Antimicrobial-focused Tennor Therapeutics Ltd. will debut in Hong Kong May 22, having priced a HK$626.84 million (US$80 million) IPO. The Suzhou, China-based biotech is waiting on China’s National Medical Products Administration approval of lead asset rifasutenizol (TNP-2198), which has potential to become the first targeted combination regimen to treat H. pylori infection.

Cocrystal Pharma Inc. has reported the discovery of direct-acting antivirals that demonstrate pan-viral activity against multiple viruses, including hantavirus, bunyavirus and influenza. These compounds target a highly conserved region of the viral replication enzyme – the L-protein of Andes virus, which is essential for viral replication and transcription.

Although influenza virus infection can be particularly life-threatening among young infants, approved vaccines are lacking for infants under 6 months. Aiming to overcome the required annual updates to the influenza vaccine, recent efforts have focused on generating vaccines that promote broadly reactive antibodies (Abs) targeting conserved regions of viral proteins, such as the stem domain of hemagglutinin (HA).

Infex Therapeutics Ltd. has published positive phase IIa data for its lead program, RESP-X, in the treatment of exacerbations of chronic respiratory infections caused by Pseudomonas aeruginosa and is now laying the ground for phase IIb development, after raising £4.3 million (US$5.8 million) in new capital.

Antimicrobial-focused Tennor Therapeutics Ltd. will debut in Hong Kong May 22, having priced a HK$626.84 million (US$80 million) IPO. The Suzhou, China-based biotech is waiting on China’s National Medical Products Administration approval of lead asset rifasutenizol (TNP-2198), which has potential to become the first targeted combination regimen to treat H. pylori infection.

It is not surprising that a large Ebola outbreak would be considered a public health emergency of international concern. But the current PHEIC is notable for the speed with which it was declared, speaking to the urgency of the situation. World Health Organization Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus declared the outbreak a PHEIC on Sunday, May 17, without first convening an emergency committee. That step is unprecedented.

Maxwell Biosciences Inc. has reported findings from a study showing that its broad-spectrum small molecules, named Claromers, are able to destroy Epstein-Barr virus. Claromers destroy pathogenic bacteria, viruses, fungi and biofilms, without harming healthy cells or the microbiome.

The threat posed by the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo has intensified, with the confirmation that it is caused by the Bundibugyo species of the virus, for which there are no approved vaccines or antiviral therapies. At the same time, the high positivity rate, with eight laboratory confirmed cases out of 13 samples collected in various areas, and more reports of suspected cases and clusters of deaths, all point to a potentially much larger outbreak than currently is being detected and reported.

It’s back to the drawing board for the U.S. CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP). After a year of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy gutting the panel and restocking it mostly with people who share his views on vaccines, the CDC published a notice in the May 19 Federal Register saying it’s withdrawing the amended ACIP charter renewal issued April 6 and is instead “re-establishing” the committee.