Coronavirus treatments: $1 billion invested in vaccine linked to Beth Israel in Boston

Drug companies around the world are racing to find a coronavirus treatment — with one company investing big in a vaccine — as case counts continue to rise and hospitals become overwhelmed.

Johnson & Johnson said Monday it is investing more than $1 billion to co-fund coronavirus vaccine research, development, and clinical testing, being developed partly by a lab at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, a press release from the company said.

Research teams at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center constructed and tested multiple vaccine candidates that were then tested to identify those with the most promise in producing an immune response.

On Monday, Johnson & Johnson announced the selection of a lead COVID-19 vaccine candidate and expects to initiate human clinical studies of it in September.

Other coronavirus therapies such as drug treatments have caught the eye of President Trump.

“It’s very powerful but the nice part is it’s been around for a long time so we know that if things don’t go as planned it’s not going to kill anybody,” said Trump about two drugs, hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine.

“We’re going to be able to make that drug available almost immediately,” said Trump.

The drug combination received emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration on Saturday which will allow it to be distributed and used for certain hospitalized patients with COVID-19, according to a press release from the FDA.

New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo announced last week that the state will begin to implement drug trials and has acquired 70,000 doses of hydroxychloroquine, 10,000 doses of zithromax and 750,000 doses of chloroquine to begin clinical trials.

from Boston Herald https://ift.tt/3dJnLY2