Business & Industry News Channel
Novartis has signed an initial agreement to leverage its manufacturing capacity and capabilities in order to address the COVID-19 pandemic by supporting the production of the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine. The agreement will see Novartis utilizing its aseptic manufacturing facilities at its site in Stein, Switzerland. 
Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) announced the publication in Nature Medicine of data from in vitro studies that demonstrate that sera from individuals vaccinated with the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine neutralize SARS-CoV-2 with key mutations present in the United Kingdom (U.K.) and South African variants. 
Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced it has obtained the CE mark for its new SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test Nasal. The test will be available in countries accepting the CE mark by mid-February 2021.
In comparison to the existing Roche SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test, the SARS-CoV-2 Rapid Antigen Test Nasal collects the sample from the front area of the nose instead of the nasopharynx, resulting in a simplified and faster testing procedure(1).
GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) and CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC) announced a new €150m collaboration, building on their existing relationship, to jointly develop next generation mRNA vaccines for COVID-19 with the potential for a multi-valent approach to address multiple emerging variants in one vaccine. 
The primary analysis of the Phase III clinical trials from the UK, Brazil and South Africa, published as a preprint in The Lancet confirmed COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca is safe and effective at preventing COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations, more than 22 days after the first dose. 
The Gamaleya National Research Center of Epidemiology and Microbiology of the Ministry of Health of the Russian Federation and the Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announce that The Lancet, one of the world's oldest and most respected medical journals, has published interim results of a Phase III clinical trial of Sputnik V, confirming the vaccine's high efficacy and safety. Sputnik V, which is based on a well-studied human adenoviral vectors platform, is the world's first registered vaccine against coronavirus. 
In a joint press briefing today together with German Health Minister Jens Spahn, Minister-President of North Rhine-Westphalia, Armin Laschet, and Chief Executive Officer of CureVac N.V., Franz-Werner Haas, Member of the Board of Management, Bayer AG and President of the Bayer’s Pharmaceuticals Division, Stefan Oelrich, made the following statement: