The race to Covid shot reaches its last leg | Economic Times

The race to a Covid-19 vaccine picked up this week as many developers reached the last leg of their trials. As US regulators tighten the scrutiny around approvals, companies have announced their intention to put their trial data in public domain for scientific enquiry to remove any doubt about safety and efficacy. Divya Rajagopal reports on this week’s vaccine update.NOVAVAX: Vaccine maker Novavax this week announced that it has started the phase 3 trials of its Covid-19 vaccine in the UK. The company is expected to enroll and immunise up to 10,000 individuals. The trials are conducted in partnership with UK Vaccine Taskforce. Novavax also has a tieup with India’s Serum Institute of India (SII), where SII is expected to manufacture a billion doses of the vaccine for India and other low- and middle-income countries.JOHSON & JOHNSON: J&J, which was expected to start its phase 3 trials later this year, announced that the trials are already underway. The company is expected to recruit over 30,000 participants across three continents. J&J has a tie-up with India’s Biological E where the company will transfer the tech to Bio E to manufacture the Covid-19 vaccine for India. J&J said if data from phase 3 trials turn out to be promising, the company will launch the vaccine by early 2021. BILL GATES: Microsoft founder Bill Gates, co-chair of the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation, this week said that he is confi dent that the world will get a Covid-19 vaccine by 2021. The Gates’s foundation is funding vaccine manufacturers like Serum Institute of India to manufacture billions of doses for low- and middleincome countries. “I am optimistic that of the six Western constructs, by early next year, probably three or four will have shown safety and effi cacy, and four of those can be made at large scale and low cost,” Gates said at ET’s Global Business Summit.FAVIPIRAVIR: Japanese drug maker Fujifi lm this week announced that its antifl u drug Avigan (generic name Favipiravir) met the primary endpoint in trials where it reduced recovery time of Covid-19 patients. In a group of 156 patients, the Avigan drug’s recovery time was 11.5 days compared to the placebo that took 14.5 days, the company said. The drug is under use in countries like India for Covid-19 where over 10 drug manufacturers are selling it for patients of mild Covid-19.