Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.'s oral antiviral, maribavir, failed to meet the primary endpoint of noninferiority compared to Roche Holding AG’s valganciclovir in the phase III Aurora study for cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection in hematopoietic stem cell transplant recipients. The multicenter, randomized, double-blind, double-dummy, active-controlled study was to form the basis for a future label expansion for the therapy.
Viral specialist Gilead Sciences Inc.’s U.S. FDA clearance for twice-yearly Sunlenca (lenacapavir) in combination with other antiretroviral therapies for HIV-1 infection provides heavily treatment-experienced patients a new option, and gives the company room to flex with new add-ons.
Emory University has identified deuterated and/or methylated N4-hydroxycytidine (NHC) analogues reported to be useful for the treatment of viral infections.
Ethris GmbH has entered into a collaboration with Diosynvax Ltd. to jointly develop a protective mRNA vaccine candidate against a broad range of betacoronaviruses utilizing the company's highly differentiated mRNA modification and design technologies as well as its lipidoid nanoparticle (LNP) and stabilization platforms.
Poolbeg Pharma plc has identified potential new drug candidates from its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) artificial intelligence (AI) program with Onethree Biotech Inc.
RQ Biotechnology Ltd. (RQ Bio) has announced that the first of its discovered monoclonal antibodies to prevent COVID-19 in vulnerable patients, AZD-3152, has entered clinical trials.
Scientists from the University of Delhi and affiliated organizations have reported the discovery and preclinical characterization of novel compounds with antiplasmodial activity.
Eurocine Vaccines AB has reported findings from preclinical studies evaluating its mRNA and protein technology platforms for its therapeutic herpes simplex virus type 2 (HSV-2) vaccine candidates. Initial results from the study, comparing the two technology platforms at multiple doses, demonstrate that the mRNA and the protein vaccines were well tolerated and generated T-cell and antibody responses.
Pfizer Inc. has acquired rights to respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) drug candidate sisunatovir from Lianbio Co. Ltd. in a deal worth up to $155 million covering development and commercialization rights in mainland China, Hong Kong, Macau and Singapore. With this agreement, Pfizer now holds global development and commercialization rights to the candidate, an orally administered fusion inhibitor is designed to block RSV replication by inhibiting F-mediated fusion with the host cell.