Makers say early tests of the experimental drug indicate it may "break the chain" of rising coronavirus infections.

The makers of an experimental drug, now being trialled by the NHS, say it is 100 per cent effective in protecting against symptomatic cases of the virus.

US-based Regeneron Pharmaceuticals says its two-antibody cocktail called REGEN-COV also reduces overall coronavirus infection rates by about 50 per cent.

The claims are based on interim results and the "confirmatory stage" of the trial will not be complete until the second quarter of this year, but the company has said it is hopeful it may "break the chain" of rising infections.

"The REGEN-COV antibody cocktail may be able to help break this chain by providing immediate passive immunity to those at high risk of infection, in contrast to active vaccines which take weeks to provide protection," he added.

https://news.sky.com/story/covid-19-breakthrough-treatment-claims-to-stop-100-of-symptomatic-infections-12200072

An unexpected COVID-19 drug derived from a rare sea animal and historically used to treat cancer is found to be 27.5 times more effective than the Gilead Sciences’ popular coronavirus drug remdesivir, a study published in the journal Science on Monday revealed.

The treatment, known as Aplidin or Plitidepsin, is developed by the Spanish drug company PharmaMar. It has clinical approval in some countries, such as Australia, for treating multiple myeloma, a form of bone marrow cancer. The drug was identified as a potential COVID-19 treatment in March 2020 by a team of scientists at the University of California, San Francisco. Since then, it has completed phase 1 and phase 2 clinical trials and is expected to enter a phase 3 trial before seeking regulatory approval.

https://observer.com/2021/01/aplidin-covid-drug-cancer-treatment/

There is no data that would suggest efficacy of only 8% among older people for AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, the German health ministry said on Tuesday in response to corresponding media reports.

It reiterated that it expects the European Medicines Agency to decide on Friday whether to approve the vaccine.

https://www.reuters.com/article/idUSKBN29V0ZC

A nasal spray that is reported to stop Covid infections for two days may be in shops by the summer of 2021.

The University of Birmingham has developed a nasal spray which it says "protects against coronavirus and prevents transmission".

Researchers say the spray protects against COVID-19 and can also prevent the virus being passed from person to person.

Dr Richard Moakes, from the University of Birmingham, says his formula could help bring the UK out of crippling lockdown restrictions.

Dr Moakes told the Telegraph : “As an over the shelf product, we have spoken to companies with a presence on the high street as we think they could distribute it effectively.

“Based on the product, it will be much quicker to get to the user than a novel drug.

https://www.birminghammail.co.uk/news/midlands-news/nasal-spray-stops-coronavirus-could-19699803

Moderna Inc said on Tuesday it was on track to deliver about 100 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to the United States by the end of the first quarter of 2021, with 200 million doses in total available by the end of the next three months.

The company, which signed a purchase agreement with the United States for 200 million doses, said it has supplied 30.4 million doses of its vaccine so far. About 10.1 million of the doses have been administered, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Moderna said earlier this month it would produce at least 600 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine in 2021, up by 100 million doses from its previous forecast. It said it was continuing to invest and add staff to build up to potentially 1 billion doses for 2021.

https://www.reuters.com/article/domesticNews/idUSKBN29V1IH?il=0

President Joe Biden said Monday he believes it'll be "this spring" when any American who wants a COVID-19 vaccine will be able to get one. This is perhaps the most ambitious target mentioned publicly by his administration thus far.

"I think it'll be this spring. I think we'll be able to do that this spring," Mr. Biden said Monday when a reporter asked him when any American who wants a vaccine should be able to obtain one. "But it's going to be a logistical challenge that exceeds anything we've ever tried in this country. But I think we can do that. I feel confident that by summer we're going to be well on our way to heading toward herd immunity and increasing the access for people who aren't on the first, on the list, all the way going down to children and how we deal with that. But I feel good about where we're going and I think we can get it done." 

The new president also increased his hopes for how many doses of the vaccine can be delivered during his first 100 days in office, revising it from 100 million up to 150 million. Some had questioned whether the Biden administration's 100 million shots in the first 100 days was ambitious enough, given that the U.S. was already administering roughly 1 million shots a day when he took office. 

Dr. Anthony Fauci, now an adviser to Mr. Biden on the COVID-19 response, said in an interview on "Face the Nation" Sunday that the administration is hoping to exceed that goal.

"It's going to be a challenge," Fauci said. "I think it was a reasonable goal that was set, we always want to do better than the goal you set, but it is really a floor and not a ceiling."

https://www.cbsnews.com/news/covid-vaccine-biden-anyone-spring/

Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday said it expected to report eagerly-awaited data on its COVID-19 vaccine early next week, and that it would be able to meet the delivery target for doses to countries with which it had signed supply agreements.

Public health officials are increasingly counting on single-dose options like the one being tested by J&J to simplify and boost inoculations given the complications and slower-than-hoped rollout of authorized vaccines from Pfizer Inc and Moderna Inc, which require second shots weeks after the first.

“We will let the science play out. Once we have the data, obtain regulatory authorization and finalize agreements to supply, we will provide financial updates as warranted,” he said on a conference call.

The U.S. healthcare conglomerate said its medical device unit continued to recover despite the recent surge in COVID-19. The division was hit hard earlier in the pandemic by a decrease in elective and non-urgent procedures like hip and knee replacement as people avoided care or hospitals were forced to suspend such procedures.

https://www.reuters.com/article/us-johnson-johnson-results-idUSKBN29V197

Moderna said Monday it’s accelerating work on a Covid-19 booster shot to guard against the recently discovered variant in South Africa.

The company’s researchers said its current coronavirus vaccine appears to work against the two highly transmissible strains found in the U.K. and South Africa, although it looks like it may be less effective against the latter.

The two-dose vaccine produced an antibody response against multiple variants, including B.1.1.7 and B.1.351, which were first identified in the U.K. and South Africa, respectively, according to a Moderna study conducted in collaboration with the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases. The study has not yet been peer reviewed.

https://www.cnbc.com/2021/01/25/covid-vaccine-moderna-working-on-covid-booster-shots-for-south-african-strain.html