May 15, 2020

The California Biotechnology Foundation is committed to keeping you up to date on COVID-19 testing, treatment and prevention advancements. The following resources track what progress has been made as of May 15, 2020. Notable advancements include:

• Gilead provides five generic drug manufacturers the rights and information needed to make the company’s COVID-19 drug, remdesivir.
• Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla explains that the company plans to expand human trials of its experimental coronavirus vaccine to thousands of test patients by September.
• Regeneron, Eli Lilly, Amgen and Vir Biotechnology are working to develop therapies that could give people short-term protection from the coronavirus or help treat those who are exposed or infected.

Recent News:

• Coronavirus Update: Stanford Doctors Begin Clinical Trial Of New Treatment For COVID-19 Patients
  KPIX – May 14, 2020
  Stanford doctors have begun a clinical trial of a drug used to treat hepatitis patients on those infected with the coronavirus.
• Convalescent Plasma Is Safe to Treat COVID-19, National Study Shows
  Wall Street Journal – May 14, 2020
  A study of thousands of COVID-19 patients who received blood plasma transfusions from recovered patients indicates the experimental therapy appears to be safe, paving the way for future studies and clinical trials.
• Novartis CEO Says COVID-19 Vaccine May Take Until End of 2021
  Bloomberg – May 14, 2020
  Novartis AG Chief Executive Officer Vas Narasimhan said a vaccine for COVID-19 might only become available in the second half of next year, echoing the consensus view in much of the pharmaceutical industry.
• A Coronavirus Vaccine Candidate In Six Days? This Company Is Fast-Tracking Vaccine Development With The First Fully Automated Gene Synthesis Platform
  Forbes – May 14, 2020
  Codex can provide researchers most anything they might need to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus, including positive Synthetic RNA controls for tests, the full synthetic genome for vaccine and treatment development, and custom-order antigen panels and antibody libraries—all of it made on the BioXp system.
• Gilead licenses COVID-19 drug to 5 generics companies
  BioPharma Dive – May 13, 2020
  Gilead has entered into a series of licensing agreements that give five generic drug manufacturers the rights and information needed to make the company’s COVID-19 drug, remdesivir.
• Gilead’s Remdesivir Tested With Other Drugs to Fight COVID-1
  Wall Street Journal – May 13, 2020
  The promise and limitations of remdesivir, the first drug to prove capable of helping fight COVID-19, have kicked off efforts to see if it can work better in combination with other treatments and to create new, easier methods of administering it.
• Scientists race to find a cure or vaccine for the coronavirus. Here are the top drugs in development
  CNBC – May 13, 2020
  Health officials and scientists across the world are racing to develop vaccines and discover effective treatments against the coronavirus, which has infected more than 4.2 million people worldwide in as little as four months, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University.
• Pfizer wants to expand human trials of coronavirus vaccine to thousands of people by September, CEO says
  CNBC – May 12, 2020
  Pfizer plans to test a coronavirus vaccine in thousands of people by September. CEO Albert Bourla said that if a vaccine proves to be safe, the company “will be able to deliver millions of doses in the October time frame.”
• A closer look at the race to develop antibody drugs for COVID-1
  BioPharma Dive – May 12, 2020
  Regeneron, Eli Lilly, Amgen and Vir Biotechnology are leading an increasingly competitive race to develop therapies that could give people short-term protection from the coronavirus, or help treat those who are exposed or infected.
• WHO sees ‘potentially positive data’ in treating coronavirus
  Reuters – May 12, 2020
  The World Health Organization said on Tuesday that some treatments appear to be limiting the severity or length of the COVID-19 disease and that it was focusing on learning more about four or five of the most promising ones.
• A Look at the Most Promising Candidates for a Covid-19 Vaccine
  Bloomberg – May 8, 2020
  Drug companies and university scientists are testing scores of possible inoculations. While experts caution that the process will take time- some researchers say a vaccine could be ready for emergency use by the end of the year.
• D.A. Clears First Home Saliva Test for Coronavirus
  New York Times – May 8, 2020
  The FDA said on Friday that it had granted emergency authorization for the first at-home saliva collection kit to test for the coronavirus. The test kit was developed by a Rutgers University laboratory, called RUCDR Infinite Biologics, in partnership with Spectrum Solutions and Accurate Diagnostic Labs.

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].