With phase Ib data published in The Lancet Microbe showing Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s ARCoV had acceptable safety and induced a strong immune response, partner Walvax Biotechnology Co. Ltd. is continuing to enroll participants in a large phase III test of the vaccine.
With phase Ib data published in The Lancet Microbe showing Suzhou Abogen Biosciences Co. Ltd.’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate ARCoV had acceptable safety and induced a strong immune response in the 120 people who received it, company partner Walvax Biotechnology Co. Ltd. is continuing to enroll participants in a large phase III test of the vaccine. If successful, the program could become the first of several Chinese-developed mRNA vaccines poised to take on the pandemic.
Rnaimmune Inc., which in April raised a $10 million seed round to support its discovery and development of RNAi therapies, said it is now studying the neutralizing effects of its mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate on the Omicron variant.
Abogen Biosciences Co. Ltd. has raised $300 million in a series C+ round to support the development of its mRNA products, specifically to support the development of its COVID-19 mRNA vaccine and expand to the global market.
A newly developed messenger RNA vaccine is the first such approach to elicit acquired resistance against the tick Ixodes scapularis and prevent it from transmitting the Lyme disease vector Borrelia burgdorferi in guinea pigs, according to a U.S. study led by researchers at Yale University School of Medicine in New Haven, Conn.
Baidu Inc.’s preclinical studies showed the mRNA vaccine sequences for COVID-19 designed using its Lineardesign algorithm outperformed the benchmark sequences designed by traditional algorithms in terms of stability, protein expression and immunogenicity. The firm teamed up with Stemirna Therapeutics Co. Ltd., which specializes in the R&D of mRNA vaccines and drugs, to test seven mRNA COVID-19 vaccine sequences designed using Lineardesign.
Celltrion Inc. is riding high after receiving full approval for Regkirona (regdanvimab), as a treatment for COVID-19 in South Korea, seven months after the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) granted it conditional marketing approval in February 2021.
In a couple of deals worth more than $500 million, Everest Medicines Ltd. is picking up Asian rights to Providence Therapeutics Holdings Inc.’s mRNA candidates, including rights to a mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate currently in phase II testing.
Eyegene Inc. has received the green light from South Korea’s Ministry of Food and Drug Safety (MFDS) for EG-COVID, its mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, to enter the clinic. Eyegene will now begin a phase I/IIa trial, to be conducted in two stages, to evaluate the vaccine’s safety, tolerability and immunogenicity.
With the Americas having the dubious distinction of the most COVID-19 cases in the world, the Pan American Health Organization (PAHO) is answering that “wake-up call” with plans to develop a collaborative platform to develop mRNA vaccine production in Latin America and the Caribbean.
