Montgomery Community Media

AstraZeneca, a multinational pharmaceutical company with a Gaithersburg campus, announced Monday that its COVID-19 vaccine candidate shows a 70% average efficacy rate. The vaccine candidate AZD1222 was administered in two ways. It showed 90% efficacy when it was given as a half dose and followed by a full dose at least one month later, according […]

The COVID-19 pandemic has not hurt all industries. In Montgomery County, the life sciences sector, in particular, is expanding. “The pandemic has clearly taken a huge toll on not just our economy, locally, but also as you know, nationally as well. However we still continue to see pockets of growth, especially in the life sciences,” […]

Maryland released the initial draft of its COVID-19 vaccination plan. There are currently no coronavirus vaccines approved by the FDA. Referencing CDC information, the draft plan sent to CDC Director Robert Redfield on Oct. 16 said limited vaccine doses could be available by early November, but that is expected to increase considerably in 2021. Patients […]

On Thursday, Gov. Larry Hogan toured Novavax, a Gaithersburg company that is developing a COVID-19 vaccine. The vaccine candidate is currently in Phase 2 of clinical trials in the U.S., and is expected to begin Phase 3 in a few weeks. Novavax CEO Stanley Erck hopes to see results by early 2021, but said it’s […]

Montgomery County is working on a COVID-19 vaccine dissemination plan with the state and other local jurisdictions.  There is currently no COVID-19 vaccine. Montgomery County Health Officer Dr. Travis Gayles has warned residents to be wary of reports that a vaccine could arrive as early as October. CBS News reported that Pfizer and BioNTech may […]

Gaithersburg biotechnology company Novavax announced Monday that it has reached an agreement in principle to give Canada up to 76 million doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine.  In a statement the company said the vaccine is in multiple Phase 2 clinical trials right now. Novavax expects to finalize an agreement that would begin supplying the doses […]

A vaccine development company headquartered in Gaithersburg is starting clinical trials for a potential COVID-19 vaccine.  Novavax will administer the trials for vaccine candidate NVX‑CoV2373 in two phases, a statement from the company says. Phase 1 will test 131 people in Australia for immune response and safety. Results are expected in July. “Administering our vaccine […]

University of Maryland School of Medicine (UMSOM) researchers in Baltimore are testing a potential COVID-19 vaccine on 90 volunteers, the school announced Tuesday.  The experimental vaccine is mRNA-based, and does not inject virus proteins. Instead, it injects mRNA, which tells the body’s cells to make protein antigens. These antigens cause the immune system to react. […]

The state of Maryland, Bloomberg Philanthropies and Johns Hopkins University are working together to fund research for a possible COVID-19 treatment, Gov. Larry Hogan announced Friday.  According to a statement from Hogan, researchers plan to collect and process blood plasma from COVID-19 survivors and run clinical trials to evaluate effectiveness for critically ill coronavirus patients […]

District of Columbia Mayor Muriel Bowser has confirmed a case of coronavirus at Christ Church Georgetown on O Street NW. The patient – who is presumed to be DC’s first person to test positive for coronavirus – was working as a rector for mass, and distributed communion and shook hands with 500 people reportedly. Officials […]