The Lancet: Study reports preliminary efficacy and safety results from interim analysis of Russian COVID-19 phase 3 vaccine trial
(The Lancet) An interim analysis of data from the phase 3 trial of the COVID-19 vaccine from Russia (Gam-COVID-Vac) suggests that a two-dose regimen of the adenovirus-based vaccine offers 91.6% efficacy against symptomatic COVID-19. The preliminary findings, published in The Lancet, are based on analysis of data from nearly 20,000 participants, three-quarters of whom received the vaccine and one quarter received a placebo. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - February 2, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news

AAVCOVID single-dose, room temperature-stable COVID-19 vaccine supported by new funding
(Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary) The AAVCOVID vaccine program, a novel gene-based vaccine strategy that utilizes an adeno-associated virus (AAV) vector, was granted an award for up to $2.1 million from the Bill& Melinda Gates Foundation. The grant will aid the effort to bring further preclinical validation to the AAVCOVID platform and its single-dose, room temperature stable vaccine candidates. (Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases)
Source: EurekAlert! - Infectious and Emerging Diseases - January 29, 2021 Category: Infectious Diseases Source Type: news

MAIT cell activation augments adenovirus vector vaccine immunogenicity
Mucosal-associated invariant T (MAIT) cells are innate sensors of viruses and can augment early immune responses and contribute to protection. We hypothesized that MAIT cells may have inherent adjuvant activity in vaccine platforms that use replication-incompetent adenovirus vectors. In mice and humans, ChAdOx1 (chimpanzee adenovirus Ox1) immunization robustly activated MAIT cells. Activation required plasmacytoid dendritic cell (pDC)–derived interferon (IFN)–α and monocyte-derived interleukin-18. IFN-α–induced, monocyte-derived tumor necrosis factor was also identified as a key secondary sign...
Source: ScienceNOW - January 28, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Provine, N. M., Amini, A., Garner, L. C., Spencer, A. J., Dold, C., Hutchings, C., Silva Reyes, L., FitzPatrick, M. E. B., Chinnakannan, S., Oguti, B., Raymond, M., Ulaszewska, M., Troise, F., Sharpe, H., Morgan, S. B., Hinks, T. S. C., Lambe, T., Capone, Tags: Immunology, Microbiology reports Source Type: news

Biodistribution of AAV gene transfer vectors in nonhuman primate
(Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) The biodistribution of adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene transfer vectors can be measured in nonhuman primates using a new method. The method quantifies whole-body and organ-specific AAV capsids from 1 to 72 hours after administration (Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health)
Source: EurekAlert! - Medicine and Health - January 15, 2021 Category: International Medicine & Public Health Source Type: news

Johnson & Johnson ’s 1-Shot COVID-19 Vaccine Shows Promise in Early-Stage Trials
Johnson & Johnson’s experimental one-shot Covid-19 vaccine generated a long-lasting immune response in an early safety study, providing a glimpse at how it will perform in the real world as the company inches closer to approaching U.S. regulators for clearance. More than 90% of participants made immune proteins, called neutralizing antibodies, within 29 days after receiving the shot, according to the report, and all participants formed the antibodies within 57 days. The immune response lasted for the full 71 days of the trial. “Looking at the antibodies, there should be good hope and good reason that the va...
Source: TIME: Health - January 14, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Riley Griffin / Bloomberg Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 overnight wire Source Type: news

Ad26.COV2-S Vaccine Seems Safe, Immunogenic for SARS-CoV-2
WEDNESDAY, Jan. 13, 2021 -- A candidate vaccine, Ad26.COV2.S, with a recombinant, replication-incompetent adenovirus serotype 26 (Ad26) vector encoding a full-length and stabilized severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 spike protein is... (Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News)
Source: Drugs.com - Pharma News - January 13, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

AskBio taps industry vet for C-suite role in wake of Bayer deal
Fresh off of its acquisition by Bayer AG, Research Triangle Park-based Asklepios BioPharmaceutical Inc. has created a new C-suite position and tapped an industry veteran to fill it. Dr. Katherine High has been named president of therapeutics at AskBio and will also serve on its board of directors. She will be responsible for driving the strategic direction and execution of the company’s preclinical and clinical programs. AskBio, a clinical-stage adeno-associated virus (AAV ) gene therapy company,… (Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines)
Source: bizjournals.com Health Care:Pharmaceuticals headlines - January 13, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Authors: Cameron Snipes Source Type: news

