Janssen terminated a seven-year-old vaccine collaboration with Bavarian Nordic. The two companies partnered in 2015 to develop potential vaccines against the hepatitis B virus and human papillomaviruses.
Moderna is still fending off patent challenges over the lipid nanoparticle delivery system used in the company’s COVID-19 vaccine, Spikevax.
BioNTech’s first-quarter 2022 sales and earnings more than tripled due to demand for the COVID-19 vaccine the company developed with Pfizer, but the German biotech firm is still forecasting a full-year decline in vaccine sales.
COVID-19 vaccine makers are shifting gears and planning for a smaller, more competitive booster shot market after delivering as many doses as fast as they could over the last 18 months.
Severe obesity may weaken the effectiveness of COVID-19 vaccines in those who have never been infected with the coronavirus, according to a small Turkish study. Additionally, South African researchers have found infection with the Omicron variant of the coronavirus can significantly improve the immune system’s ability to protect against other variants, but only in people who have been vaccinated.
The Janssen COVID-19 vaccine is now limited to certain individuals ages 18 and up after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration downgraded its emergency use authorization.
The first World Trade Organization meeting to discuss a draft agreement to temporarily waive intellectual property rights for COVID-19 vaccines went “very well”, its chair said on May 6.
Valneva said on May 4 the French drugmaker will conduct a trial about the use of the company’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate VLA2001 as a booster jab following a mRNA vaccination or natural infection.
Moderna Inc. on May 4 forecast higher vaccine sales for the second half of 2022 than in the first six months of the year, as the company expects the virus that causes COVID-19 to follow a more seasonal pattern requiring booster shots in the fall.
Asthma in children may worsen after an infection with the coronavirus, doctors warn. Additionally, among people who were previously infected with the coronavirus, a third dose of an mRNA vaccine from Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna may not boost their protection against the Omicron variant of the virus, according to new data.
