Pfizer Archives - Page 30 of 33 - Medical Design Sourcing

Several EU nations recommend older adults avoid AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine

Portugal health authorities recently recommended that AstraZeneca’s (LON:AZN) COVID-19 vaccine not be used for those who are over 65.

South Africa recently paused its deployment of the vaccine over worries that it is ineffective against a variant circulating there.

In addition to Portugal, several European countries have expressed reservations about the vaccine’s efficacy in older populations. France, Norway, Germany, Austria and others have decided to only administer the vaccine to those under 65. Poland has reserved the vaccine for those 60 and under, while Spain and Italy have recommended for recipients under 55.

The reservations of the E.U. nations stems in large from a data shortage. Two patients over 65 in the AstraZeneca trial contracted the virus, making it difficult to draw firm conclusions about its efficacy in that age group. There were 660 patients over 65 in the trial.

Portugal has had 765,000 COVID-19 cases and more than 14,000 d…

Merck to supply lipids to boost Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine production

Merck (NYSE:MRK) announced that it’s expanding its partnership with BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) to supply lipids for the Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

The agreement will accelerate the supply of lipids and increase the amount of lipid delivery toward the end of 2021 so they can be used as part of the drug delivery system of mRNA therapies to the body, helping to make the vaccine effective, according to a news release.

Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck said it has worked to expand its already high lipid production capacity as it is currently combining with BioNTech to define exact requirements as they aim for a timely execution of the effort.

“What unites BioNTech and Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, is our strong belief in mRNA technology and our trustful collaboration in vaccine development,” Merck chairman & CEO Stefan Oschmann said in the release. “We are convinced that now is the time to pull together to supply as much vacci…

Feds to order 61M more at-home coronavirus tests, build surgical glove factories

Nitrile surgical glove (Image from Cardinal Health)

Just days after ordering 8.5 million at-home tests from Ellume, the Biden administration announced today that it’s in talks with six other at-home coronavirus test manufacturers.

In an online briefing, Tim Manning, the national supply chain coordinator for COVID response, told reporters that these companies could produce another 61 million at-home tests by the end of the summer. Manning declined to identify the manufacturers, citing ongoing contract negotiations, but said more information would be available in the next few weeks.

Get the full story on our sister site, Medical Design & Outsourcing.

Which companies will likely produce the most COVID-19 vaccine in 2021?

Photo by Markus Spiske on Unsplash

Since the beginning of the pandemic, much of society has pinned its hopes on the availability of a vaccine. Now that several are available across the world, there is hope, said Dr. Anthony Fauci, chief medical advisor to President Joe Biden, in a recent JAMA interview. “There’s light at the end of the tunnel.”

One thing that will make the light at the end of the tunnel brighter as we head into the spring is the greater availability of vaccine doses. “The discordance between supply and demand will be diminished,” Fauci said.

The roster of companies producing vaccines is steadily increasing, making it possible to vaccinate a substantial portion of the world’s population this year. (Note: Most of the companies in this list have two-dose vaccines.)

Here’s a roundup of notable companies’ production targets for 2021:

AstraZeneca and Oxford University: Up to 3…

4 ways COVID-19 variants could impact the battle against the pandemic

SARS-CoV-2 electron microscope image from Wikipedia

Highly-transmissible COVID-19 variants have likely been circulating undetected for months in places like the U.K., South Africa and Brazil. They then seemed to burst onto the scene, fueling large outbreaks that dwarfed preceding ones.

While the variants aren’t well understood, they suggest that SARS-CoV-2 is mutating in ways that confer an evolutionary advantage. They thus threaten to become dominant throughout much of the world in coming months unless protocols such as growing vaccination, mask-wearing and social distancing can slow their spread.

The new variants are also likely to change the fight against COVID-19 in crucial ways. Here are four facts to consider:

1. New variants could delay herd immunity and make vaccinating children more important

After FDA authorized mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna in late 2020, it seemed t…

Study suggests Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is effective against emerging variants

A Pfizer-BioNTech preprint published today suggests that their BNT162b2 vaccine will be effective against SARS-CoV2 variants from the U.K. and South Africa, leading to “small differences in viral neutralization” compared with earlier variants.

The U.K variant has been identified in 26 states in the U.S., while the South Africa variant has been found circulating in South Carolina.

