encouraging progress !, page-36

I wonder whether we are still in talks re possible covid-19 trial with a European investigator?

EU ready to negotiate vaccine access with $2.7B fundFor months now, the US government has doled out unprecedented grants to vaccine developers in hopes of speeding the completion of a Covid-19 candidate, even if that meant putting hundreds of millions or billions behind efforts that ultimately failed. Now, the European Union may do the same.The EU is planning to use a $2.7 billion rainy day fund to make advance purchases of vaccine candidates, Reuters reports. The news comes a day after the Trump Administration reportedly settled on the five finalists for its Operation Warp Speed, all of whom will get significant funding and other US assistance to finish testing and scale up their vaccine candidates.The $2.7 billion rivals what the US, through BARDA, has given out so far, although more funding through the Warp Speed program is expected to be announced. BARDA has allocated $2.2 billion to Moderna, J&J and AstraZeneca, plus $30 million to Sanofi and $38 million to the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative, which is now partnering with Merck. In testimony before Congress, former BARDA chief-turned-whistleblower Rick Bright said in May that the US had secured ordering rights as part of their funding arrangements.News of the fund comes weeks after Sanofi CEO Paul Hudson caused an intercontinental stir, when he told Bloomberg that the US would have “the right to the largest pre-order” of their vaccine candidate, because BARDA had backed its development at-risk. He urged Europe not to “get left behind.”“I’ve been campaigning in Europe to say the U.S. will get vaccines first,” Hudson said at the time. “That’s how it will be because they’ve invested to try and protect their population, to restart their economy.”Clarifying his remarks later, he continued to put pressure on the EU to take similar action: “My comments are really around what do we need to do to make sure we’re in a similar position in Europe,” he said. “It was never a choice. We need to get vaccines to everybody.”— Jason Mast

Interesting Mercki partnering with Aids organisation, Immutep has within their ranks a man who has been extensively
involved in Aids research and is the author of several papers on the subject: Mathieu Angin..