COVID-19 Clinical Trial Activity Slow as Cases Rise Again: GlobalData

COVID-19 clinical trial activity resume at a much slower rate than originally anticipated as the novel coronavirus cases rise again, says GlobalData.

Clinical trials obstructed by COVID-19 are expected to resume at a much slower rate than initially anticipated, as more nations are re-enforcing lockdown due to a globally growing number of COVID-19 cases, says GlobalData, a leading data, and analytics company.

Priya Nair, Trials Intelligence Analyst at GlobalData, comments: “The general trend shows a gradual increase in the overall percentage of trials for each trial status*, the biggest of which has been seen in trials that are ongoing and recruiting and those that are ongoing but not recruiting. Between 17 August and 21 September, ongoing and recruiting trials decreased from 84.7% to 82.2%, while completed trials increased from 4.5% to 6.4%.”

US FDA May Fast Track COVID-19 Vaccine Before Phase-3 Trials Complete
US drug regulator is now ready to consider giving emergency authorization to a COVID-19 vaccine even before the end of crucial Phase-3 trials, after Russia and China.

‘The US has the highest number of resumed COVID trials at 70.6 percent, followed by France at 7.6 percent, the UK and Spain at 7.3 percent each, and Japan at 7.2 percent. ’

The number of resumed trials increased from over 600 on 17 August to 741 as of 21 September. Out of these trials, 82.2% are currently recruiting participants, 7.9% have completed recruitment but are still ongoing, and 0.5% of trials have yet to start recruiting subjects.

There is an overall steady increase in trials resuming activity.

Nair concludes: “As large numbers of companies shift to alternative ways to conduct trials, it is possible that the use of virtual trials may still be prominent even after the COVID-19 pandemic ends.”

BCG Vaccine may Help Protect Against COVID-19: UK Clinical Trial
Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) vaccine has been launched by a study to test if it could help protect people against COVID-19.

Source-Medindia

Clinical Trials of Covid Vaccine Begins In India
For India's first indigenous Covid-19 vaccine, two volunteers were given its first dose at the Nizam's Institute of Medical Sciences (NIMS) on Monday.

Fresh Insights into European COVID-19 Clinical Trials
In Europe, the level of research directly correlates with the clinical need for effective therapies based on the severity of the COVID-19 pandemic.