Robotic-assisted surgical procedures have fallen off steeply as the ongoing global pandemic has unfolded, but the real impact on Intuitive Surgical Inc. will come as its hospital customers may have to limit orders for expensive equipment upgrades as they struggle to manage unprecedented financial burdens. The U.S. accounts for about 70% of its robotic surgery procedures, but by the last few weeks in March, that activity had been curtailed by roughly two-thirds.

The U.S. Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) commitment of up to $483 million to accelerate Moderna Inc.’s mRNA vaccine candidate, mRNA-1273, in efforts to fight coronavirus (SARS-CoV-2) would enable the company to supply millions of doses per month in 2020 and tens of millions per month in 2021 if the vaccine candidate is successful in the clinic.

LONDON – Researchers at the Jenner Institute in Oxford have given an inside view of how they are accelerating clinical development of a COVID-19 vaccine and at the same time putting in place commercial manufacturing for when phase III efficacy data are available, expected in August or September.