COVID-19 Update

Novavax announces DoD contract to produce 10 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

The European Commission is pledging EUR 300 million (US$339 million) to Gavi for vaccines for infectious diseases, in addition to an earlier pledge of more than EUR 1.5 billion (US$1.7 billion) made on May 4, 2020.

SiO2 Materials Science has received $143 million from the US government to accelerate capacity scale-up of its advanced primary packaging platform.

CordenPharma announces expansion of lipid excipients supply for coronavirus vaccine scale up.

Agreements with the PolyPeptide Group and AGC Biologics will scale up production of the Novavax Matrix-M adjuvant.

The new vaccine would be made with a Newcastle disease virus vector that expresses the immunogenic spike protein of SARS-CoV-2

The agency is advising healthcare professionals to closely monitor patients with COVID-19 who are receiving chloroquine or hydroxychloroquine for potential side effects.

The agency sent a warning letter to Chloroquineonline.com for selling unapproved products for the treatment of COVID-19.

The Gavi advance market commitment for COVID-19 vaccines is a new financing instrument aimed at incentivizing vaccine manufacturers to produce sufficient and affordable quantities of COVID-19 vaccines.

The quality control from ZeptoMetrix is formulated with purified intact viral particles that have been chemically modified to render them non-infectious and refrigerator stable.

The extension of the company’s product offerings to include the anti-certolizumab pegol antibodies offers critical reagents for the development of assays for TNF alpha inhibitor biologics and their biosimilars.

The kit consists of a test volume of 10 µL, a range of 0.39–25 ng/mL, a lower limit of detection of 0.03 ng/mL, and average inter- and intra-assay coefficients of variation less than 10%.

The company has expanded its microscopy services with the addition of infrared microspectroscopy and hot stage optical microscopy.

Laboratory automation can reduce the need for in-lab user presence but requires efficient and dependable user-system interface.

Discovery of carcinogenic nitrosamines in three of the world’s most widely prescribed drugs is driving efforts to better detect, control, and prevent their generation in APIs and finished drug products.

The medicine is the first outcome of the collaboration between Lilly and AbCellera to create antibody therapies for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19.

FDA and the US Congress support innovation and access to cheaper medicines.

Achieving herd immunity will require testing, data, a vaccine, and public support.

The global COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the need for the pharmaceutical industry to strengthen its supply chain.

Pharma’s reputation is being boosted in light of the current COVID-19 pandemic efforts.

Despite the clear danger of COVID-19 to global health, vaccine opponents have gained ground, as fearful populations lose faith in the capabilities of industry and government to protect public health.

The companies have entered into a manufacturing agreement for the fill finish supply of lenzilumab for the potential treatment of COVID-19.

The acquisition gives Novovax an annual operating capacity of more that one billion doses of COVID-19 vaccine antigen.

The company announced that it has been issued a task order under a present contract with BARDA to use its contract development and manufacturing capabilities and knowledge to assist in the US government’s efforts to deliver COVID-19 vaccines.

The UK BioIndustry Association has stated its support of a government led funding initiative, Future Fund, which will support innovative companies in the United Kingdom that will help to ensure the country’s leading position in science, innovation, and technology.

Biopharmaceutical company, Atriva Therapeutics, has announced, in a May 28, 2020 press release, that it will develop ATR-002, an oral small molecule, for treatment of patients with moderate-to-severe COVID-19 that require hospitalization in a Phase II study.

Merck will use Themis’s vector platform to develop a vaccine to prevent COVID-19.

Merck will acquire Themis Bioscience and collaborate with IAVI and Ridgeback Bio on COVID-19 vaccines and therapies.

The company has received a $288,000 grant from the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, part of the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, to support a clinical study in Sub-Saharan Africa to find a treatment for COVID-19.