The coronavirus just won’t die.
Former FDA chief Dr. Scott Gottlieb, coronavirus hot spots “could quickly get out of control.”
Already, new cases and hospitalizations are aggressively sweeping across Florida, California, Texas, Alaska, Arkansas, Kentucky, Mississippi, North Carolina, Oregon, and South Carolina. Worse, the virus continues to infect about 20,000 people a day, says Gottlieb.
“We’re not going to be able to shut down the country again this summer. We’re probably not going to be able to shut down the country again this fall,” he added. “And so we’re going to need to try to isolate the sources of these outbreaks and take targeted steps. If we can’t do that, these will get out of control.”
Fortunately, we may be nearing a vaccine.
Moderna Inc. (MRNA), for example, just advanced late-stage development of its vaccine. Better, it just finalized the Phase 3 study protocol based on feedback from US FDA.
The randomized, 1:1 placebo-controlled trial is expected to include approximately 30,000 participants enrolled in the U.S. and is expected to be conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID), part of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Plus, Moderna has completed manufacture of vaccine required to start the Phase 3 study, and expects dosing in the Phase 3 study to begin in July.
In addition, Israel is reportedly in talks to buy Moderna’s vaccine, according to Reuters. And analysts at Piper Jaffray just reiterated a buy rating with a $100 price target.
Moderna Isn’t the Only Vaccine Stock Making Headlines
Aside from Moderna, BioNTech just received a 100 million euro loan from a European Union strategic investment fund, which will allow the company to build manufacturing for its vaccine candidate, which it is currently in clinical trials with Pfizer.
Johnson & Johnson also just announced it was accelerating its product development to start human trials in July 2020.
“Based on the strength of the preclinical data we have seen so far and interactions with the regulatory authorities, we have been able to further accelerate the clinical development of our investigational SARS-CoV-2 vaccine, Ad26.COV2-S, recombinan,” says Paul Stoffels, M.D., Vice Chairman of the Executive Committee and Chief Scientific Officer.
“Simultaneously, we are continuing our efforts to build important global partnerships and invest in our vaccine production technology and manufacturing capabilities. Our goal is to ensure we can deliver a vaccine to the world and protect people everywhere from this pandemic.”
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