Cases of the COVID-19 continue to climb in Tennessee and other hot spots throughout the U.S. with bleak projections from the director of the CDC Dr. Robert Redfield. Still, the innovation and diligence of the life science industry brings treatment and cures closer each day. Moderna announced promising results from their latest vaccine trial and plans to begin a Phase 3 trial on July 27. Of note, Vanderbilt University Medical Center is recruiting 1,000 volunteers for a trial of a Moderna vaccine. Meanwhile Pfizer and their partner BioNTech received fast track status from the FDA for two of their vaccine candidates. 

Here’s a rundown of other developments and stories related to the coronavirus:
  • The Trump administration ordered hospitals to send COVID-19 patient information to a database in DC, not to the CDC—breaking longstanding tradition and alarming public health experts.
  • Don’t miss this conversation with Dr. John Mascola, director of the vaccine research center at the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases.
  • Last week Gilead Sciences said remdesivir showed a 62% reduced risk of death from COVID-19 compared with standard care.
  • More research emerged this week in support of using the tuberculosis vaccine Bacillus Calmette-Guerin (BCG) as a tool in the fight against coronavirus.