Keeping you up to date on recent developments in neurology, including: Quanterix biomarker technology used to measure neuronal injury in COVID-19 patients; AI could speed up and improve Alzheimer's diagnosis; Mental fatigue of MS linked to inefficient recruitment of neural resources.
Second-quarter earnings reports, flowing fast in the last days of July, delivered a bevy of contrasting results, from A to V. Stymied by the pandemic, Aimmune Therapeutics Inc. booked exactly zero net sales during the quarter for its expected blockbuster peanut allergy treatment, Palforzia. Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc. and Seattle Genetics Inc. beat top-line expectations, driven primarily by strong sales of new products.
The issue of the U.S. federal government’s response to the COVID-19 pandemic was revisited yet again in a hearing in the House of Representatives. While partisanship was on full display, Anthony Fauci, director of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, said he is “cautiously optimistic” about the prospects for a vaccine and that the development of candidates has not compromised scientific principles.
In deals worth billions, Sanofi SA and Glaxosmithkline plc (GSK) have made new agreements this week to supply the U.S. and U.K. governments with a COVID-19 vaccine. The two companies also are in advanced discussions with the European Union to supply up to 300 million doses of a vaccine.
NEW DELHI – If India’s government has its way, the country could launch a vaccine for COVID-19 in mid-August, an extremely short deadline that has caused controversy and pushed companies to speed up their development and the trials of prospective vaccines.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Acasti, Ascletis, Eisai, Fortress, Janssen, Redhill, Revive, Roche, Sound.
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Axovant, Biontech, Harbour Biomed, Hoth, Immunoprecise, Isoprene, Nicox, Oxford, Qilu, Regeneron, Sesen, Viva, Visufarma.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Arcutis, Baudax, Endo, Highlight, Horizon, Ico, Pfizer.
HONG KONG – Suwon-based Olix Pharmaceuticals Inc. is completing the final preclinical work before starting clinical trials for its as-yet-unnamed COVID-19 drug candidate, developed inside three months using RNA interference (RNAi) technology.
Six months to the day that the World Health Organization (WHO) declared it a public health emergency, the SARS-CoV-2 virus, with its hideous red spikes, continues to taunt the world, hopping from host to host and haunting humans, many of whom wonder the same thing: What’s next?