mRNA Technology Gave Us the First COVID-19 Vaccines. It Could Also Upend the Drug Industry
“No!” The doctor snapped. “Look at me!” I had been staring her in the eyes, as she had ordered, but when a doctor on my other side began jabbing me with a needle, I started to turn my head. “Don’t look at it,” the first doctor said. I obeyed. This was in early August in New Orleans, where I had signed up to be a participant in the clinical trial for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It was a blind study, which meant I was not supposed to know whether I had gotten the placebo or the real vaccine. I asked the doctor if I would really been able to tell by looking at the syringe. &...
Source: TIME: Science - January 11, 2021 Category: Science Authors: Walter Isaacson Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Magazine Source Type: news

mRNA Technology Gave Us the First COVID-19 Vaccines. It Could Also Upend the Drug Industry
“No!” The doctor snapped. “Look at me!” I had been staring her in the eyes, as she had ordered, but when a doctor on my other side began jabbing me with a needle, I started to turn my head. “Don’t look at it,” the first doctor said. I obeyed. This was in early August in New Orleans, where I had signed up to be a participant in the clinical trial for the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine. It was a blind study, which meant I was not supposed to know whether I had gotten the placebo or the real vaccine. I asked the doctor if I would really been able to tell by looking at the syringe. &...
Source: TIME: Health - January 11, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Walter Isaacson Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 feature Magazine Source Type: news

Bharat Biotech to start Phase-1 trials of COVID-19 intranasal vaccine in Feb-March
Besides Covaxin, BharatBiotech has been actively working on developing another vaccine, for which it tied up with Washington UniversitySchool of Medicine in St Louis for the novel "chimp-adenovirus" (Chimpanzee adenovirus), a single dose intranasal vaccine for COVID-19. (Source: The Economic Times Healthcare and Biotech News)
Source: The Economic Times Healthcare and Biotech News - January 8, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

South Africa to get 1.5 million COVID-19 vaccines from India
The vaccine, developed with the University of Oxford, is made from a virus which is a weakened version of a common cold virus (adenovirus), that has been genetically changed so that it is impossible for it to grow in humans. (Source: The Economic Times Healthcare and Biotech News)
Source: The Economic Times Healthcare and Biotech News - January 7, 2021 Category: Pharmaceuticals Source Type: news

More COVID-19 Vaccines Are in the Pipeline as the U.S. Effort Ramps Up
A huge U.S. study of another COVID-19 vaccine candidate got underway Monday as states continue to roll out scarce supplies of the first shots to a nation anxiously awaiting relief from the catastrophic outbreak. Public health experts say more options in addition to the two vaccines now being dispensed — one made by Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech, the other by Moderna — are critical to amassing enough shots for the country and the world. The candidate made by Novavax Inc. is the fifth to reach final-stage testing in the United States. Some 30,000 volunteers are needed to prove if the shot — a diffe...
Source: TIME: Health - December 29, 2020 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: LAURAN NEERGAARD / AP Tags: Uncategorized COVID-19 overnight wire Source Type: news

Gene therapy for placental insufficiency moves toward the clinic
(Mary Ann Liebert, Inc./Genetic Engineering News) A new study identified an adenovirus gene therapy vector carrying a VEGF isoform. It can improve uterine blood flow in placental insufficiency. (Source: EurekAlert! - Biology)
Source: EurekAlert! - Biology - December 15, 2020 Category: Biology Source Type: news

Study: Immunotherapy Vaccine for Mesothelioma Still Promising
The ONCOS-102 immunotherapy vaccine continues its move toward future, first-line standard of care treatment for malignant pleural mesothelioma, based upon the latest study follow-up data. When combined with standard chemotherapy, the genetically modified adenovirus has produced a median overall survival of at least 18.2 months, according to results released in late November from the ongoing clinical trial. Median overall survival was more than four months better than the control group receiving chemotherapy alone in the randomized trial. ONCOS-102 is manufactured by Targovax, a small Scandinavian biotech company focused on...
Source: Asbestos and Mesothelioma News - December 3, 2020 Category: Environmental Health Authors: Fran Mannino Source Type: news

Engineered " stealth bomber " virus could be new weapon against metastatic cancer
(Emory Health Sciences) Researchers at Emory and Case Western Reserve have re-engineered an oncolytic adenovirus. The resulting virus is not easily caught by parts of the innate immune system, making systemic delivery possible without arousing a massive inflammatory reaction. (Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer)
Source: EurekAlert! - Cancer - November 25, 2020 Category: Cancer & Oncology Source Type: news