CATEGORIES

“Our COVID-19 Vax Efficacy is Promising; Lyme disease & Chikungunya Shots in pipeline”

Headquartered in France, Valneva is an established European specialty vaccine company that has already commercialised the Japanese encephalitis vaccine IXIARO/ JESPECT and the oral cholera vaccine DUKORAL.

“We are expanding our capacity across Asia”

The life science company Sartorius, through its subgroup Sartorius Stedim Biotech, acquired cell culture specialist Xell AG headquartered in Germany, in 2021. To discuss the latest developments in the company following this acquisition, BioSpectrum spoke to Jean-Marc Cappia (J-MC), Head of Cell Line, Media & Testing Solutions, and Stefan Northoff(SN), Head of Product Development for Cell Culture Media, Cell Lines & Testing Solutions, both at Sartorius. Edited excerpts;

Hong Kong's Pluslife Biotech launches first handheld COVID-19 nucleic acid test

Pluslife Biotech, an enterprise based in the Greater Bay Area in Hong Kong, has launched the first handheld COVID-19 Nucleic Acid Test to help with epidemic prevention and control.

Psychedelic Trip to Wellness

Psychedelics have been used throughout history for medical purposes before being classified as illicit drugs in the 1960s. But that’s changing now, psychedelic drugs are gaining widespread attention as rigorous clinical trials have demonstrated their potential as a treatment for unmet needs in mental health. What explains this renaissance, how soon we will see psychedelic drugs in the market and most importantly where does big pharma stand in this? Let’s find out.

CEPI lays focus on developing heat-stable vaccine technology

Norway-based Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations (CEPI) has launched a new ‘Call for Proposals’ to improve the thermostability of vaccines against known epidemic and pandemic diseases like Ebola, Lassa fever, MERS, as well as COVID-19 or a novel Disease X.

A Reflection on 25 Years Well Spent: Building Our Reputation as Australia's Premier Bioanalytical and Toxicology Provider

This year, we at Agilex Biolabs celebrate our 25th year supporting Biotechs’ drug development programs as they champion safe and effective therapeutics through preclinical and clinical testing to bring relief to patient populations around the globe.

Boom Or Bust For Asian Healthcare?

Asia Pacific (APAC) is leaping with novel innovations while connecting the APAC market with global trends. Life sciences sector remains an attractive industry for investment from both strategic players and financial investors. The accelerated R&D activities amidst the pandemic attracted both outward direct investment (ODI) and foreign direct investment (FDI) in potential bio-pharma sectors at an estimated size of $40.25 billion in 2021. The surge in the pandemic is burgeoning consumer demand for innovative and potential healthcare products with the emerging digital health tech market. Thus, it’s essential to statistically analyse the perspective of the investment attractiveness in the APAC economy and translate it into a quantitative score to benchmark the performance of innovation and investments. Let’s gather some industry perspective on policy strengths and challenges in the markets for different stakeholders.

‘Click M' For Mental Health

Mental health and wellbeing has become a major cause for concern, especially due to the pandemic-induced psychological traumas, stemming from spending long hours in the confines of one’s home, minimal to zero social interaction, inability to meet and greet friends and family, as before and financial insecurity. Little wonder that the mental health space turned out to be ‘the hot’ sector in 2021, with funding more than doubling globally, climbing from $2.3 billion to $5.5 billion. As app-based mental health solutions are becoming a rage in APAC, we take a quick look at a few promising players.

US Highlights Covid-19 Neurological Symptoms

SARS-CoV-2 was initially identified as a respiratory virus, but it can affect the entire body, including the nervous system.

How IP Nitty-gritties Hinder Universal Immunisation

Since the COVID-19 immunisation started almost a year ago in January 2021, 60.2 per cent of the world population has received at least one dose of a COVID-19 vaccine and only 9.4 per cent of people in low-income countries have received at least one dose (source: our world in data). While there are many challenges to do so, the repeated argument being ‘pharma companies should forego Intellectual Property (IP) to expedite universal immunisation’. Should pharma companies waive IP during the pandemic? Will this ensure universal immunisation and equal distribution of therapies? Let’s find out.

Hong Kong develops anti-virus 3D printing material to rapidly terminate COVID-19

An interdisciplinary research team from The Hong Kong Polytechnic University (PolyU) has successfully developed the world’s first ‘anti-virus 3D printing material’ that can kill the COVID-19 virus on surfaces as well as most common viruses and bacteria.

Seeking The 'Fountain Of Youth'

In September 2021, Amazon founder Jeff Bezos invested in longevity biotech startup, Altos Labs putting the spotlight on the field of anti-ageing. Pharma and biotech firms are investing in research that could prevent and reverse the ageing process in humans, but can novel therapies actually provide longevity? Let's find out.

Hong Kong Studies Impact Of Pfizer Vaccine On Omicron Variant

A recent study jointly conducted by the LKS Faculty of Medicine, The University of Hong Kong (HKUMed) and the Faculty of Medicine, The Chinese University of Hong Kong (CU Medicine) has revealed that Omicron, the latest COVID-19 variant, can significantly reduce the virus neutralisation ability of Pfizer BioNTech (BNT162b2) vaccine by 32 folds or more. A similar test of another vaccine used in Hong Kong, CoronaVac, is being conducted and the results will soon be available.

Can Supply Chains Turn Pandemic-Proof?

