An expert panel of Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) pushed back on recommending conditional approval for a second time for Shionogi & Co. Ltd.’s orally administered COVID-19 antiviral 3CL protease inhibitor, S-217622, also known as ensitrelvir.
Regulatory snapshots, including global drug submissions and approvals, clinical trial approvals and other regulatory decisions and designations: Astrazeneca, B.More, Bridgebio, Hookipa, Lepu, Matinas, Medexus, Qbiotics, Veru.
Clinical updates, including trial initiations, enrollment status and data readouts and publications: Aligos, Ashvattha, Inmed, Nanoscope, Philogen, Revelation, Revive, Sling.
Biopharma happenings, including deals and partnerships, grants, preclinical data and other news in brief: Blue Water, Bridgebio, HDT, Innate, Neurofront, Novaremed, Pharmacyte, Sanofi, Valneva, Zyversa.
Since the isolation of SARS-CoV-2 and the study of its infection mechanisms, scientists have been trying to understand how this virus accesses the brain and produces neurological symptoms. The receptor necessary for the virus to enter the cell by endocytosis (the receptor for angiotensin-converting enzyme 2, ACE2) is only expressed by some neurons and is hardly detected in the brain.
The technology behind one of the most high profile COVID-19 vaccine development programs has been re-engineered to correct a design fault and now forms the basis of newco Vicebio Ltd. The London-based company has shown its face for the first time following its founding in 2019 around molecular clamp technology from the University of Queensland, Australia.