Technology
The Vaccine Group and APHA secure animal vaccine grant
In October 2024 the Animal and Plant Health Agency (APHA) and The Vaccine Group (TVG) announced that Innovate UK has awarded them a Smart
NeoDisc pipeline enables personalised cancer immunotherapy
A paper in Nature Biotechnology in October 2024 presents an “end-to-end clinical proteogenomic pipeline” to address the challenges associated
Panthera joins Parexel’s Site Alliance Vaccine Network
In October 2024, Panthera Biopartners announced that Parexel has confirmed its inclusion in the Parexel Site Alliance Vaccine Network.
SK bioscience announces $3 million investment in FinaBio
SK bioscience announced in October 2024 that it has signed an agreement to acquire a stake in Fina Biosolutions (FinaBio) with a $3 million investment.
CEPI and CIDRAP advance coronavirus vaccine R&D roadmap
CEPI announced in October 2024 that the Centre for Infectious Disease Research and Policy (CIDRAP) at the University of Minnesota is to receive US$3.2
Study pits recombinant DNA against IVT mRNA technologies
An article in Scientific Reports in September 2024 uses Digital Shadows to facilitate a comparison of recombinant DNA and in vitro (IVT) mRNA vaccine manufacturing technologies. The authors offer an assessment of which manufacturing platform is better suited for two...
PharmaJet and Scancell partner on Stratis for DNA vaccine
PharmaJet announced in September 2024 that it has entered a long-term license and supply agreement with Scancell Holdings to use PharmaJet’s Stratis Intramuscular (IM) Needle-free System for the delivery of its advanced melanoma DNA vaccine. Through the agreement,...
MinervaX and Wacker Biotech collaborate on GBS vaccine
MinervaX and Wacker Biotech announced a collaboration to manufacture active protein ingredients for MinervaX’s Group B Streptococcus (GBS) vaccine in September 2024. The vaccine candidate is a novel protein-only vaccine, based on fusions of “highly immunogenic and...
Plug-and-play: PROVIDENT consortium receives NIAID funding
Albert Einstein College of Medicine announced receipt of a five-year grant worth $14 million a year from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID). The grant is part of NIAID’s ReVAMPP (Research and Development of Vaccines and Monoclonal...
WHO prequalification for Bavarian Nordic’s MVA-BN
In September 2024, WHO announced that the MVA-BN vaccine, manufactured by Bavarian Nordic, is the first vaccine against mpox to be put on the prequalification list. This approval is “expected to facilitate timely and increased access” to the vaccine in “communities...
Vaccines Europe: supply chain resilience needs collaboration
A paper from Vaccines Europe in September 2024 reveals “key vulnerabilities” in the vaccine supply chain and offers strategies to strengthen resilience. The paper addresses the “main causes” of vulnerabilities, how manufacturers are addressing the issues disrupting...
mRNA vaccine shows potential against mpox in study
A paper in Cell in September 2024 presents a promising mRNA vaccine candidate against mpox disease. The mRNA-lipid nanoparticle (LNP) vaccine expresses MPXV surface proteins and was compared with modified vaccinia Ankara (MVA) vaccine, proving to confer protection...
Positive booster data for Valneva and Pfizer Lyme candidate
In September 2024, Valneva and Pfizer announced positive immunogenicity and safety data from the VLA15-221 Phase II study investigating a second booster vaccination of their Lyme disease vaccine candidate. The vaccine, VLA15, is administered one year after receipt of...
Emergent secures FDA mpox expansion for ACAM2000
In August 2024, Emergent BioSolutions announced that the US FDA has approved the supplemental Biologics License Application (sBLA) for the expansion of the indication for ACAM2000 to include prevention of mpox disease in individuals determined to be at high risk for...
Workflow to detect falsified vaccines validated in study
Researchers from the University of Oxford shared their work in npj vaccines in August 2024, addressing the threat of “substandard and falsified vaccines” through a matrix-assisted laser desorption/ionisation-mass spectrometry (MALDI-MS) workflow. Their study validates...
Bharat Biotech launches HILLCHOL against cholera
Bharat Biotech announced the launch of HILLCHOL in August 2024, describing the novel single-strain oral cholera vaccine (OCV) as a “significant advancement in global health”. With only one manufacturer supplying OCVs globally, there is a yearly deficit of ~40 million...
Gates Foundation grant for Immorna RSV vaccine efforts
Immorna Biotherapeutics announced in August 2024 that it has received a grant, worth $3,800,000, from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in support of the clinical development of JCXH-108. JCXH-108 is a Respiratory Syncytial Virus (RSV) vaccine based on Immorna’s...
Tonix partners with Bilthoven Biologics on mpox vaccine
Tonix Pharmaceuticals announced in August 2024 that it is collaborating with Bilthoven Biologics (BBio) to advance TNX-801. TNX-801 is Tonix’s mpox vaccine candidate, a live replicating, attenuated virus vaccine based on horsepox. It has demonstrated better...
Optimised synthetic DNA: CEPI funds Afrigen access efforts
CEPI announced in August 2024 that it is providing US$2.05 million to researchers at Afrigen Biologics to support their work on synthetic DNA. The scientists are exploring if it can act as an alternative to the “traditional” plasmid DNA required for mRNA vaccines,...
Partnership to transform intradermal injection technology
The Pandemic Institute announced in August 2024 that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with Pharma Latch after attending the Congress in Washington this April. The collaboration will pursue several projects focused on optimising technology for safe,...