The Pfizer and University of Texas Medical Branch scientists conducting the research concluded that modifying the BNT162b2 was unnecessary.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

Study suggests Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine is effective against emerging variants

A Pfizer-BioNTech preprint published today suggests that their BNT162b2 vaccine will be effective against SARS-CoV2 variants from the U.K. and South Africa, leading to “small differences in viral neutralization” compared with earlier variants.

The U.K variant has been identified in 26 states in the U.S., while the South Africa variant has been found circulating in South Carolina.

The Pfizer and University of Texas Medical Branch scientists conducting the research concluded that modifying the BNT162b2 was unnecessary.

The researchers, however, acknowledged that the study involving engineered viruses did “not include the full set of spike mutations found in the UK or SA variants” and that clinical data are required to better understand the impact of viral mutations on the vaccine.

The Pfizer findings are broadly similar to those from Moderna, whose experiments indicated that its mRNA-1273 vaccine is effective against emerging variants from the U.K.…

Sanofi to provide COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing for rival Pfizer

Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) announced today that it entered into an agreement to support the manufacturing and supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine is one of two to receive FDA emergency use authorization in the U.S. and it also has clearance in Europe, having received both nods in December 2020.

The deal between Sanofi provides BioNTech access to its infrastructure and expertise to produce over 125 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Europe. Initial supplies will originate from Sanofi’s production facilities in Frankfurt starting in the summer of 2021, according to a news release.

Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World.

Sanofi to provide COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing for rival Pfizer

Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) announced today that it entered into an agreement to support the manufacturing and supply of the Pfizer/BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine.

Pfizer and BioNTech’s vaccine is one of two to receive FDA emergency use authorization in the U.S. and it also has clearance in Europe, having received both nods in December 2020.

The deal between Sanofi provides BioNTech access to its infrastructure and expertise to produce over 125 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine in Europe. Initial supplies will originate from Sanofi’s production facilities in Frankfurt starting in the summer of 2021, according to a news release.

“We are very conscious that the earlier vaccine doses are available, the more lives can potentially be saved. Today’s announcement is a pivotal step towards our industry’s collective goal of putting all the effort in to curb this pandemic,” Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson said in the release. “Although vaccination campaigns have started a…

White House could promise states additional COVID-19 vaccines doses next week

Image from René DeAnda on Unsplash

Federal shipments of COVID-19 vaccines could increase roughly 16% next week, potentially reducing some states’ shortfalls as they have broadened access to adults 65 and older.

The U.S. government plans to increase its weekly allocation to states from 8.6 million doses to approximately 10 million doses, according to The Washington Post.

Government authorities ship COVID-19 vaccine doses to 64 jurisdictions spread across the country and eight U.S. territories.

Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) is likely to provide the supply boost.

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) has decided to send the U.S. fewer doses of its vaccine jointly developed with BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) after the surprise discovery that its vials contained an extra dose. It negotiated with the U.S. government to count the extra sixth dose in its vials toward its prior commitment to provide 200 million doses.

Bot…

Authorities investigating death of California recipient of COVID-19 vaccine

[Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash]

Last week, Norwegian officials raised eyebrows when they announced that they were investigating the deaths of 23 elderly patients who had recently received COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Now, California authorities are investigating the death of a Placer County-based patient who received a COVID-19 vaccine dose on Jan. 21. The patient died hours afterward.

Placer County officials stressed they had not linked the death to the vaccine.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

Authorities investigating death of California recipient of COVID-19 vaccine

[Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash]

Last week, Norwegian officials raised eyebrows when they announced that they were investigating the deaths of 23 elderly patients who had recently received COVID-19 vaccine doses.

Now, California authorities are investigating the death of a Placer County-based patient who received a COVID-19 vaccine dose on Jan. 21. The patient died hours afterward.

Placer County officials stressed they had not linked the death to the vaccine.

They are planning on conducting an autopsy.

Officials in Florida are also investigating the death of a 56-year-old physician who died 16 days after receiving the BNT162b2 vaccine from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX).

Pfizer had stressed that it doesn’t “believe at this time that there is any direct connection to the vaccine” in the Florida physician’s death.

Separately, the World Health Organi…