Covid-19 vaccine: Watch out for October 22

The US Food and Drug Administration (USFDA) has scheduled an advisory panel meeting to discuss Covid-19 vaccines on October 22.

Peter Marks, director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research recently said that the coronavirus vaccine trials were enrolling volunteers "reasonably well" and that it was "possible" that by October more data could be available to interpret. If not, the committee could still discuss broader regulatory issues regarding a vaccine, said Peter Marks, Director of the Food and Drug Administration's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

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In recent weeks, large-scale clinical trials of the leading vaccine candidates from Moderna Inc, Pfizer Inc and AstraZeneca Plc were also launched.

Pfizer and BioNTech SE say a vaccine they are working on could be up for regulatory review by October.

READ: Would resign if agency rubber-stamps an unproven Covid-19 vaccine: FDA official

While AstraZeneca said it could supply the first doses of its vaccine to the United States as soon as October, Pfizer said in a statement that it expects to file with the FDA for emergency authorisation or "some form of regulatory approval" as early as October.

The US government has announced a $2 billion deal with Pfizer Inc and German biotech BioNTech SE that is likely to pressure other manufacturers to set similar prices.

(With agency inputs)