Research & Development

Moderna announces expansion of BARDA agreement to support larger phase 3 programme for Covid-19 vaccine

Moderna, a clinical stage biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines to create a new generation of transformative medicines for patients, today announced a modification to its contract with the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) for an additional commitment of up to $472 million to support late stage clinical development including the expanded Phase 3 study of the Company’s mRNA vaccine candidate (mRNA-1273) against Covid-19.

Novartis announces phase III study of Jakavi in chronic graft-versus-host disease met primary and key secondary endpoints

Novartis announced that the Phase III REACH3 study evaluating Jakavi® (ruxolitinib) in patients with steroid-refractory or steroid-dependent chronic graft-versus-host disease (GvHD) met its primary endpoint of superior overall response rate (ORR) at Week 24 versus best available therapy (BAT).

Roche, Jnana sign multi-target collaboration deal for small molecule drugs

Jnana Therapeutics has signed a multi-target collaboration and license deal worth over $1bn with Roche for the discovery of small molecule drugs for the treatment of immune-mediated and neurological diseases.

Gilead Sciences to buy 49.9% stake in Tizona Therapeutics for $300m

Gilead Sciences has agreed to invest up to $300m to acquire a 49.9% equity stake in clinical-stage immunotherapy company Tizona Therapeutics.

JW Therapeutics acquires Syracuse and license to Eureka’s solid tumour technology in China

JW Therapeutics announced the acquisition of Syracuse Biopharma (Hong Kong) Limited, which includes the license for Eureka Therapeutics’ ARTEMIS antibody TCR and solid tumor technology for exclusive use in China and the ASEAN countries.

GSK to acquire 10% stake in German biotech company CureVac

British drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline (GSK) has agreed to invest up to €150m to acquire a 10% stake in German biotech company CureVac.

Tonix announces collaboration to develop precision medicine techniques for Covid-19 vaccines and therapeutics

Tonix Pharmaceuticals Holding, a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company, announced it has entered into a research collaboration and option agreement with Columbia University focused on studying the immune responses to COVID-19 in healthy volunteers who have recovered from COVID-19 or were asymptomatic.

US university says common FDA-approved drug may effectively neutralise SARS-CoV-2 virus

A common drug, already approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), may also be a powerful tool in fighting COVID-19, according to research published this week in Antiviral Research.

Roche, Blueprint Medicines sign $1.7bn worth deal for pralsetinib

Roche and Blueprint Medicines have signed a global licensing and collaboration deal worth up to $1.7bn for the latter's pralsetinib, an investigational treatment for RET-altered cancers.