Pharma will oppose a patent pool, but the world still needs a way to guarantee fair access to COVID-19 vaccines.

Having kept out of the race to develop a vaccine until now, Novartis has joined efforts with a collaboration using the AAV gene therapy vector.

Sun Pharma says that the first quarter of 2021 will likely be challenging across the industry with a lull in new prescriptions in India, especially in the acute and semi-chronic segments. But the firm remains upbeat about its lead psoriasis asset Ilumya, which has inched close to the $100m sales mark in its first full year of commercialization.

Roche is teaming up with Gilead on the combination trial, aiming to improve on results of remdesivir alone, which has failed to show mortality benefits in COVID-19 patients.

After a tepid performance in the fiscal fourth quarter, Torrent expects its key markets India, US and Brazil to be impacted by the COVID-19 fallout as well as a lack of visibility on regulatory approvals for its manufacturing facilities.

The pharmaceutical selling model will be modified even after the immediate COVID-19 pandemic crisis abates, the consulting firm ZS Associates predicts, citing new research.

Multiple vaccine and drug developers across the world report progress and partnerships amid volatility in their shares. 

The new US public benefit pharma manufacturing firm Phlow has received significant federal funding in a bid to improve domestic supply security. Scrip speaks to prominent executives in India's industry over whether this model, if widely replicated, could put at risk the clout and market access plans of the Indian generic industry, a major supplier to the US market. 

Pandemic-related collaborations between Hoth/VCU; Sorrento/Mt. Sinai Health; Audax/Northeastern U.; Alkido/U. of Maryland, Baltimore; Active Motif/Hisun BioRay/Fudan U. and more.

While Moderna and others frontrunners aim for a 2020 emergency use approval, Merck believes a more deliberate approach will pay off in the long term.

Mounting evidence that President Trump's 'game changer' does more harm than good for COVID-19 patients. Novovax and Medicago among the latest vaccine developers to report progress.

As generalist investors continue to push higher the stock prices of biotech companies that announce the most tenuous of coronavirus developments, the track record of biotech companies developing even vaccines for which the antigen is proven to be safe and efficacious remains poor.

Optimistic about the potential of repurposing its antiviral portfolio, Strides plans to soon begin bioequivalence studies for favipiravir, a molecule that has found favor as a COVID-19 therapy in a few countries. It also aims to introduce new products to fill the gap left by the withdrawal of ranitidine from the US market.

Strong showing by Dr Reddy’s in Europe in fiscal fourth quarter amid a string of launches and a ramp-up in France, Italy and Spain, with the Indian firm anticipating continued momentum in the region by leveraging its global portfolio. China growth strategy 'still valid', management maintains.

Private Company Edition: Atea and Phlow receive big money for big COVID-19 problems – treatments and manufacturing capacity. Also, Cowen raises a $493m fund and antifungal developer Amplyx increases series C round to $90m, among other recent VC deals.

Susanne Schaffert tells Scrip that policies of prioritizing coronavirus treatment to the detriment of cancer care was a worrying move that is negatively impacting survival and mortality.