LONDON – A pan-European consortium backed by 11 pharma companies is pooling resources in a €77.7 million (US$92.5 million) five-year plan to advance development of therapeutics for COVID-19 and other coronaviruses.

LONDON – A large scale population study has shown that home self-testing with low-cost lateral flow diagnostics is a valid way of tracking the COVID-19 pandemic. A total of 105,651 people across the U.K. tested themselves for SARS-CoV-2 antibodies with a fingerprick blood test as part of the REACT (REaltime Assessment of Community Transmission) study.

PARIS – Integragen SA and OncoDNA SA have signed a tender offer agreement anticipating a takeover bid. Gosselies, Belgium-based OncoDNA will purchase 100% of the shares of Integragen, floated on the Euronext Paris Euronext Growth Markets, at a unit price of $2.60, valuing the latter’s share capital at $17.2 million.

Reports out of Russia that the country approved a COVID-19 vaccine came with more questions than answers, as some in the rest of the world fretted over the apparently paltry degree of testing. Though the product has not completed phase III trials – human research thus far has involved only two groups of volunteers of 38 people each – Russia President Vladimir Putin is said to have declared Gam-COVID-Vac adequately studied.

PARIS – France’s Medical Device and Health Technology Evaluation Committee (CNEDiMTS), has published it latest annual activity report. This committee of the French National Authority for Health (HAS) evaluates medical devices with a view to their coverage by L’Assurance Maladie, the body which manages health care in France.

LONDON – Research and health emerged as the biggest losers following a marathon four days of negotiations by EU leaders on the bloc’s €1.1 trillion (US$1.3 trillion) 2021 - 2027 budget and the formation of a €750 billion (US$872 billion) pandemic recovery fund. Rather than €94.4 billion over the next seven years as proposed, the R&D program Horizon Europe, will get €80.9 billion.

DUBLIN – Although Europe has moved first to approve Blenrep (belantamab mafodotin), Glaxosmithkline plc’s antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) as a fifth-line therapy in relapsed or refractory multiple myeloma, U.S. patients may well be first to gain access to the new drug.

PARIS – Inheart SAS completed its first funding round of $4.2 million to improve cardiac arrhythmia treatment using medical imaging, artificial intelligence and digital simulation. This fund round was led by Elvia Partners SAS, a Parisian investment fund managed by Xavier Lazarus specializing in deep tech, and Aquitaine Science Transfer, a company accelerating technology transfer, from the University of Bordeaux.

Royal Philips NV reported a 6% decline in year-to-year sales for the second quarter of 2020. While delays in elective procedures suppressed sales in the Amsterdam-based company’s diagnostics and treatment division, the virus boosted demand for connected care and minimized the impact of the coronavirus for the company compared to many competitors.