Dec. 18 COVID Quick Takes: COVAX tops up as Mesoblast falls on Phase III data; plus Novavax, Pfizer-BioNTech, J&J and COVAX
Deals with AZ, J&J bring COVAX to nearly 2B doses
COVAX said it now has deals in place to access nearly 2 billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines for 190 participating economies. Those territories will have access to doses in 1H21, contingent upon approvals and readiness for delivery. Deals unveiled Friday include an advance purchase agreement with AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN) for 170 million doses of the AstraZeneca-University of Oxford vaccine, and a memorandum of understanding with Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) for 500 million doses of the Janssen candidate. The global initiative, which is co-led by Gavi, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations and WHO, aims to ensure rapid and equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines for all countries.
A miss for Mesoblast’s stem cell therapy
Mesoblast Ltd. (ASX:MSB; NASDAQ:MESO) lost A$1.36 (36%) to A$2.41 in Australia and $4.30 (32%) to $9.27 in New York after a third interim analysis of data from 180 patients found remestemcel-L is unlikely to meet the primary endpoint of reducing 30-day COVID-19 mortality in a Phase III trial. The double-blind trial has enrolled 223 ventilator-dependent patients with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome due to COVID-19; and the interim analysis was based on 180 patients...