The Omicron variant of the coronavirus does not have a negative effect on cardiovascular health in young adults who have been vaccinated, a small study suggests. Additionally, women should not delay routine mammograms after receiving a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine, experts now say.

There appears to be a rise in COVID-19 illnesses, driven by Omicron subvariants, which may be better able to evade immunity from vaccines and previous infections and lower public health measures by the public such as masking and social distancing.

AstraZeneca

AstraZeneca moved to bolster the company’s COVID-19 portfolio of antibodies on May 17 with a $157 million licensing deal for experimental therapies developed by newly launched biotech RQ Bio.

Twist Bioscience and Astellas have entered into a research collaboration and exclusive option license agreement to identify potential therapeutic antibodies which would help to reduce tumor microenvironment-mediated immunosuppression.

Although 2020 was a tough year for the biopharma industry — and most other industries as well — it appeared to rebound significantly in mid-2021. However, biotech stocks are generally getting hammered during 2022, although to be fair, the entire stock market is down.

Despite the loss of the company’s COVID-19 antibody REGEN-COV earlier in 2022, Regeneron posted a positive first quarter driven primarily by sales of Dupixent and Eylea.

Two new sublineages of the Omicron coronavirus variant can dodge antibodies from earlier infection well enough to trigger a new wave, but are far less able to thrive in the blood of people vaccinated against COVID-19, South African scientists found.

Eli Lilly had a lucrative first-quarter 2022, with revenue growth rising 15 percent driven by sales of the company’s diabetes drug Trulicity and its COVID-19 antibodies.

GlaxoSmithKline

GlaxoSmithKline exceeded expectations for the company’s first-quarter 2022 sales and earnings forecasts. This was largely driven by GSK’s sales of Xevudy, an antibody treatment against COVID-19 it developed with Vir Biotechnology, and the company’s Shingrix vaccine against shingles.

Following the record surge in COVID-19 cases during the Omicron-driven wave, some 58 percent of the U.S. population overall and more than 75 percent of younger children have been infected with the coronavirus since the start of the pandemic, according to a U.S. nationwide blood survey released on April 26.