While Moderna Inc. plans to cut its expenses by $1 billion in 2025, the company has received a little breathing room by a hefty U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) grant. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority awarded Moderna roughly $590 million to support late-stage development of its mRNA-based avian-variant vaccines and to increase the number of clinical trials for another five additional subtypes of pre-pandemic influenza.
There are currently three approved vaccines against the H5N1 avian influenza virus. However, they present challenges for large-scale virus cultivation in case of an outbreak and rapid update of vaccine strains to keep pace with the virus’s evolution. Messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccine platforms may offer a promising alternative to traditional vaccine methods to face H5N1 threats.
An experimental tuberculosis (TB) vaccine with a dual mission – self-destruction after inducing immunity – improved the design of the Bacillus Calmette-Guérin (BCG) immunotherapy, a vaccine also used against cancer. Scientists at the University of Pittsburgh engineered this strain with a double break, which is effective and safer after an intravenous administration, according to their results in nonhuman primates and mice.
Institut Pasteur Korea has signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with four Pohang University of Science and Technology (POSTECH)-affiliated research institutes with the aim of pursuing joint research on mRNA vaccine and treatment development.
As investors and industry alike try to read the tea leaves of what the upcoming change in administrations holds for the U.S., speculation abounds about what Trump 2.0 will mean for the biopharma and med-tech spaces.
Novel vaccines that can effectively target both coronaviruses and influenza viruses would be desirable to counteract the significant health burden these respiratory pathogens pose.
Biontech SE agreed to pay up to nearly $1.26 billion in two separate settlements to resolve royalty disputes with the U.S. NIH and the University of Pennsylvania related to the COVID-19 vaccine the company partnered with Pfizer Inc.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. won €50 million (₩75.5 billion, US$52.03 million) up front from Sanofi SA to expand an earlier agreement to develop and commercialize novel pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). The first deal resulted in GBP-410 (SP-0202), its pediatric 21-valent PCV candidate that moved into phase III study last week.
First, the good news about pandemics – and in 2024, there was big “good news.” Science Magazine named lenacapavir (Gilead Sciences Inc.) as the Breakthrough of the Year. In two separate trials, lenacapavir prevented HIV transmission with 100% efficacy in cisgender African women and 99.9% efficacy in men and gender-diverse persons when administered twice a year.
SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. won €50 million (₩75.5 billion, US$52.03 million) up front from Sanofi SA to expand an earlier agreement to develop and commercialize novel pneumococcal conjugate vaccines (PCVs). The first deal resulted in GBP-410 (SP-0202), its pediatric 21-valent PCV candidate that moved into phase III study last week.
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