BioCentury
ARTICLE | Product Development

Sept. 30 Quick Takes: $234M for NIH’s RADx-UP; plus CureVac, Allena, Covaxx

October 1, 2020 1:17 AM UTC

NIH in push to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved populations
The National Institutes of Health has awarded about $234 million to improve COVID-19 testing for underserved and vulnerable populations via the RADx Underserved Populations program. A part of the Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) initiative, RADx-UP will support 32 U.S. institutions and focus on populations disproportionately affected by the pandemic. These groups include Black Americans, Native Americans, Alaskan Natives, Latinos and Latinas, Native Hawaiians, older adults, pregnant women and those who are homeless or incarcerated (see “NIH, HHS Fast-tracking Point-of-care, Pooled Tech”).

CureVac launches Phase IIa COVID-19 vaccine trial
CureVac N.V. (NASDAQ:CVAC) has begun dosing patients in its Phase IIa trial of COVID-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV. The 690-patient trial will enroll healthy individuals ages 18-60 and ages 61 and older. CureVac plans to initiate a global Phase IIb/III trial enrolling 30,000 participants before year-end. ...