Vir Biotechnology Inc. and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc. are expanding an infectious disease collaboration begun three years ago to take on the coronavirus. The effort now includes developing and commercializing RNAi therapies targeting SARS-CoV-2, the virus that triggers COVID-19, by developing siRNAs identified by Alnylam.
BEIJING – Beijing-based Sihuan Pharmaceutical Holdings Group Ltd. said it has initiated clinical trials of broad-spectrum antiviral favipiravir to treat COVID-19. China now has six clinical trials investigating the drug, originally developed for influenza and also tested against Ebola virus disease.
HONG KONG - India has made amendments to the export policy of certain active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and the formulations based on some specific APIs. In a note dated March 3, India’s Directorate General of Foreign Trade compiled a list of now restricted APIs and formulations that were previously free to export. It ranged from paracetamol and erythromycin salts to progesterone and vitamin B1, 6 and 12.
Against the backdrop of the global spread of COVID-19, India announced restrictions Tuesday on the export of 26 active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) and formulations of those ingredients.
Concerns about the escalating global spread of COVID-19 panicked the markets big time at the close of the month. With investors rushing to the sidelines, it only took five days for the Dow Jones Industrial Average to drop more than 10% from its all-time high, getting close to the 30,000 mark.
Under steady pressure to accelerate development of vaccines against SARS-CoV-2 and treatments for COVID-19 as the global death toll reached 3,085 people on the afternoon of March 2, biopharma companies continued to detail progress, including in updates at a White House meeting between pharmaceutical executives and administration officials, including President Donald Trump.
COVID-19 is bringing more pressure to bear on Congress to pass S. 2723, the Mitigating Emergency Drug Shortages (MEDS) Act, which has been sitting in the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions (HELP) Committee since Sen. Susan Collins (R-Maine) introduced it in October 2019 – a few months before the novel coronavirus emerged.
RSS
