Look back at pharma news in the week to July 31, 2020

Last week’s notable news included mRNA therapeutics specialist Moderna announcing it had received an additional $472 million US government BARDA award for the development of its COVID-19 vaccine. Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline also gained a US government award under the Operation Warp Speed program worth $2.1 billion. Among deal-making developments, Japan’s Daiichi Sankyo on Monday announced a second licensing accord with AstraZeneca, this one for its cancer candidate DS-1062 worth up to $6.6 billion. Also, Roche entered a licensing deal with UCB for rights to its Alzheimer’s disease candidate UCB0107. Regulatory news included AstraZeneca gaining US Food and drug approval for its drug Breztri Aerosphere in the treatment of chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD).

Weekend shines for Moderna with $472 million BARDA award

In a press release last weekend, Moderna announced it will receive $472 million of additional funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA). This is in addition to a previous $483 million commitment, and raises the total value of the award to $955 million, noted SVB Leering Research analyst Dr Mani Foroohar. This incremental award will be used to fund Moderna’s Phase III trial set to begin imminently.