A “revolution” in technology that helped scientists develop Covid-19 vaccines in under a year must be sped up, so that when the next pandemic arrives a shot can be ready in 100 days, an international coalition said on March 10.
Clover Biopharmaceuticals raised a $230 million series C round co-led by GL Ventures and Temasek, which will push the Chinese fusion protein company’s Covid-19 vaccine into Phase II/III testing and production planning.
Novavax Inc. said the company’s coronavirus vaccine was 89.3% effective in preventing Covid-19 in a trial conducted in the United Kingdom, and was nearly as effective in protecting against the more highly contagious variant first discovered in the UK, according to a preliminary analysis.
Some 172 countries are engaging with the COVAX facility designed to ensure equitable access to Covid-19 vaccines, the World Health Organization said, but more funding is needed and countries need now to make binding commitments.
Novavax Inc. said South Korea’s SK bioscience would manufacture a component of the U.S. drug developer’s experimental coronavirus vaccine in a bid to boost the clinical-stage biotechnology company’s supply.
The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovation (CEPI) plans to have two or three manufacturing plants for each vaccine, James Robinson, a longtime biopharma executive leading CEPI’S vast manufacturing push, said in an interview.
Maryland-based Novavax snagged $384 in additional grant funding to advance the company’s vaccine candidate against COVID-19.
A global coalition set up to fight emerging epidemics struck a $31 million deal with scientists at Japan’s University of Tokyo to speed up work on a vaccine against a brain-damaging disease caused by the Nipah virus.
A global coalition set up during 2017 to fight epidemics has struck a $25 million deal with two U.S. biotech companies to accelerate work on a vaccine against the brain-damaging Nipah virus that has killed 12 people in India.