The sudden and extreme impact on supplier/distributor network in light of the pandemic, forced policymakers and pharma companies to rethink about supply chains. Has the industry rose to the challenge and mitigated those issues while also ensuring the supply chain remains resilient to future disruptions? Let's find out.

Are Boosters Another Shot In The Dark?

Omicron and newer emerging variants have been portrayed as a cause of concern globally as several low and middle-income countries have not been able to immunise their citizens due to the shortage of COVID-19 vaccines. Notably, it was in the double-vaccinated South African individuals that the Omicron variant was first discovered. The COVID-19 Vaccines Global Access (COVAX) had promised two billion doses of COVID-19 vaccines by the end of 2021 to a total of 92 low-and middle-income countries that are eligible to receive COVID-19 vaccines through the COVAX mechanism. But, it has managed to deliver only about 95 million doses as developed nations hoarded surplus doses of the vaccines. Approximately 75 per cent of the 4.5 billion first doses of the COVID-19 vaccine that were rolled out, went to affluent countries. Can emerging variants make vaccine inequity a bigger challenge than it already is? Let's unravel.

Korea issues marketing authorisation to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine

American firm Moderna has announced that the Ministry of Food and Drug Safety of Korea (MFDS) has issued a marketing authorisation for Spikevax, Moderna's COVID-19 vaccine (mRNA-1273) manufactured by Samsung Biologics, a leading global CDMO providing fully integrated end-to-end contract development and manufacturing services.

We want to work with global innovation leaders in disruptive technologies

A company's agile structure depends on creating a network of scientific advisors and venture partners to accelerate its innovations and potentials. To achieve this, venture capitalists assist healthcare and biopharmaceutical companies at all stages of development, be it company's early-stage designing, stimulating transformative technologies or nurturing business growth. Erning Cao, Investment Director at Evonik Venture Capital (Shanghai, China) shares insights on strategic venture capital investment towards innovative business models in APAC healthcare industry promoting sustainable and ethical practices in the region.

Gilead Sciences to help end HIV epidemic in APAC with $1.5 M grant

US-based Gilead Sciences has announced the recipients of its 2021 Gilead Asia Pacific (APAC) Rainbow Grant, a regional grant programme that supports community-led projects which place people living with HIV and their communities at the heart of care.

DIGITAL RESET

Nothing could have prepared the world for the unprecedented chain of events over the past two years. We prefaced 2020 and 2021 saying anything is possible, but no one saw this level of hyper volatility completely disrupting business and life as we know it. While the world is now firmly planted in a digital-format, the economic and business outlook for 2022 will remain highly fluid owing to the pandemic. Moreover, it is indeed very likely that in 2022, the majority of Asia Pacific's GDP will be coming from digital products, services, and experiences across industries, with life sciences being one of them.

CEPI funds project to develop COVID-19 vaccines for variants

Norway-based CEPI, the Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations, and Affinivax, Inc. in the US have announced a partnership to advance the development of a novel vaccine that could provide broad protection against SARS-CoV-2 variants, and potentially other beta coronaviruses.

2022 seeks holistic revamping of pharma regulations

With the increasing relevance of the pharmaceutical industry, worldwide, as well as domestically, developments in regulation and policy pertaining to the industry are being keenly watched. We explore the expectations of a few opportunities and challenges that are projected for this industry in the coming year.

Who Covid-19 Solidarity Trial Picks Taiwan's Medigen's Vaccine

Taiwan’s Medigen Vaccine Biologics Corp (MVC) vaccine candidate, MVC-COV1901, has been recommended by an independent vaccine prioritisation advisory group to be included in the World Health Organisation (WHO) Solidarity Trial Vaccines (STv).

Vaccine Immunology — Potentially the Biggest Game Changer in Asian Healthcare

There is a common pearl of Indian wisdom that encourages parents to let their children play outside in the sun, rain, gardens and mud. The premise is that it allows children to grow closer to nature and natural elements, but it also helps them build immunity and become tough. In modern science, various medical research has reported the benefits of environmental exposure in early childhood for developing immunity.

“Uptick in public & private investors is enabling standalone companies”

Swiss biotech venture accelerator and incubator BaseLaunch was started in 2017 to help launch and grow the next generation of biotech companies. The accelerator has already financed 16 startups and most of them have raised series A funding.

“Our goal is to decouple process from the product”

Waters Corporation, a world leader in analytical technologies, has recorded sales of $1,949 million, an increase of 23 per cent for the first nine months of 2021, compared to sales of $1,579 million for the first nine months of 2020.

India launches Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission

The Prime Minister said that there are three major aspects of the Ayushman Bharat Health Infrastructure Mission to address the different gaps in the health sector of the country.

Reality of Universal Cancer Prevention & Cure

Oncology is the largest pharmaceutical therapeutic area, and big pharma is investing billions of dollars in search of the elusive cancer cure. With all this investment and innovation, will we ever see a universal cancer cure? Let’s find out.

Hong Kong provides $3M for Sydney health hub

A global collaboration to apply data science and artificial intelligence (AI) methods to solve intractable problems in public health has been launched simultaneously in Sydney and Hong Kong (HK).

Focusing on VIGILANCE & PREPAREDNESS

Despite advances in development of countermeasures such as diagnostics, therapeutics and vaccines, world travel and increased global interdependence have added layers of complexity to containing infectious diseases.

Holborn Wells, SpeedBio India JV to invest $1M for IVD manufacturing

SpeedBio is one of the leading IVD promoters in the region with a team of former executives from leading diagnostics and healthcare companies such as Siemens and CORE Diagnostics.