Baker Institute: Politics are hindering public health

HOUSTON – (July 16, 2020) – Partisan divisions about the pandemic are negatively affecting public health and economic recovery, according to experts at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.

Christopher Kulesza, research analyst for the Child Health Policy program, and Quianta Moore, fellow in child health policy at the institute, are available to talk to the news media about the intersection of politics and public health.

“Public health should not be a political issue,” they wrote in a recent Baker Institute blog post. “The division between the public across party lines is hindering our progress as a nation to restore the health and vitality of our country and its residents. We must set aside political ideologies and follow data, evidence and science.”

Polling between Republicans and Democrats conducted since March has documented a partisan divide in response to the pandemic, according to the authors. For instance, a recent Pew Researchpoll showed that most Americans are wearing masks, but rates differ by individual party identification – half of Republicans said they wear a mask most or all of the time compared to 76% of Democrats.

The authors argue there is overwhelming evidence now, as opposed to the beginning of the year, that masks can be highly effective at reducing the spread of COVID-19. Yet “there is still a wide gap between recent medical research findings on COVID-19 and public opinion.”

State and federal leaders on both sides have become more open to public mask requirements, according to the authors. However, “none of the Southern or Western governors have publicly considered instating a lockdown similar to that which brought the New York City epidemic under control.”

Kulesza and Moore argue it is more critical now than at any time during the pandemic to set aside partisanship and to direct policy using an evidence-based approach. 

“State and local policy officials may need to make decisions that are unpopular with their respective voter base to ensure a safe return to work,” they wrote. “If they do not, we risk prolonging the pandemic and further delaying our economic recovery and experiencing a greater loss of life.”

Sahoja Redefines Social Media as a Platform for Good

ATLANTA – Social media continues to make headlines for divisive, hateful communication, but what if social media could provide a platform for doing good – good things from good people communicating good ideas?

Sahoja – a new social media community dedicated to connecting good people to share good ideas, buy from companies dedicated to doing good and helping good causes. And providing complete privacy and transparency in all interactions.

“Very simply, Sahoja (Sahoja.co) helps members spread kindness to people and the planet through the causes they support, the purchases they make, and the community they create with us,” explained Rajesh Rai, co-founder. “This is a multi-faceted experience revolving around our central theme of being a positive influence on others.

“Sahoja is an all-encompassing community offering its members a chance to share stories, ideas, values and hope in an effort to make this a better world; to buy from deserving, like-minded merchants, and to help those in need.”

Members can exchange ideas, thoughts, musings as is done on other social media platforms, but with specific ground rules.

“No politics, no religion, no divisive discussions,” said Rai. “We will monitor communications to ensure these standards are adhered to. Sahoja will not be a place for hate to fester and spread.”

Sahoja is at its core a social media platform but goes beyond simply providing a forum for conversation. It offers ethical products, healthy advice and the ability to directly benefit worthy causes.

“The meaning of Sahoja is ‘stronger together,’” explained Rai. “All the aspects of our platform, or more precisely, platforms, combine to improve the world around us in many ways.”

Sahoja’s Mindful Marketplace provides ethical products from ethical merchants

In addition to the ability to communicate amongst themselves, Sahoja members will have access to a unique, curated Mindful Marketplace. This online bazaar consists of products and partners which share Sahoja’s members’ values. 

“Sahoja's merchants are carefully curated based on universal values of sharing and giving, so you know you're buying goods and services from companies you can trust,” explained Rai. “We take our responsibilities seriously; we will maintain our pledge to keep Sahoja providing these positive values.”

Every purchase makes an impact by supporting responsible and ethical companies like Moka Origins chocolates, 337 Brand, Gina Cucina foods, Panda eyewear and Luke’s Toy Factory STEM educational toys. Product categories include apparel, beauty & personal care, fitness, food & nutrition and accessories.

Coming soon to the Marketplace will be digital services including online educational programs (like yoga classes) and downloadable materials (like books). Again, the overriding themes – healthy, ethical, wellness – will prevail in the selection of these services.

Reward points separates Sahoja from the social-media pack

And every time a member makes a Mindful Marketplace purchase, they will earn reward points, another unique Sahoja feature.

