"We tried to land on Mars and we got to the moon," Novavax Inc. President of R&D Gregory Glenn told BioWorld, referring to the Gaithersburg, Md.-based firm's phase III trial with the respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine called Resvax. And it was more than anyone had done thus far, he added.

Phagomed Biopharma GmbH, a Viennese company born of frustrations with the rise of multidrug-resistant infections and confidence in the potential for bacteriophage therapies to address them, has landed a €1.5 million (US$1.7 million) equity investment from new and existing investors. It's the second part of a €2.3 million seed financing, raised ahead of a series A round the company hopes to secure in 2020 to help it move toward the clinic in 2021.

BOGOTA, Colombia – Argentina, hit by a challenging economic crisis, is struggling to supply vaccines to its population. The most recent shortages affect Menveo, a vaccine produced by Glaxosmithkline plc for preventing meningococcal disease.

DUBLIN – Early stage vaccine developer Osivax SAS raised €8 million (U$9 million) in series A funding to continue development of a clinical-stage universal influenza vaccine, based on what it believes is a highly immunogenic method of presenting the viral nucleoprotein to the immune system.

DUBLIN – Aicuris Anti-infective Cures GmbH is pursuing a novel approach to harnessing phage therapy in the fight against antibiotic-resistant infections, by in-licensing from Lysando AG a platform technology that relies on phage-encoded enzymes rather than the infectious particles themselves to lyse pathogenic bacteria. Financial terms were not disclosed, but the deal gives Aicuris exclusive access to Lysando's artilysin platform for pharmaceutical applications.

Since the mid-April pricing of Hookipa Pharma Inc.'s IPO, the New York-based firm has endured a bumpy ride on Wall Street, with shares sliding steadily since backers bought 6 million at $14 each for $84 million in proceeds. But among those keeping the faith are analysts at Evercore ISI, who recently hosted a webinar to highlight the research ongoing at Hookipa, which Ravi Mehrotra called "one of the most interesting companies we've come across."

It has been acknowledged by governments around the world that there are simply not enough antibiotics currently in the product pipeline to meet the predicted requirements of their health care systems. Not good news considering that antibiotic resistance continues to be a major societal concern, with the CDC estimating that in the U.S. alone at least 2 million people contract an antibiotic-resistant infection, and at least 23,000 people die annually as a result.