AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine, Vaxzevria (ChAdOx1-S [Recombinant]), formerly AZD1222, has been granted a special approval for emergency use in Japan for active immunisation of individuals aged 18 years and older, to prevent COVID-19 caused by SARS-CoV-2.

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Limited (TSE:4502/NYSE:TAK) ("Takeda") today announced that the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare (MHLW) granted special approval under article 14-3 of the Pharmaceuticals and Medical Devices Act for emergency use of Moderna's mRNA COVID-19 vaccine, TAK-919, now known as COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna Intramuscular Injection, in Japan.

Novartis announced that it has delivered one billion courses of antimalarial treatment since 1999. More than 90% of this artemisinin-based combination therapy (ACT) was supplied without profit to malaria-endemic countries around the globe.

The Sanofi and GSK adjuvanted recombinant COVID-19 vaccine candidate achieved strong rates of neutralizing antibody responses, in line with those measured in people who have recovered from COVID-19, in all adult age groups in a Phase 2 study with 722 volunteers. A global pivotal Phase 3 study is expected to start in the coming weeks.

Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY) and MiNA Therapeutics Limited, a pioneer in RNA activation therapeutics, announced a global research collaboration to develop novel drug candidates using MiNA's proprietary small activating RNA (saRNA) technology platform.

The Russian Direct Investment Fund (RDIF, Russia's sovereign wealth fund) announces the launch of vaccination with the Russian Sputnik V vaccine against coronavirus in India today.

Sputnik V has become the first foreign-made vaccine that is used in India contributing to the world’s largest COVID-19 vaccination campaign.

CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a global biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA), today announced together with its collaboration partner GSK, first preclinical data in a rat model, showing that its second-generation COVID-19 vaccine candidate, CV2CoV, induces high levels of antigen production as well as strong and dose-dependent immune responses in vaccinated animals.