This article originally appeared in FiercePharma and was written by Arthur Allen The vaccine trial that Vice President Mike Pence kicked off in Miami on Monday gives the United States the tiniest chance of being ready to vaccinate millions of Americans just before Election Day. It’s a possibility that fills many public health experts with dread. Among their concerns: Early evidence that any vaccine works would lead to political pressure from the administration for emergency approval by the Food and Drug Administration. That conflict between science and politics might cause
Read MoreThis article originally appeared in FiercePharma and was written by Angus Liu Many biopharma companies have been talking up the potential of authorized COVID-19 vaccines by year-end. But experts caution that a rushed timeline could be counterproductive for adoption. “There are many fears about vaccines already, and consumers are likely to be cautious about a newly approved vaccine rushed through development by government and pharmaceutical companies,” SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges wrote in a Thursday note to clients after an infectious disease specialist and a Merck & Co. senior executive spoke
Read MoreThis article originally appeared in FiercePharma and was written by Kyle Blankenship The U.S. government has dumped billions into COVID-19 vaccine development and manufacturing as part of its Warp Speed initiative. Now, with vaccine makers moving rapidly toward approval, the administration has high hopes at least one shot candidate will start churning out doses within the next six weeks. With federal backing, at least one COVID-19 vaccine will likely be “actively manufacturing” within the next four to six weeks, a senior Trump administration official told Reuters Monday. Barring a surprise
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