Roche announced today that its TIB Molbiol subsidiary has made available testing solutions that can identify a number of COVID-19 variants. Basel, Switzerland-based Roche’s testing offerings can identify the SARS-CoV-2 (the virus causing COVID-19) B.1.1.529 variant and differentiate between the omicron subvariants BA.1, BA.1.1, BA.2, BA.2.2, BA.3 and delta, according to a news release. VirSNiP […]
COVID-19
Pfizer and BioNTech seeking FDA authorization of fourth COVID-19 vaccine dose for older adults
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq:BNTX) have filed an application to the FDA for Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for an additional COVID-19 vaccine booster dose in adults 65 years of age and older. The two companies announced yesterday that they have submitted two real-world data sets from Israel while the omicron variant was widespread. Pfizer […]
NIH to study allergic reactions to COVID-19 mRNA vaccine
Researchers from the NIH’s National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases (NIAID) are conducting a clinical trial on allergic reactions to mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. The single-site trial will enroll up to 100 people between 16 and 69 years old who had an allergic reaction to a first dose of COVID-19 mRNA vaccines. NIAID seeks participants […]
Pfizer plans to share data on fourth dose of COVID-19 vaccine with FDA
COVID-19 vaccine heavyweight Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) will soon provide data related to the fourth dose of its COVID-19 vaccine, according to Bloomberg. The company and its partner BioNTech (Nasdaq:BNTX) are also developing an omicron-specific version of the vaccine. Pfizer CEO Dr. Albert Bourla said that the data to be shared with FDA involve the fourth dose of […]
Countries in need will have access to Moderna COVID-19 vaccine tech
Moderna (Nasdaq:MRNA) announced four new initiatives within a global public health strategy for advancing mRNA vaccines. Cambridge, Massachusetts-based Moderna plans to expand its global public health portfolio, accelerate research in an effort to advance additional vaccines, expand its patent pledge to never enforce COVID-19 patents in the Gavi COVAX AMC for 92 low- and middle-income […]
Johnson & Johnson inks agreement to have its COVID-19 vaccine manufactured in Africa
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) announced today that it completed an agreement for the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine in Africa. The landmark agreement, made between Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals and South Africa-based Aspen SA Operations, allows for the first COVID-19 vaccine to be manufactured and made available by an African company for people living in […]
Philips and DOD aim to detect COVID early with wearable devices and an algorithm
Philips and the Pentagon are testing what they call “predictive bio-wearables” that can track changes in vital signs to offer an early warning of COVID-19 infection. Philips and the DOD Defense Innovation Unit (DIU) have used Garmin watches — the Fenix 6 and Vivoactive 4 — and Oura rings on more than 11,000 test patients […]
Moderna skyrockets on Street-beating Q4 driven by COVID-19 vaccine sales
Moderna (NSDQ:MRNA) shares are on the rise on fourth-quarter results that came in ahead of the consensus forecast. MRNA shares were up 11.7% at $161.51 per share in midday trading today. MassDevice’s MedTech 100 Index — which includes stocks of the world’s largest medical device companies — was up 1.1%. Get the full story at our sister site, […]
PharmaJet partner touts interim safety results for needle-free COVID-19 vaccine
PharmaJet announced today that its partner, Technovalia, reported positive interim safety results from a needle-free COVID-19 vaccine trial. Golden, Colorado–based PharmaJet’s needle-free injection systems are being studied with Covigen, a DNA-based vaccine developed by French-Thai pharmaceutical company BioNet-Asia in collaboration with Melbourne, Australia-based Technovalia. Enrollment for the trial began in June 2021. Get the full story […]
FDA resumes inspections in U.S. as omicron cases decline
The FDA announced that it is set to resume conducting domestic surveillance inspections after a brief postponement. In December, the agency confirmed temporary changes to inspectional activities due to COVID-19 as the omicron variant of the virus led to surges across the world. The FDA implemented the changes in the U.S. on Dec. 29, 2021, […]
Thermo Fisher launches PCR testing platform that detects COVID-19 pathogens in the air
Thermo Fisher Scientific (NYSE:TMO) announced today that it launched a new rapid environmental COVID-19 diagnostic platform. Waltham, Massachusetts-based Thermo Fisher designed its Renvo rapid in-air pathogen PCR test for detecting the virus on air samples collected through the company’s Thermo Scientific AerosolSense Sampler. According to a news release, the company designed the test for environmental […]