Infectious Diseases

The GSK-led joint venture has taken the lead in long-acting HIV treatment and prevention but has put back timelines on a key self-administered candidate.

Cytokinetics has a lot riding on the upcoming Phase III readout for aficamten, and crunch time is coming for plenty of other groups, too. 

Slower COVID-19 vaccine sales will see Moderna’s revenues decline this year, but the company is investing heavily to speed a new wave of therapies to the market.

Cidara Therapeutics has been given a lifeline after Johnson & Johnson’s opt-in on its universal flu prevention treatment – though the big pharma is expected to pass it onto a third party.

Pfizer said it also had preclinical data showing that the updated version of its vaccine has activity against the subvariant, which may be able to break through immunity

The company is developing a next-generation antibody for prevention of COVID-19 that targets highly conserved regions of the SARS-CoV-2 virus and thus may be able to overcome resistance.

The companies are all preparing to make available vaccines targeted to Omicron XBB subvariants, with the expectation that demand in the US will be about 50 million to 100 million doses.

The vaccine, already approved for adults, was approved for pregnant women to protect infants from birth up to six months from complications caused by respiratory syncytial virus.

Valneva is sticking by its forecast of getting US approval, and getting hold of a lucrative priority review voucher before the end of the year, despite the Food and Drug Administration needing more time to evaluate the French vaccine specialist’s single shot for chikungunya.

Hong Kong-based Immuno Cure expects its therapeutic DNA vaccine for HIV/AIDS will soon deliver early Phase I results in patients with late-stage infections, CEO Xia Jin tells Scrip in an interview, also touching on the local biotech ecosystem.

Bavarian Nordic is planning regulatory submissions on both sides of the Atlantic next year for its vaccine against chikungunya virus, CHIKV VLP, after it demonstrated protection from the mosquito-borne disease in a second Phase III study.

Sales of the COVID-19 antiviral continued their long decline, but even when factoring those in, Gilead’s overall revenue increased by 5% year-over-year.