Mega Doctor News
By Curtis Dubay
Discover & Deliver: Promising COVID-19 Vaccine Developments
It has now been just over seven months since the World Health Organization declared COVID-19 a global pandemic. In that time, the science has evolved rapidly, with new advances to combat coronavirus occurring daily.
Here are a few of the most promising developments from the last week alone:
Pfizer vaccine trial: On Monday, Pfizer announced plans to expand the clinical trial for their COVID-19 vaccine to include children as young as 12. The company will also increase the trial size to include 48,400 volunteers. To date, Pfizer has enrolled 37,864 participants, and 31,062 of those participants have received both doses of the vaccination.
AstraZeneca antibody treatment: Regeneron’s antibody cocktail was in the spotlight last week after President Trump received the innovative treatment. However, AstraZeneca’s long-acting antibody (LAAB) treatment has also advanced significantly, with two Phase III clinical trials beginning in the next two weeks to test the antibody treatment in over 6,000 participants. Additionally, AstraZeneca received $486 million from the government to develop 100,000 doses of their antibody cocktail as part of Operation Warp Speed.
New Abbott antibody test: On Monday, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) issued an emergency use authorization (EUA) for a new COVID-19 antibody test, AdviseDx, developed by Abbott Laboratories. While Abbott has received EUA for seven tests to date, AdviseDx is the newest test used to detect Immunoglobulin M (IgM) antibodies. Because IgM antibodies become undetectable weeks after infection, Abbott’s new test will be used to determine whether a patient recently suffered from COVID-19 and help healthcare providers determine if treatment or follow-up is needed.
What is the common thread that ties these three developments together, as well as the thousands of other promising scientific advances we have seen over the last seven months?
The business community is leading the way.
Whether it’s vaccines, therapeutics, or tests to combat coronavirus, the innovative scientific community has woken up every day over the last seven months dedicated to getting the world one step closer to our ultimate goal: defeating COVID-19.
Curtis Dubay is Senior Economist, U.S. Chamber of Commerce
