Cambridge, Massachusetts’ Kendall Square just got a little more crowded. Following announcements of new facilities made by Takeda, Sanofi and life sciences giant Bayer which opened its new research and innovation center in the busy biotech hotspot known as Genetown.

COVAX

The COVAX facility, backed by the World Health Organization and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization, has delivered 1.55 billion COVID-19 vaccine doses to 146 countries. In December, COVAX set a target of achieving 70% COVID-19 immunization coverage by mid-2022.

AstraZeneca

Under the expanded deal, AstraZeneca’s will have access to Oxford Biomedica’s Oxbox manufacturing facility to produce its shot on an as-needed basis beyond 2022.

Novartis

Novartis prefers a spinoff of its generic drug unit over a potential sale to private equity firms, Bloomberg News reported on Thursday, citing people familiar with the matter.

Inizio

Ashfield and Huntsworth unite their full suite of advisory, medical, marketing, communications and patient and stakeholder engagement services to create Inizio, a strategic partner to health and life science companies throughout the life cycle of their drug products.

Remote patient monitoring

Providers continue to adapt to the new care models to patients’ needs. As the pandemic wreaked havoc across the United States, healthcare providers started deploying various health IT solutions to address emerging challenges. They aimed to reduce the load on doctors and protect clinicians and patients from the virus exposure.

Accord BioPharma, Eversana

CAMCEVI is the first-ever ready-to-inject sterile formulation of leuprolide for subcutaneous injection that comes in a pre-filled syringe with no mixing required. Accord BioPharma, the U.S. specialty division of Intas Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., is heading distribution in the United States.

FDA

The FDA’s Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee voted 19-2 that the next wave of COVID booster shots should include a component that targets the Omicron variant of the coronavirus.

Eli Lilly

As per the modified supply agreement with the government, Lilly will provide an additional 150,000 doses of bebtelovimab for about $275 million. The drug has also shown effectiveness against the Omicron variant.

Pfizer building

Pfizer and Roivant Sciences unveiled a new company called Priovant Therapeutics to develop and market new therapies for a wide range of autoimmune diseases with high mortality and morbidity rates.