Novavax Chief Executive Officer Stanley Erck believes the U.S. Food and Drug Administration could grant Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for the company’s Covid-19 vaccine by May.

Merck

Merck & Co. will help make rival Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine in order to boost the slower-than-promised production of the one-dose shot, U.S. President Joe Biden said on March 2.

COVAX

COVAX will deliver 237 million doses of AstraZeneca’s Covid-19 shot to 142 countries by the end of May as the World Health Organization-backed program steps up the global roll-out of its vaccine supplies.

U.S. vaccine developer Inovio Pharmaceuticals completed Phase II enrollment for a mid-to-late stage U.S. trial of the company’s Covid-19 vaccine candidate and expects to report data early in the second quarter.

Darmstadt, Germany-based Merck KGaA plunked down €188 million (about $226 million) in upfront cash to acquire exclusive global development and commercialization rights to Debiopharm’s oral Inhibitor of Apoptosis Proteins (IAP) antagonist, xevinapant.

Johnson & Johnson’s newly authorized Covid-19 vaccine started shipping and the company’s top executive said on March 1 that Americans should be able to receive the single-dose shot within 24 to 48 hours, adding a third vaccine in the United States.

Merck & Co.

Merck will have to wait to see if a Covid-19 therapeutic gained in November through the $425 million acquisition of OncoImmune can receive Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration requested additional data beyond the Phase III study announced during 2020

A panel of expert advisers to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Feb. 26 voted in favor of authorizing Johnson & Johnson’s Covid-19 vaccine for emergency use, bringing it an important step closer to a U.S. rollout.

World Health Organization

Countries seeking their own COVID-19 vaccine doses are making deals with drug companies that threaten the supply for the global COVAX program for poor and middle-income countries, the World Health Organization said on Feb. 26.

Roivant Sciences, the umbrella company for Vivek Ramaswamy’s series of ‘vant companies, acquired Silicon Therapeutics for $450 million in Roivant equity.