Drug companies agree not to release COVID-19 vaccine until it’s ready

[Photo by Fusion Medical Animation on Unsplash]

Executives from nine different drug companies today announced a pledge to ensure safety with a potential COVID-19 vaccine.

The CEOs of AstraZeneca (NYSE:AZN), BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX), GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK), Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Merck (NYSE:MRK), Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA), Novavax (NSDQ:NVAX), Pfizer (NYSE:PFE)  and Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), all of whom are developing vaccine candidates, all signed the pledge, which vows to “uphold the integrity of the scientific process” as they pursue regulatory approvals of the first vaccines for the novel coronavirus.

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GSK-backed venture fund APVC sees opportunities in ultrasound

Juan-Pablo Mas of APVC details the firm’s investment in EXO.

Action Potential Venture Capital, a corporate investment arm of GSK, sees therapeutic opportunities in ultrasound, according to a partner at the group.

In this week’s DeviceTalks Weekly Podcast, Action Venture partner Juan-Pablo Mas explains why APCV led the recent round in Exo, a maker of the first piezoelectric micromachined ultrasonic transducer (PMUT) portable ultrasound imaging technology.

Mas also updates listeners on the venture fund’s interest in exploring other types of technologies. And he introduces LatinxVc, a non-profit group he co-founded to create opportunities for newcomers to venture capital.

Trust Securities Managing Director Kaila Krum says Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) executives are retooling the company to keep pace with smaller, more focused competitors.

Breaking down the company’s Q1 analyst ca…

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Sanofi, GSK to supply up to 60 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine to UK

Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) and GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) announced that they reached an agreement with the UK government to supply up to 60 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine.

Subject to a final contract, the UK government will receive the doses of a vaccine candidate developed by the two companies in partnership and based on the recombinant protein-based technology Sanofi used to produce an influenza vaccine, along with GSK’s pandemic adjuvant technology, according to a news release.

Sanofi expects a Phase 1/2 study for the vaccine candidate to begin in September, followed by a Phase 3 study by the end of 2020. If the sudies report positive data, regulatory approval could be garnered by the first half of 2021, while the two companies are scaling up manufacturing of the antigen and adjuvant to produce up to one billion doses per year overall.

“With our partner GSK, we are pleased to cooperate with the UK government as well as several other…

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