South Korean firm outlines R&D milestones for this year including progress with a plasma therapy for COVID-19, as well as other challenges and opportunities amid the pandemic.

The UK BioIndustry Association has welcomed the government’s fresh investment in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity, while Sanofi and GSK are striking European and US deals for their vaccine candidate. A number of potential therapies are also being developed, including products based on interferon and hyperimmune globulin, but Roche/Chugai’s Actemra (tocilizumab) looks like a non-runner.

The South Korean pharma firm, which has been focusing on North America, decides to sell two subsidiaries there as the prolonged coronavirus pandemic further delays commercial manufacturing of plasma products. 

The standout development in this latest Coronavirus Notebook is that the cheap and plentiful steroid dexamethasone has been shown to reduce deaths by a third in ventilated COVID-19 patients in the UK Recovery trial. In other news, there is fresh funding for smaller firms working on potential treatments and vaccines, and a number of organizations have decided to make their research tools and resources available free of charge in return for open publication of any coronavirus-related findings.