“Sahoja has its own currency, its reward points,” explained Rai. “These points are earned when members positively interact and engage with the platform and can in turn be used to make a positive impact on the nonprofit projects featured on Sahoja.”

Members earn points by posting helpful content on the social media platform, buying products from the Sahoja Mindful Marketplace and supporting Impact Partner projects (the Sahoja curated charitable organizations). In addition, all new members (currently) receive 10,000 points upon signing up for Sahoja.

Points can be redeemed for donation to the Impact Partners and in the future will also be redeemable for purchases in the Mindful Marketplace. In addition, in the future these will be redeemable for cash.

Impact Partners deserving help

Impact Partners are nonprofit organizations focused on relevant issues who abide by the highest standards of transparency, generosity, diversity and impact they create. These nonprofit partners are invited to feature their projects on the Sahoja platform for the Sahoja community to support.

Today Impact Partners include Rainforest Foundation US, One Tree Planted, Friends of Refugees, Atlanta Mission, Atlanta Community Food Bank, Feeding America, Red Nose Day, Save with Stories, Water M Mission, The Student Relief Fund and Himalayan Institute Humanitarian Mission.

“These are among our initial Impact Partners; there will be more as we progress,” said Rai. “We are out to help as many deserving people, deserving causes as is possible.”

Sahoja’s corporate structure is unique among the social-media collective

Overall, Sahoja is an e-commerce platform supporting NGOs and non-profits with room on the platform to interact and communicate with its members. It is a for-profit Delaware corporation co-founded by Rajesh Rai and two others. But they will not be the sole owners of Sahoja.

“Sahoja members will have the ability to become Sahoja owners,” explained Rai. “That’s right, we have designed the corporate structure to allow members to purchase shares in the company. We believe this should be an inclusive community.

“One of our goals is to address financial inequality rampant throughout the world so we model the corporate structure of Sahoja upon the five principles outlined by the Business Roundtable: delivering value for our customers/members; investing in our employees; treating our suppliers ethically; supporting our community, and providing long-term shareholder value. And since our members will be our shareholders, maximizing shareholder value when everyone is a shareholder, is a great value proposition.

“And it all comes back to our sense of community, working together to do good things. Please remember the meaning of Sahoja – stronger together.”

AMERICAN PSYCHOLOGICAL ASSOCIATION’S 2020 CONVENTION TO BE HELD VIRTUALLY

Featured sessions will address the psychology of racism and hate, leadership in a time of crisis and the psychological toll of COVID-19

WASHINGTON -- Due to physical distancing guidelines associated with the COVID-19 pandemic, APA 2020 will be held virtually Aug. 6-8. The online event will feature hundreds of sessions, including main stage events, keynote lectures, symposia and posters.

The following three sessions will focus on the impact psychology can have on major issues facing society and will premiere at 11 a.m., EDT, each day of the convention:

Thursday, Aug. 6 – Leadership in times of crisis
The COVID-19 pandemic and the racial protests following George Floyd’s death have completely changed the way many of us live, work and interact with others, presenting significant challenges for leaders, whether they are a public official, business leader or religious leader. What does psychology say about the secrets of human behavior that can not only help leaders through this time, but teach them to optimize it?  

Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, CEO, American Psychological Association
Sandra L. Shullman, PhD, president, American Psychological Association
Ellen Peters, PhD, University of Oregon
Adam Grant, PhD, The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania
Ali Mattu, PhD, clinical psychologist and producer of “The Psych Show”

Friday, Aug. 7 – Psychological toll of COVID-19
With the pandemic and the recent reckoning on racism, Americans are facing the perfect storm of trauma. The collective mental health of the public has endured one devastating blow after another, the long-term effects of which many people will struggle with for years to come. What does science have to say about the stressors we are facing as a nation? How can we help ourselves, our children and our communities?

Johannes Eichstaedt, PhD, Stanford University
C. Vaile Wright, PhD, American Psychological Association   
Jeanette Betancourt, EdD, Sesame Workshop 
Vikram Patel, MD, Harvard University School of Medicine

Saturday, Aug. 8 – Psychology of racism and hate
More than 50 years ago, Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. addressed the American Psychological Association and challenged psychologists and all social scientists to step up. But have we? There are brilliant researchers assessing the dynamics behind everything from the traumatic impact of racism on people of color to the biases we all hold and must face, but that research is not being used often enough to improve things. How do we better identify and apply research to meet the challenge?

