After COVID-19 reached a pandemic peak in January due to the omicron variant, infections in the U.S. are now hitting the lowest levels since March of 2020. During the past week, there were 195,963 confirmed SARS-CoV-2 infections in the country, according to Johns Hopkins University data. That is 5.5% fewer infections than the same week two years ago and 56% fewer than last year. Deaths are also down to 5,602 for the week, although there were lower points in the spring and summer months of 2020 and 2021.
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Aligos, Alpine, Aqualung, Copernicus, G1, Gridiron, Inmune, Innovation1, Northeastern University, ST.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Corvia, Fluoguide, Kestra Medical Technologies, Natera.
A phase II/III trial testing Inflarx NV's vilobelimab, a monoclonal antibody the company is developing to control inflammatory response, showed a relative reduction in 28-day all-cause mortality of 23.9% vs. placebo (p=0.094) for mechanically ventilated COVID-19 patients, but missed statistical significance on the measure, the study's primary endpoint.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Abionyx, Antengene, ASC, Biogen, Guerbet, Hipra, Nurix, Realta, Receptor, Taiho, Viiv.