PCA can detect SARS-CoV-2 within 15 minutes. Picture: GNA Biosolutions GmbH

Rapid tests have received a lot of attention during the Coronavirus pandemic, but as the number of tests available has increased, so has the confusion around the different types and what they can deliver. What if there were laboratory quality tests that could produce a result in just a few minutes?

© Arek Socham/Pixabay.com

The European Commission has reserved 300 million doses from Sanofi SA’/GSK plc’s adjuvanted recombinant COVID-19 vaccine.

Picture: Atriva Therapeutics GmbH

Viral pandemics are not a once-in-a-lifetime event but a constant threat looming over our heads. While the fight against SARS-CoV-2 is currently a top priority, we should not lose sight of what might come next. Broad-spectrum antiviral drugs like Atriva’s ATR-002, currently in Phase II clinical development for treating COVID-19, could be an effective measure in the fight against the current pandemic and future viral outbreaks.

© F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd

Roche has reported the failure of its IL-6R antagonist tocilizumab in patients with COVID-19 putting the efficacy of IL-6 inhibition at question.

© Enthera Srl, Milan

Italian start-up Enthera Pharmaceuticals has raised €28m to advance restorative therapy for type 1 diabetes and inflammatory bowel disease.

Picture: Vibalogics GmbH

Oncolytic viruses, viral vectors for gene therapy and viral-vectored prophylactic vaccines, are new, innovative, and already successful approaches for the treatment of severe diseases. The production of these viruses requires extensive experience and specially-designed GMP clean rooms. Vibalogics offers both.

Picture: Boehmert & Boehmert

SPCs offer up to five and a half years of additional protection after patent expiration for pharmaceuticals in order to compensate the patent holder’s inability to exploit their inventions while products undergo lengthy regulatory approvals.

©  Nattanan Kanchanaprat/Pixabay.com

Swiss Polyphor AG has strengthened its financial flexibility with an equity-linked financing.

Picture: Pistoia Alliance

Interview with Ian Harrow from the Pistoia Alliance, about how to improve life sciences data management with help of a new digital toolkit that makes data Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable – in brief: FAIR.

Prior to Danish Genmab A/S’s recent licence option deal with AbbVie Inc, Rentschler Biopharma has extended its collaboration with Genmab. European Biotechnology spoke with Rentschler Biopharma SE’s SVP Global BD Federico Pollano about the CDMO’s expertise in DuoBody® molecules production and the expansion of the CDMO’s U.S. production site in Milford.