COVID-19 vaccine: These pharma companies have also made headway

The month of November has been huge for pharmaceutical companies with many submitting positive results from their clinical trials for the development of a vaccine against COVID-19. While Pfizer (NYSE: PFE) and Moderna (NASDAQ: MRNA) have made the most progress with both reporting 95% efficacy for their vaccine candidates, others are catching up and bringing their findings to the table. Here are three pharma companies that have reported their progress this week:

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca (NASDAQ: AZN) reported positive results from its clinical trials in the UK and Brazil for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222. The vaccine was well-tolerated in general with no serious safety events reported.

The vaccine showed an efficacy rate of 90% in one dosing regimen where participants were given a half dose and then a full dose one month later, and 62% in another dosing regimen where they were given two full doses a month apart. The combined analysis showed an average efficacy of 70%.

AstraZeneca is preparing for regulatory submission of the data to global agencies. It is also making progress in manufacturing with a capacity of up to 3 billion doses of the vaccine in 2021 pending approval. The storage and transportation can be done at normal refrigerated conditions for at least six months.

However, the data from AstraZeneca’s clinical trials failed to impress Wall Street and the stock was down over 1% in afternoon hours on Monday.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: REGN) received Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) from the US FDA for its combination therapy in the treatment of COVID-19. The company’s casirivimab and imdevimab antibody cocktail was authorized for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19 in patients who are at risk of getting worse or being hospitalized.

The antibody cocktail is not authorized for use in patients who are hospitalized or require oxygen therapy due to COVID-19. Regeneron currently expects to have treatment doses ready for approx. 80,000 patients by the end of November, around 200,000 patients by the first week of January, and around 300,000 patients in total by the end of January 2021.

Regeneron’s stock stayed in green territory on Monday.

Eli Lilly

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) gained authorization from Health Canada for the use of bamlanivimab (LY-CoV555) in the treatment of patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 who are at risk of becoming more severe or being hospitalized.

Earlier this month, bamlanivimab received EUA from the US FDA. Eli Lilly expects to produce up to one million doses of bamlanivimab by the end of this year, for global use through early next year.  

Shares were down 2% in afternoon hours on Monday.

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