COVID-19 Vaccine Trials Gain Momentum Worldwide

Mexico has agreed to host several phase 3 clinical trials of potential COVID-19 vaccines as the pace of research worldwide continues to gain momentum.

Mexico’s Foreign Minister Marcelo Ebrard announced yesterday that the country has signed memorandums of understanding on COVID-19 vaccines with Johnson & Johnson (J&J), CanSino Biologics and Walvax Biotechnology.

The trials are expected to begin between September and January, depending on approval from Mexico’s drug regulators.

Meanwhile, J&J also plans to begin phase 3 testing in the U.S. next month (DID, July 31), and CanSino is preparing to launch a phase 3 clinical trial of its vaccine Ad5-nCoV in Saudi Arabia (DID, Aug. 11).

Sinovac has launched a phase 3 trial of its COVID-19 vaccine CoronaVac in Indonesia, testing it in at least 1,620 participants. The first 20 subjects were dosed at a launch ceremony yesterday.

The trial is being conducted with state-owned Indonesian vaccine manufacturer Bio Farma, which will produce the vaccine for the country. CoronaVac is also in phase 3 testing in Brazil.

In addition, San Diego-based Arcturus Therapeutics has begun a phase 1/2 trial in Singapore of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate ARCT-021 in collaboration with Duke-NUS Medical School.

ARCT-021 generated neutralizing antibodies against the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus after a single 2-mcg dose in preclinical studies, the company said. — Jordan Williams