Alfiee M. Breland-Noble, PhD, MHSc, Georgetown University Medical Center
Arthur C. Evans Jr., PhD, CEO, American Psychological Association
David R. Williams, PhD, Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health
Milo Dodson, PhD, UC Irvine Counseling Center
Calvin Lai, PhD, Washington University in St. Louis

The meeting will also feature more than a dozen keynote lectures from prominent psychologists including:

• Anthony Barnhart, PhD, Carthage College – “Magic in the Lab: Psychological Insights from Magicians”
• Stephane Bouchard, PhD, University of Quebec, Ottawa – “Technology is Changing the Face of Psychotherapy of Anxiety Disorders”
• Thema Bryant-Davis, PhD, Pepperdine University – “Liberation Psychology: Decolonizing Our Response to Racial Trauma”
• Ramani Durvasula, PhD, California State University, Los Angeles – “Gaslighting and Grief: Talking About Narcissism and Narcissistic Abuse”
• Tom Gilovich, PhD, Cornell University – “We Don’t Need Social Media to Feel Bad About Ourselves”
• Jonathan Haidt, PhD, New York University – “Three Really Bad Ideas for Raising Happy and Successful Children”

Keynotes, as well as hundreds of video symposia and thousands of online poster presentations, will be available on demand starting at 11 a.m., EDT, on Aug. 6 and will be available to registrants until Aug. 1, 2021.  

Among the topics to be presented:

WORKPLACE ISSUES

• Toxic workplaces and abusive leaders
• Using organizational data to enhance leadership
• Meditation and spirituality to prevent burnout in health care professionals

RACE AND ETHNICITY

• Identifying and treating trauma in Black males 
• The role of religion in promoting minority mental health
• Strategies to foster more ethnic and racial minority psychologists
• How psychologists can help communities that live with the wounds of racism

COGNITION AND AGING

• The role of educational disparities in aging and cognition
• Effects of social networks and social media use on cognition in older adults
• Role of technology in strengthening the aging brain

EDUCATION AND SCHOOLS

• Using school-wide social emotional learning to prevent and reduce bullying
• School psychologists’ role in trauma-informed care
• Using artificial intelligence to detect signs of emotional crisis in student writing samples
• Redefining discipline: How a whole-child approach addresses school inequities systemically

MEN’S ISSUES

• Religion, morality and problematic pornography use
• Talking about masculinity without causing defensiveness

RELATIONSHIPS

• How socioeconomic status can harm or help a relationship
• Solutions to miscommunication patterns between teens and adults

ADDICTION AND THE OPIOID EPIDEMIC

• The role of underlying mental health disorders in substance abuse
• Recent advances in mobile assessment and treatment of addiction
• Reversing the adverse effects of the opioid epidemic on young children
• Cannabis and the developing brain

TECHNOLOGY

• Making meaning from digital media and electronic word of mouth
• Choosing the best app for client care
• Fake news, misinformation and political campaigns

ADDITIONAL TOPICS

• Can early childhood interventions prevent suicidal behavior later in life?
• The psychology of sacred moments in ordinary music

More information can be found online. This site will be updated regularly as additional information becomes available, including a schedule of events expected later this week.

For more information on program topics and speakers, contact APA Public Affairs.  

Registration: 

Media can receive complimentary registration, which includes on-demand access for 12 months after the event, by emailing APA Public Affairs or by calling 202-336-5700. Registration is limited to credentialed journalists and journalists who have assignment letters on the letterhead of a media organization. 

Embargoes:

All presentations will be embargoed until the time of posting unless otherwise noted.
 

Building A Stronger Immune System Through The Healthy And Scrumptious Recipes In My Pinewood Kitchen

Nashville, TN, July 14, 2020  ̶ ̶  Mee McCormick understands only too well the importance of healthy food, having watched her single mother suffer with a host of debilitating auto-immune diseases, some of which she inherited, that led her to make the decision in her mid-twenties to change her own fate. Today, chef and author Mee McCormick is an expert who healed herself of Crohn's disease, gut issues, and other immune system challenges with whole food recipes when doctors couldn't help her. 

