Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Check-Cap, Fujifilm, Olympus Medical, Pelican Diagnostics.

Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Daxor, Decipher Biosciences, Firstsource Solutions, Intellih, Invo Bioscience, Lygos, Maravai Lifesciences, Microbix Biosystems, Peridot, Protoquick, Seegene Canada, Seisa Medical, Quest Diagnostics, Trilink Biotechnologies, Twist Bioscience, Veracyte, Zora Biosciences.

While World Trade Organization members continue to debate a proposal to waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines and therapies, Biolyse Pharma Corp. is threatening to apply for a compulsory license of Johnson & Johnson’s one-dose vaccine through the Canadian Access to Medicines Regime.

After working 24/7 to develop a COVID-19 vaccine in a historic timeframe and scale up manufacturing at an unprecedented rate, some vaccine manufacturers are now facing what appears to be a concerted Russian misinformation campaign akin to those used in the last two U.S. presidential campaigns, as well as in Great Britain and possibly in France.

After a year of intense biopharma research, an increasing arsenal of answers is bolstering the fight against COVID-19.

Kintor Pharmaceutical Ltd. said its androgen receptor (AR) antagonist, proxalutamide, reduced mortality risk by 92% and shortened median hospital length stay by nine days vs. standard of care, based on a preliminary analysis of phase III data from 590 hospitalized COVID-19 patients in Brazil. The company expects to have final data ready by the end of this month or early April, Chief Financial Officer Lucy Lu told BioWorld. Following the positive results, Kintor is seeking conditional approval in Brazil and will start another trial in critically ill patients in intensive care, she said.

Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Adamis, Aeterna Zentaris, Altimmune, Amring, Amzell, Aveo, Astrazeneca, Biovaxys, Bright Minds, Decipher, Destiny, Genevant, Gilead, Horizon, J&J, Lattice, Magenta, Merck, Mersana, Newron, Point, PTC, Resverlogix, Takeda, Tevogen, Timber, Urogen, Veracyte, Viela, Wuxi, Zambon.

Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Aclaris, Amgen, Atara, Atyr, Bioaegis, Bioarctic, Black Diamond, Bluebird, Corcept, Curasen, Edesa, Eisai, Equillium, Galecto, Gamida, Immunitybio, Lilly, Magenta, Moderna, Molecular Partners, Novartis, Ocuphire, Opthea, Ose, Quantum Leap, Regeneron, Rubius, Sernova, Takeda, Tilt, Timber, Tonix, Zenith.