Pharmafile.com's weekly COVID-19 news round-up

Photo by the CDC

The coronavirus news this week once again focuses on vaccines, as AstraZeneca signed its first deal in China to produce and deliver its vaccine candidate, while the US will pay Johnson and Johnson more than $1 billion to create 100 million doses of a vaccine. In terms of people being willing to take a vaccine, 35% of Americans say they have no plans to be inoculated against the virus, according to new polling.

In hydroxychloroquine news, researchers at the University of Oxford have said that the drug could be beneficial to COVID-19 patients, despite a general lack of evidence for its effectiveness. 

 1. AstraZeneca seals manufacturing deal to deliver COVID-19 vaccine in China - Published on 07/08/2020

AstraZeneca has signed its first deal in China to produce and deliver its vaccine candidate against COVID-19 in the country, partnering up with manufacturing firm Shenzhen Kangtai Biological Products.

2. Researchers at the University of Oxford have said hydroxychloroquine could still be a viable COVID-19 treatment – Published on 07/08/2020

Researchers at the University of Oxford have said that hydroxychloroquine could be beneficial to COVID-19 patients, despite a general lack of evidence for its effectiveness. 

3. US to pay Johnson and Johnson $1 billion for COVID-19 vaccine - Published on 06/08/2020

The US will pay Johnson and Johnson more than $1 billion to create 100 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine.

4. Over a third of Americans say they won’t take a coronavirus vaccine – Published 10/08/2020

35% of Americans say they have no plans to take a COVID-19 vaccine, according to new polling.

5. Early promise from Novavax's vaccine candidate for COVID-19 – Published 07/08/2020

New Phase 1/2 on Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate NVX‑CoV2373 has shown that the therapy generated “robust antibody responses” when used with or without the company’s Matrix‑M adjuvant.