Deals, Development and Manufacturing

Dutch company HALIX has announced it is joining a consortium of partners that are all under the guidance of the University of Oxford to provide good manufacturing practice (GMP) manufacturing services for a COVID-19 vaccine.

Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) have revealed that they are joining forces to develop an adjuvanted vaccine using their respective technologies that can be used to fight COVID-19.

AstraZeneca has announced it will be commencing a randomized, global clinical trial to assess the efficacy and safety of Calquence (acalabrutinib) in treating the exaggerated immune response of patients with COVID-19.

With the acquisition, Orgenesis will combine TamirBio’s ranpirnase antiviral platform with its Bioxome technology.

The companies announced they are entering into a strategic collaboration under which Blackstone will provide up to $2 billion to fund Alnylam’s RNAi drugs to treat a range of diseases.

The partners have formed a joint venture to produce muscle-derived mesenchymal stem cells as a source of exosomes and other cellular products to develop related therapies and advance clinical trials.

Industry opportunities are increasing for biosimilars, but companies should pay close attention to delivery device design to facilitate success.

Horizon Discovery has announced that it has expanded its cell-based clustered regularly interspaced short palindromic repeats (CRISPR) screening services to include primary human B cells, which complements the T cell screening service.

Belgian biopharmaceutical company, UCB, has successfully completed its acquisition of Ra Pharmaceuticals, which is now a wholly-owned subsidiary of the company.

The drug discovery platform was developed to rapidly predict blocking of COVID-19 pneumocyte cellular entry.

Second Genome will use its Microbiome Analytics Platform throughout the collaboration to identify novel biomarkers associated with clinical response to Gilead’s investigational medicines.

The partnership, led by Takeda and CSL Behring, will focus on developing a hyperimmune immunoglobulin against COVID-19.

The companies will collaborate on research and development solutions for coronaviruses, including SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19.

N4 Pharma will be undertaking a proof-of-concept research project using a COVID-19 DNA plasmid to demonstrate the ability of its delivery system, Nuvec, to collaborative partners developing DNA or RNA vaccines.

The companies are entering into a partnership to develop fully human neutralizing antibodies targeting SARS-CoV-2 to prevent or treat COVID-19.

Daiichi Sankyo has entered into a partnership with Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical for the use of Ultragenyx’s proprietary AAV-based gene-therapy manufacturing technology.

The partnership will focus on the development of up to five novel protein replacement and mRNA therapies.

ProBioGen will facilitate the development of Immunogenesis’ monoclonal antibody candidate and will be responsible for manufacturing the drug at its new facility in Berlin, Germany.

The companies will use CytomX’s Probody therapeutic technology platform and its proprietary bispecific formats and CD3 modules.

Grifols has entered into a formal collaboration with US Federal public health agencies, including the Biomedical Advanced Research Development Authority (BARDA) and the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), to produce a treatment that specifically targets COVID-19.

AstraZeneca has revealed that it will collaborate with Silence Therapeutics on the discovery, development, and commercialization of small interfering RNA (siRNA) therapeutics for the treatment of cardiovascular, renal, metabolic, and respiratory diseases.

Prior to the global market downturn, data from the United Kingdom BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Informa Pharma Intelligence have revealed that biotech companies in the UK had raised £309 million (US$379 million).

The strategic alliance provides an integrated product offering around drug discovery and development.

The transgenic mouse R&D platform will support the discovery of fully-human monoclonal antibodies.

Emergent BioSolutions will help develop and manufacture an oral vaccine candidate and will develop plasma-based antibody therapeutics.