Thought I posted this a few days ago, but apparently not. Slow enrollment in randomized, controlled clinical trials (RCTs) has been delaying results for many potential new treatments. The enrollment issue is partly due to the shifting locations of where outbreaks are greatest (hard to enroll in NYC now with very few patients) and partly due to patients not wanting to possibly get "placebo" or "standard of care" as a comparator. It's why Regeneron, Lilly and others have pushed their expected results back by at least a month for their engineered antibody drugs - originally, we were expecting an early phase III read from Regeneron by the end of August and now that's the end of September and it could slip more. This may also impact vaccine timelines, although hopefully not as much, since those volunteers aren't infected yet, so they're not "missing" getting treatment.
Clinical Trials of Coronavirus Drugs Are Taking Longer Than Expected (Published 2020)
Antibody trials sponsored by Regeneron and Eli Lilly are off to a slow start because of a dearth of tests, overwhelmed hospitals and reluctant patients.
www.nytimes.com