Offering microbiome-friendly meals with a Southern spin, My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure, is a follow-up cookbook to her wildly successful, life-enhancing My Kitchen Cure. Mee is living proof that you can change your fate by what’s on your plate and her recipes will help heal your gut and fight a host of autoimmune diseases. With over 130 mouthwatering, whole food recipes that can be customized for Keto, Paleo, or vegans, it truly is an "all-inclusive" eating plan for everyone in the family.

From smoothies, soups and salads, to dinners and desserts, every recipe in the book is gluten-free and gut-friendly. Mee has since forged the way for a new kind of hospitality: a fully-inclusive table where everyone can eat delicious Southern comfort classics without sacrificing taste, regardless of even the most severe food allergies or dietary restrictions – all while stressing the importance of intestinal health and how to improve your own gut microbiome. Her book shows us which foods are nutritional powerhouses and which ones we must avoid, and how to eat real food every day without breaking the bank.
 

Mee McCormick is a rising Southern culinary and wellness innovator, restaurateur, author, TV cooking personality, farmer, rancher, wife and mother. She splits her time between Nashville and nearby Nunnelly, Tennessee; a tiny, unincorporated community in Hickman County; home to her biodynamic farm and restaurant Pinewood Kitchen & Mercantile – that is unique in that every meal is created with the intention to serve everyone with the same deliciousness, regardless of dietary restrictions. In fact, some members of the community drive hours to get a taste of her farm-to-table cuisine and her mouthwatering Pinewood’s Grain-Free Fried Chicken!

Mee authored her first cookbook My Kitchen Cure, which led to wild success and a book deal with HCI for her second cookbook, My Pinewood Kitchen, published in April 2020. She frequently appears on Today in Nashville, and she participates in nationally-recognized food festivals and events, spreading the same level of care and hospitality to audiences everywhere that she has become known for throughout the state of Tennessee. Visit: www.meemccormick.com or www.pinewoodkitchenandmercantile.com.

My Pinewood Kitchen: A Southern Culinary Cure/130+ Crazy Delicious, Gluten-Free Recipes to Reduce Inflammation and Make Your Gut Happy

By Mee McCormick

HCI BOOKS / $26.95 

ISBN: 9780757323522 

Available wherever books are sold

Sonia Shah | It’s Time to Tell a New Story About Coronavirus—Our Lives Depend on It

The way we talk about contagion matters. It shapes how societies respond—and whether many of us will survive.

“Paradigms—the obscure, unspoken conceptual frameworks that shape our ideas—are powerful. They bring order and understanding to our observations about the messy, changing world around us,” writes Shah. “But paradigms blind us, too, as during the cholera pandemics of the 19th century, elevating certain narratives and serving particular interests, sometimes to our peril.”

“Six months into our current pandemic, hype and desperate anticipation surround the development of drugs and vaccines. But with treatments and vaccines still months away, the fact is that we must face SARS-Cov-2—as well as the next coronavirus, influenza virus, or other novel pathogen—bereft of medical weaponry. Our only hope to stave off the worst damage is to alter our behaviors to reduce opportunities for the pathogen to spread.”

“It’s time for a new story, one that more accurately captures the reality of how contagions unfold and why. In this story, pandemics would be cast as both a biological reality and a social phenomenon shaped by human agency. And the coronavirus, if cast as any kind of monster at all, would be a Frankenstein’s monster: a creature of our own making. We, after all, created the world in which SARS-Cov-2 evolved, one in which our industry has swallowed up so much of the planet that microbes from wild animals easily slip into livestock and humans. We created the society of overcrowded prisons and nursing homes staffed by underpaid employees who must work in multiple facilities to make ends meet; in which employers force their workers to labor on meatpacking lines even if they’re sick; in which asylum seekers are crammed into detention centers; and in which people living in hard-hit cities like Detroit lack access to clean water with which to wash their hands.”

Read in full. This article appears on the cover of the July 27/August 3, 2020, edition of The Nation magazine, out now. Complimentary media log-ins or PDFs available upon request. Shah is available for select interviews.

