Industry news

• COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub to be set up in South Africa

  23 June 2021 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  A South African consortium will be the first to establish a COVID-19 mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub to scale up vaccine production and access.

• Survey Reveals Attitudes of Public Toward Rare Diseases and Medicines Access

  23 June 2021 BioPharm International

  BIA has published a report presenting the findings of a survey on the public attitudes toward equal access to medicines for those living with rare diseases.

• NEWS Collaboration to develop an automated CAR T-cell manufacturing system for clinics

  21 June 2021 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  German oncology clinics are working with Optima Pharma to create an automated manufacturing unit for decentralised production of CAR T-cell therapies in treatment centres.

• COVID-19 antibody therapeutics – where are they now?

  21 June 2021 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  In this article, EPR’s Hannah Balfour explores the current usage of monoclonal antibody therapies for COVID-19, with commentary from Professor Adrian Streinu-Cercel of the Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy.

• Researchers develop fast COVID-19 test using atom-thick sheets of graphene

  18 June 2021 Conor Hale / FierceBiotech

  Researchers at the University of Illinois Chicago have potentially found a new method of passively detecting the coronavirus using sheets of graphene, one of the thinnest and strongest materials on the planet.

• New COVID-19 approach exploits protein response in human cells to combat virus

  18 June 2021 Angus Liu / FierceBiotech

  The development of COVID-19 drugs such as Gilead Sciences’ Veklury (remdesivir) has mostly focused on directly targeting the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus. But scientists at the University of Cambridge are taking a different approach to treating the disease by looking at an infection response pathway in human cells.

• CAR T therapy achieves high remission rate in acute lymphoblastic leukaemia trial

  17 June 2021 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  Trial data shows 71 percent of adult B cell acute lymphoblastic leukaemia patients receiving Tecartus^® autologous anti-CD19-transduced CD3+ cell infusion achieved complete remission.

• Antibody cocktail improves survival in seronegative hospitalised COVID-19 patients

  17 June 2021 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  Phase III data shows REGEN-COV™ (casirivimab and imdevimab) reduced risk of death by 20 percent in hospitalised COVID-19 patients lacking an immune response to SARS-CoV-2.

• Grayling research reveals increasing goodwill towards pharma: but can it last?

  16 June 2021 Grayling

  How is public awareness of – and trust in – big pharma companies changing as the pandemic evolves? How is the relationship between pharmaceutical companies and governments changing and what does this mean for the future of the industry? How can pharmaceutical companies improve their communication with stakeholders in the medical industry, government and the public at large?

• G7 to share 870 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine with poorest countries

  16 June 2021 Hannah Balfour / European Pharmaceutical Review

  Global leaders at the G7 summit pledged 870 million COVID-19 vaccine doses, with half to be delivered by the end of 2021, to COVAX for distribution among low- and middle-income countries.