An FDA report cites multiple failures in an Emergent BioSolutions plant tapped to produce vaccines for Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca. The vaccine plant had been forced to discard up to 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine in a single manufacturing batch. Emergent Biosolutions recently paused production of the vaccine during the FDA inspection and […]
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AstraZeneca vaccine linked to rare blood clots, according to EMA official
European Medicines Agency (EMA) official Marco Cavaleri said there was a link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and rare reports of blood clots, including pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, according to a Reuters report. Two separate research groups in Europe had reached similar conclusions regarding the blood clots in March. Get the full story from our sister […]
AstraZeneca vaccine offers little protection against South Africa SARS-CoV-2 variant
The ChAdOx1 COVID-19 vaccine jointly developed between AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford is not effective against the B.1.351 variant first identified in South Africa, according to a recent study published in NEJM. In a five-month study involving HIV-negative adults, 23 of 717 placebo recipients developed mild-to-moderate COVID-19 while 19 of 750 vaccine recipients did. Based […]
South Africa pauses rollout of AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine
South Africa has scrapped its plans to vaccinate a portion of its population with the COVID-19 vaccine from Oxford University and AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) after a small study showed it was ineffective against a variant widely circulating there. In the interim, South Africa will rely on vaccines from Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) and Pfizer (NYSE:PFE). Researchers at Oxford University […]
AstraZeneca vaccine recipients in U.K. will wait up to 12 weeks for second dose
An inexpensive COVID-19 vaccine from AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) — now authorized in the U.K. — could go on to become the most widely used in the world. It is inexpensive and easy to produce. But a major hurdle that could slow its rollout in the U.K. after yesterday’s approval is the question of how to best […]
Why AstraZeneca and Sinovac’s COVID-19 vaccines have similar data challenges
A vaccine jointly developed by Oxford University and AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) is on the cusp of authorization in the U.K., according to media reports. Meanwhile, health officials in Turkey and Brazil have indicated that a vaccine from the Chinese firm Sinovac is safe and effective. But one factor that could slow the deployment of both vaccines globally is […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Industry peaks again after new vaccine authorization
Recent news in the industry continues to drive its stocks forward, with COVID-19 vaccine developments driving further medtech growth last week. The FDA granted Moderna emergency use authorization for its vaccine candidate on Friday and its rollout to the U.S. is beginning today. Moderna’s vaccine joins the one made by Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), which […]
AstraZeneca to acquire Alexion for $39B
AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) announced that it entered into a definitive agreement to acquire Alexion Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:ALXN), expanding its presence in the rare-disease and immunology drugs space. The acquisition price for Boston-based Alexion is set to total approximately $39 billion, or $175 per share, according to a news release. Get the full story at our sister site, Drug Discovery […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Medtech stocks stagnant over holidays
Following the medtech industry’s rapid rise early in the month, a plateau was inevitable, and that trend continued through the holiday week. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — finished last week at 98.23 (Nov. 27), marking a 0.2% uptick from the 97.99 points registered at the […]
HHS confirms involvement in presidential transition process
U.S. Health and Human Services Dept. Secretary Alex Azar confirmed that HHS is working with president-elect Joe Biden on a presidential transition. Speaking during a press briefing, Azar said HHS is in contact with the transition team after the General Services Administration formally recognized Biden as the president-elect, having previously sidestepped questions regarding the potential […]
BREAKING: AstraZeneca says its COVID-19 vaccine could be up to 90% effective
AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN) announced today that one of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate dosing regimens is 90% effective in preventing the virus. Cambridge, United Kingdom-based AstraZeneca, working in collaboration with Oxford University, found the vaccine to be highly effective in preventing COVID-19 for subjects in the UK and Brazil, with no hospitalizations or severe cases of the disease […]
