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The Oxford/AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine is slightly more effective than that of Pfizer/BioNTech on some measures,European study showed
https://www.theguardian.com/society/2021/mar/01/pfizer-oxford-covid-jab-prevents-hospitalisation-older-people
Vaccines are working' against new Covid variants, says Jonathan Van-Tam
https://www.cityam.com/vaccines-are-working-against-new-covid-variants-says-jonathan-van-tam/
– GSK, Sanofi begin new COVID – 19 vaccine trial after setback last year
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-gsk-sanofi/gsk-sanofi-begin-new-covid-19-vaccine-trial-after-setback-last-year-idUSKBN2AM108
GSK, Vir Biotech to expand COVID – 19 research partnership for other diseases
17 Feb 2021 23:10
By Rebecca Spalding
Feb 17 (Reuters) – British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline Plc and Vir Biotechnology Inc will expand their existing partnership developing antibody therapies for COVID-19 to research therapies for other diseases, the companies said on
Wednesday.
The companies will research monoclonal antibody treatments for influenza and other respiratory illnesses as a part of the agreement, they said.
As a part of the deal, GSK will make a further $120 million equity investment in Vir and will pay the company an additional upfront payment of $225 million.
The companies announced a partnership last year to research
COVID-19 treatments. Unlike vaccines, antibody treatments are designed to be given to patients that have been diagnosed with the illness with the aim of decreasing the severity of the disease.
One of the companies' experimental therapies for COVID-19 is currently being studied in two global final stage trials.
Results from one of those studies are expected in the first quarter of 2021.
San Francisco-based biotechnology company Vir, which is run by former Biogen Chief Executive Officer George Scangos, was founded in 2016 to research infectious diseases at a time when that area of focus was rare for cutting-edge biotechnology start-ups.
The COVID-19 pandemic has since spurred large pharma companies' interest in researching new ways to combat infectious pathogens, including influenza.
The effectiveness of standard flu vaccines varies year to year based on how well researchers are able to predict that season's dominant strains months in advance. The effectiveness of the vaccine can also vary depending on the age of the recipient and other factors, according to the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention.
The companies said they would work to further develop Vir's experimental treatment for influenza A. The companies said that people 65 and older with underlying conditions have a higher risk of dying of the virus and that historically, vaccines have had lower efficacy in this group.
(Reporting by Rebecca Spalding; Editing by Rashmi Aich
AstraZeneca vaccine approved, paving way for home grown doses
The AstraZeneca coronavirus vaccine has been cleared for local use by the medical regulator, paving the way for Australians to receive a vaccine this year.
The AstraZeneca vaccine has been granted provisional approval by the medical regulator, paving the way for all Australians to receive a coronavirus vaccine by the end of the year.
The Therapeutic Goods Administration has approved it for adults aged 18 and over, but said the decision to immunise those aged over 65 should be made on a case-by-case basis.
“Australians can be confident that the TGA’s review process of this vaccine was rigorous and of the highest standard,” the TGA said in a statement.
The AstraZeneca vaccine is the second coronavirus immunisation to be approved in Australia.
The Pfizer vaccine gained provisional approval last month, and people will begin receiving those vaccinations from next Monday.
More than 140,000 doses of the Pfizer vaccine arrived on Monday, in a major vaccination milestone announced by Health Minister Greg Hunt. Pfizer is set to ship 20 million doses in total to Australia.
The country will have 53.8 million doses of the AstraZeneca vaccine, with 3.8 million imported from overseas and 50 million manufactured by CSL in Australia. The imported doses will begin arriving in the first week of March, and CSL’s first locally produced vaccines will be available later that month.
Most Australians will get the AstraZeneca vaccine, which Mr Hunt has previously described it as the “ace in the hole” of the nation’s rollout.
Developed by researchers at the University of Oxford and pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, the vaccine is a “non-replicating viral vector vaccine”. Scientists have taken a virus that usually gives chimpanzees a cold but is harmless to humans, and genetically engineered it to look like SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to trigger an immune response.
Unlike the Pfizer vaccine, which requires storage at minus 70 degrees creating a number of logistical challenges for widespread distribution, the AstraZeneca vaccine only needs to be stored at 2 to 8 degrees, as is the case with most vaccines.
Most people will receive their AstraZeneca vaccine in phases 2a and 2b of the rollout at a general practice vaccination hub, their local GP or approved pharmacy.
Earlier this month, CSL told The Sydney Morning Herald and The Age it was confident it could make updated versions of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine to cover any virus variants that might arise.
AstraZeneca share price rises as Q4 earnings surpass expectations
https://ukinvestormagazine.co.uk/astrazeneca-share-price-rises-as-q4-earnings-surpass-expectations/
BRIEF-Astrazeneca Says Expects Faster Growth In FY Core EPS To $4.75 To $5.00
11 Feb 2021 18:22
Feb 11 (Reuters) - AstraZeneca Plc :
* AZN: FULL-YEAR 2020 RESULTS
* FY REVENUE ROSE 33 PERCENT TO 13.95 BILLION USD
* FY EARNINGS PER SHARE ROSE 137 PERCENT TO 2.44 USD
* ACCELERATING SCIENTIFIC AND COMMERCIAL EVOLUTION; 2021
GUIDANCE
SHOWS CONTINUING PROGRESS
* BOARD HAS REAFFIRMED ITS COMMITMENT TO PROGRESSIVE
DIVIDEND
POLICY.
