The daily business briefing: August 5, 2020

Novavax says coronavirus vaccine candidate shows promise, Disney announces plans to release Mulan on Disney Plus, and more

A vaccine experiment
(Image credit: ANDREW CABALLERO-REYNOLDS/AFP via Getty Images)

1. Novavax announces promising results in coronavirus vaccine trials

Novavax on Tuesday announced encouraging results in two preliminary studies of its experimental coronavirus vaccine. The company reached a $1.6 billion deal with the federal government to develop the vaccine, even though it has never brought a vaccine to market before. In one study, the drug appeared to protect monkeys from infection. In the other, 56 human volunteers given the potential vaccine produced high levels of antibodies to fight the virus, without dangerous side effects. "This is the first one I'm looking at and saying, 'Yeah, I'd take that,'" said Dr. John Moore, a Weill Cornell Medicine virologist who was not involved in the studies. Novavax has said it can produce 100 million doses by the beginning of 2021. The company is one of several racing to develop a vaccine.

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Harold Maass, The Week US

Harold Maass is a contributing editor at The Week. He has been writing for The Week since the 2001 debut of the U.S. print edition and served as editor of TheWeek.com when it launched in 2008. Harold started his career as a newspaper reporter in South Florida and Haiti. He has previously worked for a variety of news outlets, including The Miami Herald, ABC News and Fox News, and for several years wrote a daily roundup of financial news for The Week and Yahoo Finance.