Fresenius Kabi agreed to buy a majority stake in the mAbxience division of Spain’s Insud Pharma to expand the generic drug unit’s business making cheaper versions of biotechnology products that have lost patent protection. Fresenius said Kabi also agreed to acquire Ivenix Inc., a maker of infusion therapies.

Merck & Co. and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics announced they have supplied about 3.1 million courses of their antiviral drug against COVID-19, molnupiravir, to the U.S. government. In other news, a study funded by the National Institutes of Health found that vaccination against COVID-19 not only protects pregnant women against the disease but their babies as well.

Britain’s GSK and partner Vir Biotechnology said on November 12 their antibody-based Covid-19 drug was shown in a trial to work as well when given as a shot in the arm as when administered via the standard infusion, potentially offering more convenience.

Biogen Inc. expects to begin shipping the company’s newly approved Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm in about two weeks and has prepared more than 900 healthcare centers for the intravenous infusion treatment.

Eli Lilly

U.S. hospitals have been slow to embrace Covid-19 antibody drugs from Eli Lilly and Co. and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc. that were authorized to reduce the risk of hospitalization, U.S. officials said.

New York-based TG Therapeutics announced positive topline results from two global Phase III clinical trials, ULTIMATE I and II, of ublituximab in relapsing forms of multiple sclerosis (RMS).

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Janssen’s Simponi Aria (golimumab) for patients 2 years of age and older for the treatment of active polyarticular juvenile idiopathic arthritis (pJIA) and extended the medicine’s active psoriatic arthritis (PsA) indication for this same patient population.

Option Care Health Inc., the largest U.S. independent provider of home and alternate site infusion services, was selected to participate in the limited distribution network of VILTEPSO (viltolarsen) for patients with Duchenne Muscular Dystrophy who are amenable to exon 53 skipping therapy.

Gilead Sciences Inc., maker of the closely watched experimental coronavirus drug remdesivir, said the company will work with international partners to expand production of the potential COVID-19 treatment.

Melbourne, Australia and New York-based Mesoblast Limited announced that in a study of COVID-19 patients with moderate to severe acute respiratory distress syndrome, there was 83 percent survival with two intravenous infusions of the company’s experimental allogeneic mesenchymal stem cell candidate Ryoncil (remestemcel-L).