Hello there and happy Friday from STAT’s London outpost, where the weekend is mere hours away. STAT reporter Andrew Joseph here, filling in for Mr. Pharmalot for the day. Spring has fully sprung here in the U.K., and our weekend plans include plenty of park time, and if we’re being honest, likely some time at the pub as well. Wishing you all sunny days ahead, and a reminder to ourselves and to all to bring the sunscreen. Here are a few news tidbits before you get on your way. …
Novavax, the beleaguered maker of a Covid-19 vaccine, just got a boost of its own, STAT writes. The French pharma company Sanofi on Friday said it had reached a licensing deal to sell Novavax’s Covid shot going forward as well as to try to combine the vaccine with Sanofi’s own flu shot. The pact includes a $500 million upfront payment, with up to $700 million more on the table if certain regulatory and launch milestones are reached. Sales of Novavax’s Covid shot have sputtered along, and last year, the Maryland-based company warned that it may not be able to stay in business.
An ambitious effort to cure HIV with CRISPR genome editing fell short in an early clinical trial, STAT informs us. In the study, run by Excision BioTherapeutics, researchers hoped they could send CRISPR to cells where the virus had wormed its way into patients’ DNA, and, by cutting the HIV DNA lurking there at two spots, slice out the virus. But when they took three of the five patients that received the therapy off conventional antiviral treatment, the virus soon rebounded and the patients had to resume the standard medications.
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