* A STABLE SECOND INTERIM DIVIDEND OF $1.90 PER SHARE HAS
BEEN
DECLARED, KEEPING UNCHANGED FULL-YEAR DIVIDEND PER SHARE AT $2.80
* QTRLY REPORTED EPS $0.78
* 2021 TOTAL REVENUE IS EXPECTED TO INCREASE BY A LOW-TEENS
PERCENTAGE
* QTRLY CORE EPS $1.07
* SEES FASTER GROWTH IN CORE EPS TO $4.75 TO $5.00 FOR 2021
* GUIDANCE DOES NOT INCORPORATE ANY REVENUE OR PROFIT IMPACT
FROM
SALES OF COVID-19 VACCINE ASTRAZENECA (C19VAZ)
* QUARTERLY PRODUCT SALES IN EXCESS OF $7,000M
* INTENDS TO REPORT SALES OF COVID-19 VACCINE ASTRAZENECA (C19VAZ)
SEPARATELY FROM NEXT QUARTER
* RECOGNISES HEIGHTENED RISKS AND UNCERTAINTIES FROM IMPACT
OF
COVID-19, VARIATIONS IN PERFORMANCE BETWEEN QUARTERS EXPECTED TO
CONTINUE
Source text for Eikon: [ID:nRSK6947Oa]
Further company coverage: ((Reuters.Briefs@thomsonreuters.com;))
© 2021 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions
WHO expert panel recommends wide use of AstraZeneca COVID vaccine
https://www.reuters.com/article/health-coronavirus-who-astrazeneca/who-expert-panel-recommends-wide-use-of-astrazeneca-covid-vaccine-idUSFWN2KG1K4
Oxford/AstraZeneca vaccine recommended for adults of all ages, say scientists advising the World Health Organisation
https://apple.news/Aht-ML6fPSAOpQVN4DfGFew
Common asthma drug cuts COVID – 19 hospitalization risk, recovery time – Oxford study
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-asthma-treatment/common-asthma-drug-cuts-covid-19-hospitalization-risk-recovery-time-oxford-study-idUSKBN2A92DA
AstraZeneca PLC expected to post earnings of 68 cents a share – Earnings Preview
09 Feb 2021 18:00
AstraZeneca PLC is expected to show a rise in
quarterly revenue when it reports results on February 11.
The Cambridge, Cambridgeshire-based company is expected to report ?a 4.6% increase in revenue to $6.972 billion from $ 6.66 billion a year ago?, according to the mean estimate of 3 analysts, based on Refinitiv data.
The analyst mean estimate for AstraZeneca PLC is for earnings of 68 cents per share. For the same quarter last year, the company reported earnings of 45 cents per share.
The current average analyst rating on the shares is "buy" and the breakdown of recommendations is 4 "strong buy" or "buy," 1 "hold" and no "sell" or "strong sell."
The mean earnings estimate of analysts was unchanged in the last three months.
Wall Street's median 12-month price target for AstraZeneca PLC is $62?, about 19.3% above? its last closing price of $50.06.???
Previous quarterly performance (using preferred earnings measure). ?
QUARTER STARMINE REFINITIV ACTUAL BEAT, SURPRI
ENDING SMARTESTIM IBES MET, SE %
ATE® ESTIMATE MISSED
Sep. 30 2020 0.44 0.44 0.47 Beat 6.8
Jun. 30 2020 0.44 0.44 0.48 Beat 9.1
Mar. 31 2020 0.47 0.47 0.53 Beat 12.8?
Dec. 31 2019 0.55 0.59 0.45 Missed -23.7
Sep. 0.45? 0.45 0.50 Beat 11.1?
30? 2019?
Jun. 30 2019 0.29 0.30 0.37 Beat 25.4?
Mar. 31 2019 0.43 0.42 0.45 Beat 7.1
Dec. 31 2018 0.75 0.76 0.79 Beat 4.4
This summary was machine generated February 9 at 07:00 GMT. All figures in US Dollars
Astra vaccine may stop severe disease from S.African variant, study leader says
08 Feb 2021 19:35
LONDON, Feb 8 (Reuters) – There is still some hope that the
AstraZeneca and Oxford COVID-19 vaccine will prevent severe disease from the South African variant of coronavirus, according to the professor who found it had limited impact on mild disease.
South Africa on Sunday said it would put on hold the use of the shot in its vaccination programme, after data showed it gave minimal protection against mild-to-moderate infection caused by the country's dominant coronavirus variant.
Shabir Madhi, who led the study in South Africa, said when looking at whether it could prevent severe disease, the
AstraZeneca vaccine could be compared to the one made by Johnson & Johnson which has proved effective.
"There's still some hope that the AstraZeneca vaccine might well perform as well as the Johnson and Johnson vaccine in a different age group demographic that I address of severe disease," he told BBC radio.
(Reporting by Kate Holton and Michael Holden; Editing by Guy
Faulconbridge) ((kate.holton@thomsonreuters.com; 0044 207 542 8560; Reuters
Messaging: kate.holton.thomsonreuters.com@reuters.net)
© 2021 Thomson Reuters. Click for Restrictions.