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.

Following the European Medicines Agency (EMA) approval, millions of AstraZeneca vaccines began shipping on 5 February as part of the initial 17m doses that are due to be delivered over the next weeks, with more planned in March.

AstraZeneca and IDT Biologika are exploring options to accelerate output of finished COVID-19 Vaccine AstraZeneca in the second quarter of 2021 in order to help support Europe's immediate vaccination needs during the pandemic.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today 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.

Johnson & Johnson (NYSE: JNJ) (the Company) announced that Janssen Biotech, Inc., has submitted an application to the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) requesting Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) for its investigational single-dose Janssen COVID-19 vaccine candidate.

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.