Print this page 19 August 2020 — AstraZeneca is pleased to have signed a Letter of Intent with the Australian Government today, ensuring people in Australia are a step closer to having a vaccine against COVID-19 available, should the AstraZeneca / Oxford University candidate, AZD1222, prove successful. The next step will be to conclude other

Reviewed by Emily Henderson, B.Sc.Aug 21 2020 Self-collected saliva and deep nasal swabs collected by healthcare providers are equally effective for detecting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, according to a new study conducted by ARUP Laboratories and University of Utah (U of U) Health. The study, published in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology, represents

Print this page GAITHERSBURG, Md., Aug. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – Novavax, Inc. (NASDAQ: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today announced the beginning of a Phase 2b clinical trial in South Africa to evaluate the efficacy of NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Dr. Shabir Madhi, Professor of Vaccinology at Wits University, will lead the clinical trial,

Aug 20 2020 A coalition of Canadian companies has published 51 antibodies that show promising ability to bind the COVID-19 virus by attaching to its crown-like spikes, which could result in neutralizing the virus by preventing it from invading human cells. The coalition, comprised of Novobind, Cedarlane, SignalChem, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, and Natural

Print this page VANCOUVER, Washington, Aug. 17, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) – CytoDyn Inc. (OTC.QB: CYDY), (“CytoDyn” or the “Company”), a late-stage biotechnology company announced today it has provided its Top-line Report from its recently completed, randomized, double-blind, Phase 2 trial for COVID-19 patients with mild-to-moderate symptoms to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), and requested