ABOUT: Sonia Shah is a science journalist and the author of PANDEMIC: Tracking Contagion from Cholera to Ebola and Beyond (Farrar, Straus & Giroux, 2016). Her fifth book, The Next Great Migration: The Beauty and Terror of Life on the Move, was published in June. Her previous reporting on the novel coronavirus for The Nation includes “How Trump Is Going to Get Away With a Pandemic,” which reported the ways in which the Trump administration cooked the data to hide the extent of the coronavirus outbreak and, in February, “Think Exotic Animals Are to Blame for the Coronavirus? Think Again.,” which explained how human assaults on the environment and the accelerating pace of habitat loss are the root of our growing vulnerability to pandemics.

Founded by abolitionists in 1865, The Nation has chronicled the breadth and depth of political and cultural life from the debut of the telegraph to the rise of Twitter, serving as a critical, independent, and progressive voice in American journalism.

St. Jude-WHO Influenza Expert Warns Utilizing “Life-Saving Flu Vaccine is Critical Now More than Ever” 

As CDC Boosts Flu Vaccines for Upcoming Season, Dr. Richard Webby Implores Americans to Utilize Critical Flu Vaccine as Soon as Available

MEMPHIS, TENN. – As infectious disease experts fear a respiratory illness season with a potential collision of influenza and COVID, Dr. Richard Webby, a member of the Infectious Diseases Department at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and the World Health Organization’s Vaccine Composition Team, is imploring the public to take advantage of this year’s flu vaccine as soon as it becomes available.  

“With the potential for an unprecedented collision of COVID-19 and influenza during this year’s flu season, the life-saving flu vaccine is critical now more than ever,” said Dr. Richard Webby of St. Jude who is part of the select group of scientists that helps advise the World Health Organization on the makeup of each year’s flu vaccine. “There is a reduction in flu surveillance in some regions because a lot of the public health resources are being dedicated to fighting the COVID pandemic, but we can’t afford to be lax about the potential impact of the upcoming flu season.  

Dr. Webby continued, “Don’t wait for reports of a spike in the influenza virus before taking advantage of the flu vaccine, a critical public health tool.  Instead, the American people should prepare early and get the flu shot as soon as it is available this season.” “As many of the symptoms of flu and COVID are the same, a flu outbreak will very much complicate our efforts to contain the pandemic coronavirus”. 

Researchers are in the process of developing a new, dual test that would be able to simultaneously detect both the influenza and COVID-19 virus at the same time.  Dr. Webby, a part of the WHO team responsible for accessing the requirements for the flu vaccine each year supports that effort.  

“Given the strain on public health resources in the age of COVID, a dual test would allow for us to essentially test for flu and maintain flu surveillance, while at the same time checking for COVID.  In a time of strained resources, the development of a dual test would be a major public health benefit,” concluded Dr. Webby.

Forget Dieting! ̶ Offers 6 Takeaways Needed To Improve Health And Lose Weight Without Extreme Exercise!

Los Angeles, CA, July 15, 2020 ̶ COVID-19 is a wake-up call! Now more than ever, health and weight are major factors in your ability to combat any virus. Today, 1 in 3 women and 1 in 4 men in the U.S. are dieting; yet we’re getting sicker and fatter. Type 2 diabetes and obesity are rampant—simply because we don’t understand how to properly fuel our body. In her new book, Forget Dieting!: It’s All About Data-Driven Fueling!(Rowman & Littlefield), Candice Rosen, R.N., MSW, Certified Health Counselor and author, shares a science-based, precision nutrition plan designed to reverse aging and improve health…permanently. Rosen, who just turned 66, reveals how she used a glucometer to register the data from her body, which helped her to lose 36 pounds over 12 years ago without any vigorous workouts or any weight gain—ever. Now, you too can keep trim and improve your health. Here are 6 tips you’ll learn in Forget Dieting!:

1. Avoid the Hospital. The majority of COVID deaths occur in individuals with pre-existing conditions. Age was not the only contributing issue in the mortality numbers of the elderly; they too had pre-existing conditions. A lifestyle that helps you prevent or reverse non-communicable diseases, such as high blood pressure, high cholesterol, type 2 diabetes, obesity, metabolic syndrome, insulin resistance, low testosterone, renal issues, some cancers, and more … is not that difficult to envelop.
 

