A third dose of the COVID-19 vaccine from Pfizer (PFE.N) and BioNTech (22UAy.DE) produced significant protection against the Omicron variant of the coronavirus in healthy children ages 5 to 11, the companies said on April 14.
The world’s first “human challenge” trial in which volunteers were deliberately exposed to the coronavirus has found that symptoms had no effect on how likely an infected person is to pass the disease on to others.
The World Health Organization on March 30 released an updated plan for COVID-19, laying out key strategies that, if implemented in 2022, would allow the world to end the emergency phase of the pandemic.
Certain drugs used to treat HIV may have a role in preventing SARS-CoV-2 infections, according to preliminary data that may help explain why people living with the condition have not appeared to be at higher risk for serious COVID-19 despite being generally more vulnerable to infections. Additionally, having COVID-19 and influenza at the same time puts hospitalized adults at much greater risk of critical illness and death compared to having COVID-19 without the flu, researchers reported in The Lancet.
Moderna is broadening the company’s vaccine horizons once again using mRNA technology, widely known for its use in COVID-19 vaccinations. Moderna announced two new vaccine development programs targeting a variety of viruses.
An experimental oral drug being developed by Redhill Biopharma Inc. interrupts a process that helps the coronavirus infect cells and might keep COVID-19 patients from becoming seriously ill, the company said. Additionally, the risk of hospitalization after vaccination with Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine was about five times higher than for those who received the Pfizer and BioNTech shot, a large French study found.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration revised the emergency use authorization (EUA) for AstraZeneca’s Evusheld to a higher dose to be effective in the prevention of COVID-19.
Pardes Biosciences Inc. said on February 14 the company expects to start a mid-to-late-stage trial of its experimental COVID-19 antiviral pill by mid-2022, following promising data from early human testing.
As Pfizer’s antiviral Paxlovid tablets against COVID-19 roll out, the company indicated it had halted the development of the intravenous variation of the drug, PF-07304814. In other news, SaNOtize Research & Development Corp. and Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. announced that a Phase III trial of Nitric Oxide Nasal Spray (NONS) hit the primary endpoint.
Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced they have supplied about 3.1 million courses of their antiviral drug against COVID-19, molnupiravir, to the U.S. government. In other news, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that vaccination against COVID-19 not only protects pregnant women against the disease but their babies as well.
