Biohealth Innovation - 434th Edition, December 1, 2020

BioHealth Innovation

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December 1, 2020

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Novavax Announces COVID-19 Vaccine Clinical Development Progress | Novavax Inc. - IR Site

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 30, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a late-stage biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, today provided an update on its COVID-19 vaccine program. NVX‑CoV2373 is a stable, prefusion protein antigen derived from the genetic sequence of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus spike (S) protein and adjuvanted with Novavax’ proprietary Matrix‑M™.

“Novavax is in a leading position to significantly contribute to the need for safe and efficacious vaccines that will ultimately end the worldwide COVID-19 pandemic,” said Stanley C. Erck, President and Chief Executive Officer, Novavax. “We continue to make meaningful progress as we work to test, manufacture and ultimately deliver NVX-CoV2373 with unprecedented speed, as well as put partnerships in place that would ensure widespread and equitable access worldwide.”

Maryland Company Poised to Produce Millions of Point-of-Care COVID-19 Tests that Deliver Accurate Results in 15 Minutes · BioBuzz

Rockville, Maryland’s Maxim Biomedical (MaximBio) is on the cusp of bringing 3 million of its new and effective point-of-care COVID-19 tests to the fight against the coronavirus pandemic in early 2021, with a scale up to 15 million tests per month expected by Q2 2021.

The company’s brand new point-of-care (POC), ready out-of-the-box antigen test is based on a Lateral Flow Assay technology (LFA) that produces visually interpreted results within 15 minutes.

Sisu’s Life Saving Hemafuse Device Introduced in Five Frontier Hospitals of Kenya - APO Group - Africa Newsroom / Press release

BALTIMORE, United States of America, October 29, 2020/APO Group/ -- Sisu Global’s (SisuGlobal.health) flagship medical device is Hemafuse, a surgical autotransfusion device that is revolutionizing blood access across Africa. There is a global shortage of 100 millions units of donor blood worldwide, and only 40% of the demand for blood transfusions is met across Africa. The COVID-19 pandemic has dramatically worsened the global blood shortage as blood drives and large gatherings have been cancelled. Autotransfusion is the process of salvaging and retransfusing the patient's own blood in cases of internal bleeding. Studies show that autotransfusion reduces a patient’s recovery time and risk of infection and removes the potential for rejection when compared to donor blood. Notably, autotransfusion is viable for cases of ruptured ectopic pregnancy. Other viable cases include blunt trauma, traffic accidents, and cardiac and orthopedic surgeries.

AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine, up to 90% effective in late-stage trials, is being manufactured in Baltimore - Baltimore Sun

Late-stage trials showed that AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, which is being manufactured for the United States in Baltimore, was up to 90% effective, the English pharmaceutical company said Monday.

AstraZeneca’s vaccine candidate gives public health officials hope they may soon have access to a vaccine that is cheaper and easier to distribute than those of some of its rivals.

Even though the vaccine still needs regulatory approval, it’s already being made at Emergent BioSolutions’ plant in East Baltimore. The Gaithersburg-based contract drug manufacturer was named AstraZeneca’s U.S. manufacturing partner in June. The partnership was expanded in July and is now valued at $261 million.

Altimmune Announces Submission of Investigational New Drug Application for AdCOVID™ a Single-dose Intranasal COVID-19 Vaccine; On Track to Commence Phase 1 Clinical Study in December Nasdaq:ALT

GAITHERSBURG, Md., Nov. 25, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Altimmune, Inc. (Nasdaq: ALT), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company advancing proprietary intranasal vaccines and peptide therapeutics, today announced that it has submitted an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to commence a Phase 1 clinical study of its single-dose intranasal COVID-19 vaccine candidate, AdCOVID. AdCOVID is designed to stimulate a broad immune response including both systemic immunity (neutralizing antibody) and local immunity (mucosal IgA and resident memory T cells) in the nasal cavity and respiratory tract.

Dr. Carol Nacy, CEO of Sequella Incorporated, joins BioTalk to discuss her career, the evolution of their science, and vision for the future.

Listen now via Apple https://apple.co/374aOFI, Google https://bit.ly/3pTGqqj, Spotify https://bit.ly/3nIl7WO, and TuneIn https://bit.ly/3nIl7WO

Dr. Nacy co-founded our Sequella in 1997 and has served as our CEO and Chairman of the Board since 1999. Prior to Sequella, Dr. Nacy served during 1997 and 1998 as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) for Anergen, Inc., a California company acquired by Corixa Corporation in December 1998. From 1993 through 1997, Dr. Nacy was Executive Vice President and CSO at EntreMed, Inc. and participated in its successful initial public offering in June 1996. Previously, Dr. Nacy was Career Scientist (GS-15) at the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research, Washington, DC. Dr. Nacy currently serves on the board of directors of companies and non-profit agencies.

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Johns Hopkins study shows 'magic mushrooms' may be effective in treating major depression - Baltimore Business Journal

Four weeks after receiving monitored doses of psilocybin, researchers reported more than half of the study's 24 participants had achieved remission from their depression.