2. Embrace Food Combining. By combining specific foods and avoiding others will lower blood sugar spikes that put your pancreas and other organs on overload. Would you ever put a milkshake in the gas tank of your car? No! So why feed your body non-nutrient foods that compromise its ability to work efficiently, burn calories and keep you healthy?
 

3.  Use a Glucometer. Rosen wants every household to keep a glucometer next to their thermometer. By testing your blood glucose level, you won’t need to second-guess your food intake; your body will register what’s right and wrong based on the blood glucose levels 90 minutes after you eat a meal or a snack. Rosen says, “Why follow another person’s universal diet, when your body will give you all the answers you need?”
 

4. Your Mouth Is Not Supposed to Have a Party at Every Meal! Don’t eat as if every meal is your last. It’s all about fueling your body/organic machine. Give it something to work with: wholesome, nutritious, responsibly grown, pancreatic-friendly foods.
 

5. Avoid dairy or significantly reduce your consumption. Dairy is highly inflammatory and  is actually linked to increased rates of osteoporosis in women.
 

6. Make Wednesdays and Fridays Vegan Days. Reduce your consumption of animal protein to benefit your health and reduce animal suffering (think factory farming), and have a positive impact on the environment.

Author Candice P. Rosen, RN, MSW, CHC, lives in Los Angeles. She’s a founding member, its first executive director and program director at Gilda’s Club (Chicago), where she created and coordinated a diverse array of wellness-related programs. She was appointed by Mayor Richard Daley to serve as Chair of Healthcare Initiatives for Chicago’s Sister Cities International Program (CSCIP). Rosen advocated for preventive medicine, improved maternal and infant healthcare, disability access, nutrition, and illuminated the obesity and diabetes epidemics. She is married, has four adult children and one granddaughter. For more information: www.candicerosenrn.com.  

Low Dog, Bland, and Pizzorno join Fullscript's Medical Advisory Board

Fullscript announces its new Medical Advisory Board and six integrative medicine pioneers as its first members. The board will help shape the company and support the medical community.

SCOTTSDALE, AZ, July 14, 2020 /CNW/ - Today, Fullscript announces the Fullscript Medical Advisory Board. Composed of six healthcare visionaries, the new advisory board will provide strategic direction for the organization, helping develop new product lines, treatment focuses, platform features, and more. The board will also support the medical community with exclusive, innovative educational content.

Introducing its members:

• Dr. Tieraona Low Dog, MD
• Dr. Jeffrey Bland, PhD, CNS
• Dr. Joseph Pizzorno, ND
• Dr. Robin Berzin, MD
• Dr. Cheng Ruan, MD
• Dr. Jeffrey Gladd, MD

Though advisory boards are commonplace in the industry, the Fullscript Medical Advisory Board remains unique. Its degree of medical insight and expertise is only acquired through decades of sustained innovation and practical experience. Each member brings exceptional knowledge, achievements, and acumen that will inspire innovation at Fullscript and in integrative medicine.

Fullscript Chief Medical Officer and Medical Advisory Board member Dr. Jeffrey Gladd, MD had this to say, "It's an honor and pleasure to work alongside such prominent figures in both the scientific and business fields of medicine. On behalf of myself and all of Fullscript, we are eager to learn from such legendary innovators and share their knowledge with practitioners."

The board will meet with Fullscript's leadership team on a regular basis, providing guidance on platform direction, education, business development, logistics, and more broadly, how Fullscript can best serve the healthcare community.

Composed of pioneering academics and innovative entrepreneurs, the board's understanding of the 'what', 'why', and 'how' at the point of care is unmatched. Fullscript is thrilled to harness their knowledge for the betterment of its platform and the medical world.

To learn more about the new Medical Advisory Board and how it will shape Fullscript and support the medical community, read the full article in the Fullscript Knowledge center.

Fullscript is the ultimate free platform for those who want to do wellness the right way — the personal way — from anywhere. This virtual dispensary has the most comprehensive catalog, integrates with EHRs, automates refill reminders, and offers evidence-based resources. It's an always-accessible solution that helps people get better. 

SOURCE Fullscript

Medicago begins Phase I clinical trials for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate

First doses administered to human volunteers

QUEBEC CITY, July 14, 2020 /CNW/ - Medicago, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City, began Phase I clinical trials for its plant-derived COVID-19 vaccine candidate yesterday, administering the first doses in healthy human volunteers. Medicago is also planning a Phase 2/3 trial to be initiated this October.  

