COVID-19

GSK and Sanofi have reported positive efficacy data from a co-developed vaccine targeting the Omicron variant of Covid-19.   The report makes GSK and Sanofi the first companies to have a vaccine candidate for the Omicron variant which has demonstrated efficacy.  Specifically, the companies’ B.1.351 vaccine candidate demonstrated 64.7% efficacy in symptomatic Covid-19 adults and 72% […]

A collaboration between two biotech companies hopes to pave the way for the development of the first-ever African-owned Covid-19 vaccine.  Afrigen Biologics and the Univercells Group have announced a collaboration to focus on the development of a new mRNA vaccine. The collaboration is being supported by mRNA specialist, eTheRNA, and comes one year after the establishment of the […]

The National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) is investing $577 million to establish nine Antiviral Drug Discovery (AViDD) Centers for Pathogens of Pandemic Concern, the organisation has announced.   The AViDD centers will conduct multidisciplinary research to develop candidate Covid-19 antivirals and others targeting specific viral families which could cause a future pandemic. These […]

A partnership between life sciences companies PrecisionLife and Sano Genetics aims to drive insights into the genetics of long Covid and potentially identify new treatments.    The companies will analyse Sano Genetics’ data of 3,000 adults suffering from long Covid symptoms using PrecisionLife’s combinatorial analytics platform to identify risk-factors and potential drug targets.    The […]

Bachem, a Swiss technology company active in the fields of chemistry, biochemistry and pharmaceuticals, as well as the development and production of peptides and oligonucleotides, analyses the findings from scientific research about the relationship between ACE2 and SARS-CoV-2.   Covid-19 has impacted almost everyone’s lives, whether through personal experience of infection or the impacts of other […]

Following the launch of Protas, an organisation which was launched on January 24, 2022, DDW Editorial Assistant Megan Thomas interviews Protas Chief Executive, Professor Sir Martin Landray, an epidemiologist and physician who has over 20 years’ experience of leading large, randomised clinical trials and has most recently been leading the landmark RECOVERY clinical trial into […]

The recent approval of Novavax’s protein-based Covid-19 vaccine for adolescents aged 12-18 years will help its partner, the Serum Institute of India (SII) enter the adolescents’ market, according to GlobalData.   Novavax’s Covid-19 vaccine was granted emergency use authorisation by the Drugs Controller General of India (DCGI) in March for adolescents aged 12-18 years. Novavax’s partner, […]

This most recent report by the Comptroller and Auditor General examines the rollout of the Covid-19 vaccination programme in England up to the end of October 2021, focusing on events up to the end of October 2021 and assessing whether the programme is well placed to meet its objectives in full. The National Audit Office […]

Dr Pirkko Muhonen, Senior Field Application Scientist, Nucleic Acid Therapeutics, at Thermo Fisher Scientific, shares what’s next for RNA-based medicine post-pandemic with DDW. With SARS-CoV-2 circulating the globe and leading to over five million deaths worldwide1, all eyes are on the critical role messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines are playing in helping to fight the ongoing […]

The Covid-19 Host Genetics Initiative carried out one of the largest genome-wide association studies ever. It involved meta-analysis of nearly 50,000 Covid-19 patients and two million uninfected controls. Dr Hamdi Mbarek, Lead Analyst of the Qatari dataset explains how the initiative improved knowledge of host-genetic determinants of Covid-19 infection and severity. In drug development we […]