A list of biopharma companies and nonprofit entities, including academia, working feverishly to find a vaccine or antiviral treatment to address the rapidly spreading coronavirus, now known as COVID-19, has more than doubled, increasing from about 30 a few weeks ago to 71 as of March 6.

The Senate passed by a vote of 96-1 the spending bill for the outbreak of the new coronavirus (COVID-19), which will be on President Donald Trump’s desk by week’s end. The bill provides $7.8 billion in new funds to tackle the outbreak and another $490 million in existing funds for telehealth, all with the aim of speeding the response to the pathogen.

BEIJING – More and more companies and researchers in China are rolling out artificial intelligence (AI)-based systems that can process hundreds of computed tomography (CT) images in seconds to speed up diagnosis of COVID-19 and assist in its containment.

LONDON – The U.K. life sciences sector has stepped into “a new reality” following publication of the government’s negotiating mandate on the future trading relationship with the EU. “Plan A is no longer on the table,” said Steve Bates, chief executive of the Bioindustry Association, who has spent three long years lobbying for a favorable deal for the industry.

In an effort to gain new insights about the novel coronavirus sweeping the globe, Boston-based Biofourmis Inc. is leveraging its artificial intelligence (AI)-driven remote monitoring platform to monitor Hong Kong patients diagnosed or suspected of having COVID-19. The remote monitoring and disease surveillance program, which kicked off just a few days ago, is being administered by the University of Hong Kong and includes Biofourmis’ Hong Kong-based joint venture, Harmony Medical Inc.

The March 4 congressional hearing on the budget for the NIH was peppered with questions about the COVID-19 outbreak, although the general sentiment is that the agency will receive yet another boost in appropriations in fiscal 2021.