"We are thrilled to see our COVID-19 vaccine candidate enter the Phase 1 trial, and we look forward to obtaining safety and immunogenicity results in October," said Nathalie Landry, Executive Vice-President, Scientific and Medical Affairs at Medicago. "Our progress continues to demonstrate the value of Medicago's unique plant-based vaccine technology."  

The Phase I clinical trial is a randomized, partially blinded study of 180 normal healthy subjects, male and female aged 18-55, and will evaluate dosages of 3.75, 7.5 or 15 micrograms of the recombinant Coronavirus Virus-Like Particle (CoVLP) vaccine candidate alone or with an adjuvant in a prime-boost regimen. Medicago will be testing its vaccine candidate with two adjuvants separately – GSK's proprietary pandemic adjuvant technology and Dynavax's CpG 1018™. An adjuvant can be of particular importance in a pandemic situation as it may boost the immune response and reduce the amount of antigen required per dose, allowing more vaccine doses to be produced and therefore contributing to protect the greatest number of people. 

Medicago's innovative platform and plant-based manufacturing technology is helping to diversify the pool of COVID-19 vaccines in development. 

"Creating a sufficient supply of COVID-19 vaccines within the next year is a challenge which will require multiple approaches, with different technologies," said Dr. Bruce Clark, President and CEO of Medicago. "Our proven plant-based technology is capable of contributing to the collective solution to this public health emergency."

Medicago expects to be able to manufacture approximately 100 million doses by the end of 2021. By the end of 2023, the construction of Medicago's large-scale facility in Quebec City, Canada, will be completed. It is anticipated that this commercial facility will have the capacity to produce up to 1 billion doses of the COVID-19 vaccine annually.

Medicago is the only company with plant-based manufacturing technology that has completed Phase III clinical trials (with its quadrivalent VLP influenza vaccine candidate) and pandemic Phase II clinical trials (with its H1N1 pandemic vaccine candidate). The company's first New Drug Submission for its seasonal recombinant quadrivalent VLP vaccine for active immunization against influenza in adults (18-64 years), is currently under review by Health Canada following the completion of a robust safety and efficacy clinical program in over 25,000 subjects.  

In addition to its clinical development capabilities, Medicago has also demonstrated its capacity to produce a large amount of vaccines in a short period of time, with the production in 2012 of 10 million doses of monovalent pandemic influenza H1N1 vaccines in one month for the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA), part of the U.S. Department of Defense. 

Medicago's plant-based platform

The company uses a proprietary plant-based technology to develop vaccines and protein-based therapeutics. Unlike traditional vaccination development, Medicago does not use animal products or live viruses to create its products. Instead, it uses Virus-Like Particles (VLPs) that mimic the shape and dimensions of a virus, which allows the body to recognize them and create an immune response in a non-infectious way. Clinical trial data suggest that VLPs have a multi-modal mechanism of action that is different from that of inactivated vaccines, activating both arms of the immune system – antibody and cell-mediated responses.

Medicago's proprietary technology is rapid, versatile, and scalable. As soon as the genetic sequence of a virus is made available, Medicago can develop a clinical-grade vaccine candidate in only a few weeks.  Its recombinant technology allows the production of a vaccine that precisely matches the circulating strains, such as in the case of seasonal influenza. The technology is easily scalable, allowing the company to increase volume of production by simply increasing the number of plants it uses.

Facilities

Medicago is headquartered in Quebec City, Canada, and plans to produce COVID-19 vaccines in its manufacturing facility in Durham, North Carolina (USA) and in its Quebec pilot plant. A new state-of-the-art manufacturing plant is under construction in Quebec City, and is planned to have the capacity to deliver up to 1 billion COVID-19 vaccines annually.

About Medicago

Medicago is a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City with productions sites in Quebec, Canada and Durham, North Carolina, USA. Medicago's mission is to improve global health outcomes by leveraging innovative plant-based technologies for rapid responses to emerging global health challenges. Medicago is committed to advancing therapeutics against life-threatening diseases worldwide.

For more information: www.medicago.com

SOURCE Medicago