A government advisory committee is likely to give a thumbs up to a third COVID-19 vaccine, paving the way to an increased supply of the much-in-demand vaccines.The new vaccine, from drugmaker Johnson & Johnson, offers a few advantages over the two that have been administered to 45 million Americans since mid-December, although it may be somewhat less effective.
The J&J vaccine requires only one shot; the others, from Pfizer-BioNTech and Moderna, need two. It can be kept refrigerated rather than frozen for longer, making it easier to distribute through doctors’ offices and rural outposts. And it may cause fewer side effects. The advisory panel called the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee, is likely at the end of an all-day meeting to recommend the shot for use in adults. An emergency use authorization from the acting commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration is anticipated to follow within days.
EU Regulator Says Celltrion’s COVID-19 Antibody Drug Under Real-Time Review
Europe’s drug regulator said on Wednesday it was evaluating South Korean drugmaker Celltrion’s COVID-19 antibody treatment, the third such drug against the disease to go under real-time review in the region.
The European Medicines Agency (EMA) said its human medicines committee was assessing the first set of data it received from animal and human trials of the drug, regdanvimab, and will continue to study them as more data was submitted. (bit.ly/3dHpXlr)Earlier this month, the EMA began evaluating antibody therapies developed by U.S. drugmakers Eli Lilly and Regeneron for use in some COVID-19 patients.Celltrion’s drug and those from Lilly and Regeneron belong to a class of medicine called monoclonal antibody treatments, which mimic natural antibodies the body