COVID-19 has disrupted science in the way it has disrupted everything else. In the short term, universities have largely closed shop as a way to maximize social distancing, and lots of science – or at least, lots of bench work – is not getting done.
HONG KONG – China’s I-Mab Biopharma Co. Ltd. has entered a strategic partnership with Indonesia’s PT Kalbe Genexine Biologics (KG Bio). Through the deal, KG Bio will receive the right of first negotiation to commercialize two I-Mab-discovered candidates in the ASEAN and MENA regions as well as Sri Lanka.
DUBLIN – Ose Immunotherapeutics SA finds itself in the difficult place of hitting the primary endpoint of the first part of a phase III trial of Tedopi, a therapeutic vaccine, in non-small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) while having to terminate the study without completing the crucial second part.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Affimed, Applied, Celularity, Fera, Nicox, Pfizer, Pharmamar, Seattle Genetics.
The jury is still out on how much hydroxychloroquine and chloroquine actually help in the treatment or prevention of COVID-19, but desperate times have led desperate health care providers to use the antimalarial drugs to treat patients in desperate need of coronavirus cures.
DUBLIN – Ethris GmbH and Neurimmune AG have formed a collaboration to develop nebulized, mRNA-encoded monoclonal antibodies directed at SARS-CoV-2, which will be delivered directly to the lungs of patients with COVID-19.
PERTH, Australia –Australian stem cell therapy company Mesoblast Ltd. announced that the FDA has accepted its BLA for priority review for its allogeneic mesenchymal precursor cell therapy, remestemcel-L, for children with acute steroid-refractory graft-vs.-host disease (aGVHD).