Evotec SE is set to expand the company’s existing campus in Milton Park/Abingdon, UK, into a major, fully-integrated drug discovery and development centre.

Pfizer and Biontech SE have reached an agreement with the European Commission to supply 200 million doses of their mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

More than 1,800 attendees already registered for the Global Bioeconomy Summit 2020. The conference takes place virtually from November 16 to 20. 

Interim data on BioNtech’s/Pfizer’s COVID-19 vaccine candidate BNT162b2 suggest an efficacy of more than 90% – 30% better than required by the FDA.

Swiss drugmaker Vifor Pharma has licenced US and EU commercialisation rights of Angion Biomedica’s experimental kidney drug ANG-3777.

Most Compact System for Early Stage Processes – The Eppendorf DASbox Mini Bioreactor System, with its small working volume, compact design, as well as advanced control and information management options is ideal for research and early development processes.

Claire Skentelbery, well known and connected in the European biotech community, will be the new Director General of EuropaBio. She will join the EuropaBio team at the end of November.

Melanie Leveridge takes over the lead of the European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) UK to drive further collaboration between academia and biopharma industry.

CDMO – Continuous growth and diversification of the biotechnology market for pharmaceutical production have been recorded in the past years. It is expected that both trends, growth and diversification from blockbusters towards niche products, will continue. What requirements are derived from customers’ point of view and what are the advantages of Richter-Helm as a successful CDMO to fulfil such needs?

IP – In a recent decision (Royalty vs. DPMA; C-650/17), the European Court of Justice (ECJ) has shed some light on the conditions under which a supplementary protection certificate (SPC) may be granted. It has thus ended discussions that had arisen following earlier somewhat elusive ECJ-decisions. Whether this will be the last word to be heard on the topic remains to be seen.