CDMO, CMO, Supplier Roundup in Supporting COVID-19 Projects
The latest from CDMOs/CMOs and suppliers in COVID-19 projects featuring Evotec, Samsung Biologics, and Thermo Fisher Scientific.
Biologics Manufacturing
Evotec Gets Grant from Gates Foundation for COVID-19 mAbs
Just–Evotec Biologics, a technology platform company for the development and manufacture of biologics, and a wholly owned subsidiary of Evotec, has received a grant from the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to enable the development and production of monoclonal antibody (mAb) candidates for the prevention of severe COVID-19 in vulnerable populations in low- and middle-income countries. No financial details of the grant were disclosed.
Under the grant, as part of the COVID-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, an initiative launched by the Gates Foundation, Wellcome, and Mastercard to speed the development of and access to therapies for COVID-19, Evotec Biologics will use its proprietary software toolset, Abacus, to perform an in silico analysis of several lead candidate sequences of anti-SARS-CoV-2 mAbs provided to the foundation by several academic medical centers globally.
The Abacus analysis will identify key sequences that can impact developability and, if required, make recommendations to optimize the anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody candidates. In addition, Just–Evotec Biologics will perform cell-line development for two lead molecules.
Source: Evotec
Samsung Biologics, Dinona in Pact for COVID-19 Drug
Samsung Biologics, a biologics CDMO, has entered into a partnership agreement with Dinona, a Seoul, South Korea-based biopharmaceutical company, for fast-track development of Dinona’s DNP-019, a potential COVID-19 antibody therapy.
Under the agreement, Samsung will provide development services for cell-line development, process development, and non-clinical and clinical material manufacturing.
Source: Samsung Biologics
General
Thermo Fisher Increases Availability of COVID-19 Tests
Thermo Fisher Scientific has received an expansion of its emergency use authorization by the US Food and Drug Administration for its TaqPath COVID-19 Combo Kit, a multiplex diagnostic test that contains the assays and controls needed for the qualitative detection of nucleic acid from SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, to include an additional sample collection method provided by Everlywell, an Austin, Texas-based digital health testing company.
The TaqPath test is authorized for use with the Everlywell COVID-19 Test Home Collection Kit, which enables individuals to self-collect nasal swab specimens when determined by a healthcare provider to be appropriate based on results of a COVID-19 questionnaire.
Samples collected using the Everlywell self-collection kit may be processed by CLIA-certified laboratories running Thermo Fisher’s TaqMan SARS-CoV-2 RNase P Assay Kit, and the results obtained through the Everlywell online platform.
Source: Thermo Fisher Scientific
