A Front-Runner Jumps Out Ahead In Race For A Vaccine–And It’s Not Moderna
An Oxford University laboratory had a head start with a vaccine for a different strain of the coronavirus. Where other trials have to start small, the Oxford vaccine has already been found to be harmless in humans. The Oxford scientists now say that with an emergency approval from regulators, the first few million doses of their vaccine could be available by September -- if it proves effective.
The New York Times:
In Race For A Coronavirus Vaccine, An Oxford Group Leaps Ahead
In the worldwide race for a vaccine to stop the coronavirus, the laboratory sprinting fastest is at Oxford University. Most other teams have had to start with small clinical trials of a few hundred participants to demonstrate safety. But scientists at the university’s Jenner Institute had a head start on a vaccine, having proved in previous trials that similar inoculations — including one last year against an earlier coronavirus — were harmless to humans. That has enabled them to leap ahead and schedule tests of their new coronavirus vaccine involving more than 6,000 people by the end of next month, hoping to show not only that it is safe, but also that it works. (Kirkpatrick, 4/27)
The Hill:
Race For Coronavirus Vaccine Faces Early Challenges
Drug companies are racing to develop a coronavirus vaccine at breakneck speed, but they’re quickly encountering challenges with clinical trials, production capacity and governmental approval. The world is pinning its hopes on a vaccine to prevent COVID-19, the disease caused by the coronavirus. Public health experts say that until a vaccine is successfully deployed, it will be difficult to completely lift the social distancing restrictions that have devastated the global economy. (Weixel, 4/27)
Meanwhile, scientists form a "Manhattan Project"-like group to stop COVID-19 —
The Wall Street Journal:
The Secret Group Of Scientists And Billionaires Pushing A Manhattan Project For Covid-19
A dozen of America’s top scientists and a collection of billionaires and industry titans say they have the answer to the coronavirus pandemic, and they found a backdoor to deliver their plan to the White House. The eclectic group is led by a 33-year-old physician-turned-venture capitalist, Tom Cahill, who lives far from the public eye in a one-bedroom rental near Boston’s Fenway Park. He owns just one suit, but he has enough lofty connections to influence government decisions in the war against Covid-19. These scientists and their backers describe their work as a lockdown-era Manhattan Project, a nod to the World War II group of scientists who helped develop the atomic bomb. (Copeland, 4/27)
