New York Times: Some Vaccine Makers Say They Plan to Profit From Coronavirus Vaccine
“Executives from four companies in the race to produce a coronavirus vaccine — AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Moderna Therapeutics, and Pfizer — told lawmakers on Tuesday that they are optimistic their products could be ready by the end of 2020 or the beginning of 2021. All four companies are testing vaccines in human clinical trials. Three of the firms — AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, and Moderna — are getting federal funds for their vaccine development efforts. AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson pledged to the lawmakers that they would produce hundreds of millions of doses of their vaccines at no profit to themselves. Moderna, however, which has been granted $483 million from the government to develop its product, made no such promise…” (Wu, 7/21).

STAT: Pharma promises lawmakers, again and again, industry won’t cut corners with Covid-19 vaccines
“…Officials from five major vaccine makers — AstraZeneca, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Moderna, and Pfizer — all used their testimony before a House investigative subcommittee on Tuesday to push back on concerns that the Food and Drug Administration might prematurely approve a vaccine for the novel coronavirus and thereby put Americans at risk. … Committee members from both parties repeatedly asked the executives whether they were prioritizing safety, whether such rapid development was possible, and whether the FDA was up to the challenge of responsibly vetting vaccine candidates. Their assurances were of little comfort to some Democrats on the committee, who voiced concerns that President Trump, in search of a pre-election polling boost, might overrule the agency and demand an approved vaccine…” (Garde, 7/21).

Bloomberg Law: Fair Covid Vaccine Distribution Plan Heads to National Academies (Baumann, 7/21).

The Hill: How excited should we be about coronavirus vaccine progress and what is dual immune action? (Hou, 7/21).

Nature: Coronavirus vaccines leap through safety trials — but which will work is anybody’s guess (Callaway, 7/21).

Reuters: Brazil approves human trials for third COVID-19 vaccine (Brito/Simões, 7/21).

Reuters: Brazil seeking COVID-19 vaccines from Moderna, AstraZeneca (Fonseca/Spring, 7/21).

POLITICO: 5 key takeaways from Tuesday’s big coronavirus vaccine hearing (Owermohle, 7/21).

STAT: Confusion spreads over system to determine priority access to Covid-19 vaccines (Branswell, 7/22).

Wall Street Journal: Pharma Companies Split on Coronavirus Vaccine Pricing Plans (Hopkins/Loftus, 7/21).