Scientists from the Hospital for Sick Children Research Institute and collaborators have reported the application of a multispecific, multiaffinity antibody (Multabody, MB) platform derived from the human apoferritin protomer to enable the multimerization of antibody fragments against SARS-CoV-2. These MBs showed high potency to neutralize SARS-CoV-2 even at lower concentrations than their corresponding MAb counterparts.

Having already notched approvals in the EU and U.K., Astrazeneca plc hopes to prime the pump for a U.S. approval of nirsevimab as a respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) prophylactic for infants when it makes its case June 8 before the FDA’s Antimicrobial Drugs Advisory Committee.

As it nears the end of its cash runway and its lead antibiotic, Nuzyra, approaches a phase IIb readout, Paratek Pharmaceuticals Inc. agreed to be acquired by Gurnet Point Capital and Novo Holdings A/S for up to $3 per share in a deal that will take the company private.

Becoming the second approved respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine for the 60 and older crowd, Pfizer Inc.’s Abrysvo (RSVpreF; PF-06928316) received a U.S. FDA nod on May 31 for RSV lower respiratory tract disease. In February, the agency’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 7-4 that data support both the safety and efficacy of the vaccine. Behind this approval for the senior population is another potential approval, expected in August, for infants via maternal inoculation.

With the rise of antibiotic resistance, treatment options against Yersinia pestis bacteria that cause pneumonic plague could also become limited. Antibody treatment has been effective in animal models of plague, but no approved human vaccine exists against this fatal disease.

Researchers from NYU Grossman School of Medicine reported on a new strategy intended to provide long-term protection against the SARS-CoV-2 virus using an experimental decoy.