AstraZeneca manufacturing error clouds COVID-19 vaccine study results
By DANICA KIRKA LONDON: AstraZeneca and Oxford University on Wednesday acknowledged a manufacturing error that is raising questions about preliminary results of their experimental COVID-19 vaccine. A statement describing the error came days after the company and the university described the shots as “highly effective” and made no mention of why some study participants didn’t […]
Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine single dose can be less than $10 at international markets
By DARIA LITVINOVA MOSCOW: Russia released new results Tuesday claiming its experimental COVID-19 vaccine was highly effective, and promised it would cost less on international markets than vaccines by some of its Western competitors. According to the Russian Direct Investment Fund, which bankrolled the development of the jab, Sputnik V will cost less than $10 […]
The priority will be to ensure that Covid-19 vaccine reaches everyone : Narendra Modi
NEW DELHI: Prime Minister Narendra Modi chaired a high-level meeting with Chief Ministers of all States and UTs on 24 November 2020 via video conferencing, to review the status and preparedness of COVID-19 response and management, with special emphasis on eight high focus States. These States were Haryana, Delhi, Chhattisgarh, Kerala, Maharashtra, Rajasthan, Gujarat and […]
Russia’s Sputnik V Covid-19 vaccine claimed to be 95% effective
MOSCOW: Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine has been found to be more than 95 per cent effective against Covid-19 in the second interim analysis of Phase 3 clinical trial data, its developers said on Tuesday. The analysis was based on data from volunteers obtained 42 days after the first dose — which corresponds with 21 days […]
Moderna to charge $25-$37 per dose for its COVID-19 vaccine
FRANKFRUT: Moderna will charge governments between $25 and $37 per dose of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate, depending on the amount ordered, Chief Executive Stephane Bancel told German weekly Welt am Sonntag (WamS). “Our vaccine therefore costs about the same as a flu shot, which is between $10 and $50,” he was quoted as saying. On […]
Pfizer, BioNTech plan emergency move to use Covid-19 vaccine
NEW DELHI: Pfizer and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) announced they will submit a request today to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) of their mRNA vaccine candidate, BNT162b2 against SARS-CoV-2, which will potentially enable use of the vaccine in high-risk populations in the U.S. by the middle to end […]
Sanofi, GSK to support COVAX with 200 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine
LONDON/PARIS: Drugmakers Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday said they plan to make available 200 million doses of their Covid-19 vaccine to the World Health Organisation-led COVAX international initiative which aims to ensure equitable global access to vaccines against the novel coronavirus. The two companies said that they have signed a pact with Gavi, the legal […]
COVID-19 vaccine ready & coming within weeks: Donald Trump at final presidential debate with Joe Biden
WASHINGTON: US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that a COVID-19 vaccine is “ready” and going to be announced “within weeks” to combat the deadly disease that has killed over 223,000 Americans, as he debated with his Democratic challenger Joe Biden for the final time before the presidential election. The debate, just less than two […]
After Sputnik V, Russia approves another Covid-19 vaccine: Vladimir Putin
MOSCOW: Russian President Vladimir Putin on Wednesday announced that the country has registered the second Covid-19 vaccine, according to media reports. Russia became the first country to give regulatory approval to a Covid-19 vaccine in August when Sputnik V was officially registered ahead of large-scale clinical trial, drawing criticism from some quarters in the scientific […]
India declines proposal to test Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine in large study
NEW DELHI: India’s drug regulator has knocked back a proposal from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories Ltd REDY.NS to conduct a large study in the country to evaluate Russia’s Sputnik-V COVID-19 vaccine and has asked it to first test the vaccine in a smaller trial. The recommendations by an expert panel of the Central Drugs Standard Control […]
No guarantee any Covid-19 vaccine in development will work: WHO chief
GENEVA: World Health Organisation (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has said that the top health organisation has no guarantee whether any single Covid-19 vaccine now in development will work. While addressing a virtual press conference, the WHO chief said: “We have no guarantee that any single vaccine now in development will work.” “The more candidates […]
Preparing for potential Covid-19 vaccine launch: Moderna CEO
NEW DELHI: US-based biotech firm Moderna is actively preparing for a potential commercial launch of mRNA-1273, its Covid-19 vaccine, the company’s CEO has said. The announcement comes amid an unprecedented race worldwide to bring a vaccine to protect people from Covid-19. Moderna announced progress across its portfolio of pipeline assets presented at its annual R&D […]
Germany grants BioNTech, CureVac $745 million to speed up COVID-19 vaccine work
BERLIN: Germany awarded $745 million in funding to biotech firms BioNTech and CureVac on Tuesday to speed up work on COVID-19 vaccines and expand German production capacity. In a warning against political pressure to rush the process, Research Minister Anja Karliczek stressed that safety should remain the utmost priority to ensure vaccines will be accepted […]
Valneva to supply up to 190 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to UK
French vaccine maker Valneva VLS.PA said on Monday it would supply the UK with up to 190 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine candidate, VLA2001, over a five-year period. Under the agreement, and if the vaccine development is complete, Valneva will initially provide the UK government with 60 million doses in the second half of […]
Russian COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik V found safe in early human trials: Study
NEW DELHI: A Russian Covid-19 vaccine has shown no serious side effects and elicited an immune response in early human trials, said a study published in The Lancet on Friday. Russia last month registered the “Sputnik V”, becoming the first country to approve a Covid-19 vaccine. However, the country faced criticism for approving a vaccine […]
Russia names new COVID-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’ in reference to Cold War space race
MOSCOW: Russia has named its first approved COVID-19 vaccine ‘Sputnik V’ for foreign markets, a reference to the world’s first satellite and what Moscow sees as its success at becoming the first country to approve a vaccine, a top official said on Tuesday. Kirill Dmitriev, head of the country’s RDIF sovereign wealth fund, said Russia […]