The voluntary withdrawal of the license for the UK major's COVID-19 vaccine is due to a surplus of available updated jabs from other companies that target new variants and is not connected to the mis- and disinformation being peddled on the internet and elsewhere on very rare adverse events.

As COVID-19 vaccine sales decline, the company is investing billions in a diverse oncology pipeline including antibody drug conjugates, immunotherapy and cancer vaccines

Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty toppled after recording the highest ever annual sales for a pharmaceutical in 2022, while Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic climbed rapidly. But Merck & Co’s immuno-oncology blockbuster Keytruda was secure in the number one spot in 2023 as COVID-19 receded.

Emerging Company Profile: The eight-year-old vaccine firm is planning clinical trials in the Philippines and Brazil to see how its synthetic viral peptide vaccine technology stands up against coronaviruses and dengue fever.