Research focused on finding viable solutions to counter the COVID-19 pandemic continues at an explosive pace with a total of 588 potential therapeutics and vaccines at the forefront of scientific efforts launched by industry, academia and government.
Countries and health care providers should hope for the best but prepare for the worst as a resurgence of COVID-19 is expected in the fall, just as the influenza season hits.
BEIJING – Chinese state-backed vaccine developer China National Biotec Group (CNBG), of Beijing, said on June 16 that its inactivated COVID-19 vaccine candidate produced a seroconversion rate of up to 100% in a phase I/II trial that enrolled 1,120 healthy subjects.
HONG KONG - Mumbai-based Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. has been granted manufacturing and marketing approval for the launch of its antiviral drug, favipiravir, for the treatment of mild to moderate COVID-19, a move it deems a “landmark development for COVID-19 patients in India.”
BEIJING – One more company is joining the global efforts in developing a vaccine for COVID-19. Beijing-based Yisheng Biopharma Co. Ltd. unveiled YS-SC2-010, which was developed through recombinant protein technology and its proprietary PIKA (polyinosinic-polycytidylic acid-based adjuvant) technology.
LONDON – The foundation stone of a system to ensure equitable access to COVID-19 vaccines was put in place by the global vaccines summit on June 4, with 12 donors pledging $567 million in seed money for an advance market commitment (AMC) program.
Swept up into a coronavirus whirlwind, the biopharma industry has ramped up development of therapeutics and vaccines and altered business plans to fight the SARS-CoV-2 virus in a way that nobody could have imagined only months ago.
HONG KONG – Singapore-based Proteona Pte. Ltd. has started a partnership to characterize the clinical response to a new COVID-19 vaccine, with clinical trials soon to start at Flinders Medical Centre testing the candidate developed in collaboration with Adelaide, Australia-based Vaxine Pty Ltd.
BEIJING – In one of the latest Sino-foreign collaborations formed to find a cure for the pandemic that has infected 3.5 million people worldwide, Shanghai-based Junshi Biosciences Co. Ltd. and Eli Lilly and Co. have disclosed an agreement to co-develop therapeutic antibodies for preventing and treating COVID-19. Under the terms, Junshi grants Lilly an exclusive license, outside of greater China, to conduct R&D, manufacture and distribute the SARS-CoV-2 JS-016 neutralizing antibodies developed by Junshi.