Astrazeneca plc has confirmed it is working with Oxford University to produce a vaccine against the Omicron variant of the SARS-CoV-2 virus. The Cambridge, U.K.-based pharma was one of the first to get a COVID-19 vaccine okayed by regulators, after acquiring rights to the shot from Vaccitech plc, a spin-out from Oxford University’s Jenner Institute specialist vaccine unit.
Regulatory snapshots, including global submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Avacta, Phillips, Sight Sciences.
Med-tech happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: BD, Carestream Dental, Cue Health, Envista, Everly Health, Ixensor, Lucira, Nevro, Nalu.
The largest swings in stock price in 2021 can partly, or mostly, be attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic, as biopharma solutions either saved the world or fell short, depending on the newest emerging variant. Those ups and downs have led the BioWorld Biopharmaceutical Index to a nearly flat position in comparison with the beginning of the year. It is up by only 0.33%. The Nasdaq Biotech Index, however, is up 4.6%, while the Dow Jones Industrial Average, representing the broader markets, is up by 14.13%.
Becton, Dickinson and Co. (BD) completed its acquisition of Scanwell Health Inc., its partner in development of the smartphone-enabled BD Veritor At-Home COVID-19 Test, just in time for increased demand driven by the Omicron surge in the U.S. and plans to make the tests available for free by the federal government as well as several states and large municipalities. Currently, most of the tests distributed by governments are made by Abbott Laboratories, which received emergency use authorization (EUA) for its at-home test in March 2021.
As the Omicron variant of COVID-19 sweeps across the globe, the Biden administration has announced a program to purchase 500 million rapid antigen tests to help slow the pandemic. The news comes at an especially critical time, given the increased transmissibility of the Omicron variant, but the promised volume is unlikely to be achieved by the first day of January 2022.
Bond Digital Health Ltd. landed £1 million (US$1.3 million) from investors to expand development of its Transform data management system for lateral flow diagnostic tests. The technology connects to an app that captures data from lateral flow assays in self-testing settings. The results are then shared to a dashboard that can be monitored by the platform admin. The new investment included equity funding from the Development Bank of Wales and high-net-worth investment service Wealth Club. In addition to the current round, Bond is aiming to raise a further £500,000 by January.
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