Vir Biotechnology, Inc. (Nasdaq: VIR) and GlaxoSmithKline plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) announced an agreement with the U.K.-based AGILE initiative to evaluate VIR-7832 in patients with mild to moderate COVID-19 in a Phase 1b/2a clinical trial. VIR-7832 is a neutralising COVID-19 antibody that preclinical data suggests has two distinguishing properties: an enhanced ability to clear infected cells and the potential to enhance virus-specific T cell function, which could help treat and/or prevent COVID-19 infection.

At its virtual Pharma Media Day, Bayer presented exciting progress in transforming its pharmaceutical business with breakthrough innovation in healthcare that will significantly help patients suffering from conditions that are currently still difficult to treat. The company has recently heavily invested in external innovation with an unprecedented number of more than 25 collaboration agreements and acquisitions.

Valneva SE, a specialty vaccine company focused on prevention of infectious diseases with significant unmet medical need, announced it is in advanced discussions with the European Commission (EC) for the supply of up to 60 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine, VLA2001. VLA2001 is currently the only inactivated vaccine candidate in clinical trials against COVID-19 in Europe.

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE: PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) today announced results from an in vitro study conducted by Pfizer and the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) that shows the antibodies from people who have received the Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine effectively neutralize SARS-CoV-2 with a key mutation that is also found in two highly transmissible strains.

Moderna, Inc. (Nasdaq: MRNA), a biotechnology company pioneering messenger RNA (mRNA) therapeutics and vaccines, announced that the European Commission has granted a conditional marketing authorization (CMA) for COVID-19 Vaccine Moderna, allowing vaccination programs using the Moderna vaccine to be rolled out across the European Union.

Bayer has signed a collaboration and services agreement with CureVac N.V. (Nasdaq: CVAC), a biopharmaceutical company developing a new class of transformative medicines based on messenger ribonucleic acid (mRNA). Under the terms of the agreement, Bayer will support the further development, supply and key territory operations of CureVac's COVID-19 vaccine candidate CVnCoV.

AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine has been granted emergency use authorisation in India as well as Argentina, Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Mexico and Morocco for the active immunisation of adults.

The vaccine was shown in clinical trials to be safe and effective at preventing symptomatic COVID-19, with no severe cases and no hospitalisations more than 14 days after the second dose.