Virology / vaccines

Moderna has announced a supply agreement with the Ministry of Public Health of Qatar for mRNA-1273, Moderna’s vaccine candidate against COVID-19. “We appreciate the confidence of the Ministry of Health of Qatar in our mRNA vaccine platform and the collaboration we have had to date,” said Stéphane Bancel, Moderna’s Chief Executive Officer. “We are advancing […]

The AstraZeneca Oxford COVID-19 vaccine (ChAdOx1 nCoV-19 and also known as AZD1222) has been shown to work as planned. A team at Bristol University has used recently developed techniques to further validate that the vaccine accurately follows the genetic instructions programmed into it by the Oxford team. This novel analysis provides even greater clarity and […]

The Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has today authorised a restart of clinical trials of the ChAdOx1 nCov-2019 Oxford coronavirus vaccine in the USA following the trials restarting in the UK, Brazil, South Africa and Japan. On 6 September, a standard review process triggered a voluntary pause to vaccination across all global trials to allow […]

hVIVO, has signed a contract with the UK government to develop a COVID-19 (SARS-CoV-2) human challenge study model. The model development involves the manufacture of the challenge virus and the first-in-human characterisation study for this virus. The contract starts immediately and could be worth approximately £10 million to hVIVO – a subsidiary of Open Orphan […]

Robin Vacha, Senior Vice President, Products at Brooks Life Sciences and David Lewandowski, Global Business Development Manager, Cryo Division at Brooks Life Sciences examine the role of unbroken cold chain in research and development As COVID-19 vaccine research continues to grow at an unparalleled pace, so does the need for -800 C storage in the […]

By Ibis Sanchez-Serrano and Rathnam Chaguturu Mitigation of COVID-19 pandemic requires a combination of effective epidemiological policies and the discovery/development of powerful drugs against the Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome Coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) that causes this disease. This article examines the major initiatives being explored at the public policy level to contain the spread of COVID-19 […]

THE COVID-19 RACE how mouse models will help researchers cross the finish line By Dr Megan MacBride Volume 21 Issue 3 – Summer 2020 The emergence of SARS-CoV-2 virus and the disease it causes, COVID-19, have fuelled significant shifts in preclinical research across the globe. Amid the worldwide health emergency created by high infection rates, […]

By Dr Karin Bottcher High content screening (HCS) has played a significant role in infectious disease research and drug discovery to date and can be a strong tool in the age of COVID-19 and beyond. With a focus on viral diseases, this article will describe how HCS has been used by laboratories around the world […]

By Dr Ross Macdonald Cell-based therapies are being widely recognised for their potential to treat a variety of medical conditions, but they face major obstacles toward commercialisation. Traditionally, they have been difficult and expensive to make in large quantities. Biopharmaceutical companies must develop manufacturing solutions that will enable them to efficiently and reproducibly create the […]

Honing in on perfect targeting By Dr Samantha Zaroff Volume 21 Issue 3 – Summer 2020 The pros and cons of different delivery modalities for personalised cancer vaccines. Introducing neoantigens directly into a patient in order to elicit an anti-tumour killing immune response is known as personalised cancer vaccine therapy. Currently, there is a huge […]