Covid-19 Vaccines, Therapies – 6 July 2020

BioRender Covid-19 vaccine and therapy tracker. (BioRender.com)

6 July 2020. A continuing feature on Science & Enterprise is a weekly status report of vaccines and therapies for Covid-19 offered by BioRender, a scientific illustration software company. BioRender, in Toronto, Ontario, develops graphics tools for life sciences, biotechnology, and other disciplines.

The data show 152 Covid-19 vaccines in development at this time, with 28 of those vaccines in clinical trials, an increase of three more vaccines from last Monday in each category. Likewise, 11 more therapies are being developed and in clinical studies this week, raising those totals to to 294 and 208, respectively.

In addition to the summary dashboard shown above, the BioRender Covid-19 vaccine and therapy page provides details of the vaccines and therapies, as well as an activity feed showing news updates on these drugs.

The sheer quantity of vaccines or therapies, of course, is only one indicator of progress against the pandemic. A new analysis by the medical news service STAT indicates a good deal of confusion, duplication, and wasted effort in the headlong rush to develop Covid-19 drugs. One in six of these trials, for example, is assessing the malaria drugs hydroxychloroquine or chloroquine, which show little or no benefit for hospitalized Covid-19 patients. Also, many studies have small sample sizes, or no or inadequate comparison groups, which limits their value.

More from Science & Enterprise:

• Biotech IDs Potent Covid-19 Antibodies
• FDA Sets Review Criteria for Covid-19 Vaccines
• Covid-19 Vaccines, Therapies – 29 June 2020
• Trial to Test Stem Cells for Covid-19 Prevention
• Covid-19 Vaccine and Therapy Tracker Designed

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