• After months of downplaying the severity of COVID-19, Brazil’s President Bolsonaro announces that he has tested positive.
• After receiving $388 million from CEPI, Novavax Inc gets a $1.6 billion grant from OWS for testing, production and 100 million doses of its recombinant nanoparticle vaccine candidate, which is currently in a phase I/II trial. Source
• US signs a $450 million contract with Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to secure REGN-COV2, an experimental antibody cocktail in trials for prevention and treatment of COVID-19. The agreement covers 70,000 – 300,000 treatment doses and 420,000 to 1,300,000 prevention doses. If an EUA or approval is granted, Regeneron says that these doses will be provided at no cost. Source
• Sinovac announces that Anvisa, Brazil’s regulatory agency, approved a nearly 9,000-person phase III trial of its experimental coronavirus vaccine in healthcare providers who care for people with COVID-19. The vaccine is being co-developed with Butantan, a Brazilian biologics producer. Source