Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Alithea Genomics, Asahi Kasei, Genetik, Ginkgo Bioworks, Medicines Discovery Catapult, Minxray, Pamgene, Seno Medical Instruments, Smi Drug Discovery, Theralink, Xwell, Zoll.
Scripps Research has synthesized 3C-Like proteinase (3CLpro; Mpro; nsp5) (SARS-CoV-2; COVID-19 virus) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2) infection (COVID-19).
Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.), the incoming chair of the U.S. Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee, penned a blistering letter that takes Moderna Inc. CEO Stéphane Bancel to task over the company’s plans to more than quadruple the U.S. list price of its COVID-19 vaccine once the government’s supply is depleted.
The success of the U.K. COVID-19 genomics consortium in large-scale sequencing, tracking variants of concern, establishing rates of transmissibility and informing public health decision-making during the pandemic, is to be extended to the monitoring of other respiratory viruses.
China's National Healthcare Security Administration will not be adding Pfizer Inc.'s COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid to its list of medicines covered by basic medical insurance schemes in the country, due to its high prices.
In the fourth year of the COVID-19 pandemic, the World Health Organization is monitoring two omicron subvariants, BA.5.2 and BF.7, causing a surge of COVID-19 cases in China. It also is keeping abreast of rising XBB.1.5 cases and declining BQ.1 cases in Europe and the U.S., where hospitalizations have increased in recent weeks. Global cases in the last month are trending below the same timepoints in 2020 and 2021, and deaths are significantly down, suggesting a move toward an endemic stage.
Clinical trials in China are growing up in much the same way the R&D enterprise in China has grown up. They are evolving and becoming more sophisticated, reflecting the maturation of the R&D environment around them.
China’s NMPA has approved Merck & Co. Inc.’s COVID-19 treatment molnupiravir for emergency use to combat the increasing number of cases in the country.
After receiving approval in Japan for its orally administered COVID-19 antiviral, 3CL protease inhibitor Xocova (ensitrelvir/S-217622) in late November, Shionogi & Co. Ltd. is gearing up for approvals in South Korea and China.
Raynovent Biotech Co. Ltd. has raised ¥370 million (US$54 million) in a series C round to further develop candidates in the field of respiratory and metabolic diseases.
