Three years after litigation started over technology used in an mRNA vaccine for COVID-19, Biontech SE is acquiring its adversary, Curevac NV, through an all-stock transaction valued at about $1.25 billion. The amount is lower than the $3 billion in backpay Curevac could win through the lawsuit if a low mid-single-digit royalty were awarded, Evercore ISI analysts Jon Miller and Umer Raffat said. But the legal uncertainty has weighed heavily on the company, which shed 30% of its workforce last July and sold off rights to two of its infectious disease vaccines.
Scientists at Helmholtz Zentrum für Infektionsforschung GmbH, Rijksuniversiteit Groningen and Université de Lausanne have synthesized energy-coupling factor (ECF) transporter (bacterial) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of enterococcal and streptococcal infections.
Octant Inc. has received a $4.9 million grant from the Gates Foundation to support a new therapeutics program focused on human papillomavirus (HPV)-related cancers. The initiative will develop affordable, broad-spectrum, small-molecule antiviral drugs designed to disrupt the interaction between hundreds of variants of the HPV E6 protein and the tumor suppressor protein p53.
When it comes to the U.S. biopharma market, pricing seems to be the driving focus of most congressional conversations – and government contracts. Rep. Cliff Bentz, R-Ore., hit pause on that conversation at a June 11 House subcommittee hearing on the drug supply chain, when he asked if the U.S. is sacrificing security for price.
Microneedle technology could help simplify vaccine delivery to better support global immunization efforts, and Australia is leading the way in this innovative technology.
Despite the June 9 gutting of the U.S. CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, the Department of Health and Human Services said the committee’s June 25-27 meeting will continue as scheduled. But a new panel has yet to be named, and typically ACIP members have a lot of behind-the-scenes work to do before a meeting.
Work at Emory University has led to the development of peptidomimetic compounds acting as protease (viral) inhibitors reported to be useful for the treatment of viral infections.
With the U.S. FDA’s approval of Enflonsia (clesrovimab) to prevent respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) infection lower respiratory tract disease in newborns and infants, Merck & Co. Inc. steps into a space of competition and regulatory shifts. The preventive, long-acting monoclonal antibody (MAb)
will take its place in the market alongside the blockbuster Beyfortus (nirsevimab) from Sanofi SA and Astrazeneca plc. The MAb for pediatric use brought in about $1.77 billion in 2024.
Absent extraordinary circumstances, the Patent Trial and Appeal Board “should never cancel claims it has not determined to be unpatentable as a sanction” for misconduct during a board proceeding, according to the acting director of the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
The U.K. Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency (MHRA) has issued its first official guidance on how to develop bacteriophages as licensed medicinal products. This covers personalized phage therapies designed for specific patients – at present the only form in which they are available – but also is relevant to the development of off-the-shelf products for treating common infections.
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