AstraZeneca's Evusheld (tixagevimab co-packaged with cilgavimab), a long-acting antibody combination for the prevention of COVID-19, retained neutralising activity against the Omicron SARS-CoV-2 variant (B.1.1.529), according to new preclinical data.

In this study, Evusheld's Inhibitory Concentration 50 (IC50), a measure of neutralising potency of an antibody, was 171 ng/ml and 277 ng/ml in two confirmatory tests, which is within the range of neutralising titres found in someone who has been previously infected with COVID-19.

Novartis announced the introduction of T-Charge™, the company's next-generation CAR-T platform that will serve as the foundation for various new investigational CAR-T cell therapies in the Novartis pipeline. At the 63rd American Society of Hematology Annual Meeting & Exposition (ASH) 2021, Novartis will present early clinical data from ongoing Phase I clinical trials with YTB323 (anti-CD19) and PHE885 (anti-BCMA),

Medicago, a biopharmaceutical company headquartered in Quebec City, and GlaxoSmithKline plc (GSK) announce positive efficacy and safety results from the global Phase 3 placebo-controlled efficacy study of Medicago's plant-based COVID-19 vaccine candidate in combination with GSK's pandemic adjuvant, conducted in over 24,000 subjects (adults 18 years and above) across six countries.

Boehringer Ingelheim announced that it will dedicate EUR 50 million to a new initiative called "Boehringer Ingelheim Social Engagements". The program provides financing for impact to social businesses in vulnerable communities through non-traditional financing options, combined with a partnering approach.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced results from an initial laboratory study demonstrating that serum antibodies induced by the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 Vaccine (BNT162b2) neutralize the SARS-CoV-2 Omicron variant after three doses. Sera obtained from vaccinees one month after receiving the booster vaccination (third dose of BNT162b2 vaccine) neutralized the Omicron variant to levels that are comparable to those observed for the wild-type SARS-CoV-2 spike protein after two doses.

Roche (SIX: RO, ROG; OTCQX: RHHBY) announced today that it completed the repurchase of Roche shares that had been held by Novartis. On 4 November 2021, Roche and Novartis had announced this repurchase. The Extraordinary General Meeting of Roche Holding Ltd passed the resolutions required for the repurchase and the capital reduction on 26 November 2021.

GlaxoSmithKline plc and the University of Oxford announced a major five-year collaboration to establish the Oxford-GSK Institute of Molecular and Computational Medicine. The new Institute, which will be based at the University of Oxford, aims to improve the success and speed of research and development of new medicines, building on insights from human genetics and using advanced technologies such as functional genomics and machine learning.