Curevac AG is casting off the deadweight of its pandemic push to translate its mRNA technology into a marketed COVID-19 vaccine, in a new €1.45 billion (US$1.6 billion) deal in which GSK plc will acquire full rights to infectious disease vaccines the two were co-developing.
South Korea’s SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. has entered a cross-shareholding acquisition deal with Germany’s Klocke Pharma-Service GmbH to acquire its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), IDT Biologika Corp.
Shigella flexneri is the leading cause of endemic diarrhea and dysentery in some countries with low-to-middle incomes. There is still a lack of a licensed vaccine against this pathogen.
South Korea’s SK Bioscience Co. Ltd. has entered a cross-shareholding acquisition deal with Germany’s Klocke Pharma-Service GmbH to acquire its contract development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), IDT Biologika Corp.
Researchers at The Scripps Research Institute and the IAVI Neutralizing Antibody Center are developing a novel experimental vaccine targeting the germline to stimulate precursor B cells and produce broadly neutralizing antibodies (bnAbs) against the membrane-proximal external region (MPER) of the gp41 protein found in the HIV-1 envelope.
Defence Therapeutics Inc. has demonstrated that its second-generation ARM-X anticancer vaccine is therapeutically effective against pre-established ovarian cancer (ID8 model) when combined with an anti-PD-1 immune checkpoint inhibitor.
The African Vaccine Manufacturing Accelerator is up and running, with more than $1 billion already pledged to the effort that’s aimed at supporting the sustainable growth of Africa's manufacturing base and contributing to the African Union's goal of producing 60% of the vaccines required by African countries by 2040.
Becoming the first pneumococcal conjugate vaccine specifically designed for adults 18 and older, Merck & Co. Inc.’s 21-valent candidate, Capvaxive (V-116), gained U.S. FDA approval on its June 17 PDUFA date. The Rahway, N.J.-based company expects to take significant market share based on positive phase III findings from the Stride-3 trial. Analysts have estimated the product could reach $2 billion in annual global sales.
Moderna Inc. is gearing up to meet with regulators on the next steps for mRNA-1083, the first combination vaccine for influenza and COVID-19 to succeed in phase III testing, not only demonstrating noninferiority to individually licensed competitor vaccines but also eliciting statistically significant higher immune responses.
Previous studies have found that the effectiveness of vaccines can be increased with the knockdown of HBsAg using a small interfering RNA (siRNA). The efficacy of a bivalent mRNA vaccine in combination with the siRNA AD-66810, which targets the X gene expression in the hepatitis B virus (HBV) genome, was tested in a murine model of AAV/HBV by scientists from Clearb Therapeutics Inc.