June 26, 2020

The California Biotechnology Foundation is committed to keeping you up to date about COVID-19 testing, treatment and prevention advancements. The following resources track what progress has been made as of June 26, 2020. Notable advancements include:

• Sanofi is accelerating the development timeline for a COVID-19 vaccine that could yield regulatory approval sometime next year.
• Gilead will begin clinical studies of an inhaled form of remdesivir to expand the drug’s use to healthier, non-hospitalized COVID-19 patients.
• Moderna is partnering with Catalent to prepare an initial 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine for the United States, starting in the third quarter of this year.

​Recent News:

• Moderna eyes third quarter for first doses of potential COVID-19 vaccine with Catalent deal
  Reuters – June 25, 2020
  Moderna Inc will be partnering with Catalent Inc to prepare an initial 100 million doses of its coronavirus vaccine for the United States, starting in the third quarter of this year.
• Gilead’s remdesivir set to become Europe’s first COVID-19 therapy
  Reuters – June 25, 2020
  Doctors in Europe will soon be able to treat COVID-19 patients with Gilead’s antiviral drug, remdesivir, after the healthcare regulator’s endorsement put it on track to become the first therapy for the disease on the continent.
• All You Wanted To Know About Coronavirus Vaccine Science But Were Afraid To Ask
  NPR – June 24, 2020
  Approximately 200 COVID-19 vaccines are being actively developed. All vaccines have one main goal: to prepare a person’s immune system to fight off an invading organism should the body encounter it. There are lots of ways of making that viral “picture,” and COVID-19 vaccine developers are pursuing all of them.
• FDA Approves Phase III Study of Fulcrum’s Losmapimod in COVID-19
  Biospace – June 24, 2020
  This morning Cambridge, Mass.-based Fulcrum said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved an investigational New Drug Application to test losmapimod in a placebo-controlled late-stage study that will 400 hospitalized adults with COVID-19.
• Sanofi Accelerates Its Timeline for Coronavirus Vaccine Development
  New York Times – June 23, 2020
  After lagging behind its competitors in starting clinical trials, the French drugmaker Sanofi has announced plans to speed a vaccine development timeline that could yield approval from regulatory authorities sometime next year, perhaps in the first half of 2021, the company announced on Tuesday.
• Gilead to Begin Human Testing of Inhaled Version of COVID-19 Drug Remdesivir
  Wall Street Journal – June 22, 2020
  Gilead Sciences Inc. said it will soon begin clinical studies of an inhaled form of remdesivir to expand the drug’s use to healthier, nonhospitalized COVID-19 patients.
• Efforts at coronavirus vaccines and treatments abound in the Bay Area
  San Francisco Chronicle – June 22, 2020
  The frenetic search for the miracle that will rid the world of COVID-19 is branching out in a thousand directions, and a large part of the microbial treasure hunt is going on in the Bay Area, where major progress has been made in the 100 days since residents were ordered to shelter in place.

Rely on California Biotechnology Foundation to monitor breaking news and provide updates on the latest advancements in COVID-19 diagnostics, vaccines and treatments.

Stay informed on the latest news and trends on the economic and health benefits of this industry by visiting the new CABiotech.org

If you have any questions about informational briefings contact California Biotechnology Foundation Executive Director Patty Cooper at (916)764-2434 or [email protected].