Shares of Gilead Sciences Inc. were dented April 23 after reports surfaced that its antiviral drug, remdesivir, failed to improve the condition of patients with COVID-19.
Recent seizures of fake medical products being marketed in the COVID-19 pandemic underscore the need to curb the growing international trade in counterfeit drugs that’s putting hundreds of thousands of lives at risk, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD) warned this week.
BEIJING – Nanobody startup Sysvax Inc., with its R&D center in Beijing and manufacturing facilities in Zhongshan, is developing a recombinant protein vaccine and a nanobody therapeutic for COVID-19, while trying to extend the half-life of potential COVID-19 treatments with its expertise in this smallest possible antibody format.
BEIJING – During the market downturn caused by COVID-19 disruptions, biotech and med-tech companies continue to attract investors at a time when medical solutions are needed more than ever. Qiming Venture Partners said that it has established a new $1.1 billion fund to target early stage health care and technology investments, the latest good news sector for biopharma and med-tech startups. Known as the Qiming Venture Partners Fund VII, this $1.1 billion fund draws most of its capital from endowments, foundations, family offices and private pensions.
Two phase III studies in China testing Gilead Sciences Inc.’s antiviral drug, remdesivir, in patients with COVID-19 infection have been halted after Chinese authorities reported a lack of eligible patients. Other studies, including trials sponsored by the Foster City, Calif.-based company, remain ongoing.
BEIJING – After its masks and test kits were said to be sent back by Western countries due to complaints over poor quality, China this week required only NMPA-approved companies export their products and stepped up regulations to ensure quality.
BEIJING – Med-tech firm Shanghai Asclepius Meditec Co. Ltd. says it has developed a hydrogen-oxygen nebulizer that can help relieve the shortage of ventilators.
The urgent need to have at least a few proven COVID-19 therapies approved in the U.S. before the pandemic’s expected resurgence in the fall has become biopharma’s Manhattan Project – a coming together of industry, researchers and government agencies to take on a single global enemy.
DUBLIN – The Swiss biotech sector raised about CHF1.2 billion ($$1.2 billion) in equity investment in 2019, a significant downward dip on the last two years, but well ahead of its average annual raise of CHF800 million over the past decade, according to the newly published Swiss Biotech Report 2020.
It’s all hands on deck as government agencies, researchers, startups, biopharma giants, health care workers and payers combine their resources to develop proven COVID-19 therapies that can be ready for market by fall when the pandemic is expected to pick up steam again in the U.S. and other northern reaches of the world.
