COVID-19 vaccine Archives

Washington University and St. Louis University have roles in COVID-19 vaccine trials

July 22, 2020 By Missourinet Contributor

Researchers at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and the Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development will be a part of the national effort to find a COVID-19 vaccine.

The two private schools are part of the COVID-19 Prevention Network (CoVPN), a newly organized network formed by the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) to develop and test COVID-19 vaccines and treatments.

According to Washington University, researchers at both universities will try to enroll about 3,000 participants in several different vaccine trials and “it will be critically important to enroll participants who are likely to be exposed to COVID-19 or those at risk for severe disease from COVID-19, including participants over age 65.”

According to a press release, both schools are well-positioned to conduct this research:

The Saint Louis University Center for Vaccine Development is home to one of 10 Vaccine and Treatment Evaluation Units in the United States. As such, SLU conducts phases 1 through 4 vaccine and treatment trials, including clinical studies with industry partners.

Washington University School of Medicine has more than 30 years’ experience leading clinical trials evaluating new treatments and vaccines for infectious diseases through its Infectious Disease Clinical Research Unit and the AIDS Clinical Trials Group. The latter has been instrumental in conducting trials to control the HIV pandemic, leading to safe and effective medications that treat and prevent HIV infection and AIDS.

For more information about vaccine trials at Washington University School of Medicine, email [email protected]; call 314-454-0058 or visit the Division of Infectious Diseases clinical trials site.

For more information about vaccine trials at Saint Louis University’s Center for Vaccine Development, vaccine.slu.edu; call 314-977-6333 or 1-866-410-6333; or email [email protected].

White House to announce COVID-19 vaccine developers this week, says Blunt (AUDIO)

June 4, 2020 By Ashley Byrd

The White House is set to announce progress on developing COVID-19 vaccines this week, according to U.S. Senator Roy Blunt, chairman of a key Senate Health and Human Services budget committee.

He says it will be a handful of candidates — out of a few thousand — to have federal support to develop a sought-after immunization to the virus strain that has to date killed more than 386,000 people worldwide, according to Johns Hopkins University.

Blunt says there will be failures in the development of the vaccine, but “if some of them don’t work out, we’re not trying hard enough.’ His “shark tank” approach funds many labs in the race to slow and stop COVID-19. Pharma companies like Great Britain’s AstraZeneca are pledging to send a vaccine to the U.S. as early as this fall.

Blunt says in the U.S. government’s public-private partnership with drug companies, the outcome must be “available to people at a price they can afford.”

Listen to details in Missourinet’s Ashley Byrd’s interview with Blunt: (3:03)