FDA expanded approval of influenza treatment to post-exposure prevention
On Nov. 23, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) expanded the approved indication for Genentech’s Xofluza…
Gilead announced long-acting HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, lenacapavir, achieved primary endpoint in phase 2/3 study
On Nov. 18, 2020, Gilead Sciences announced topline results from the Phase 2/3 CAPELLA trial evaluating the company’s…
CIRM Board approved four new clinical trials
On Nov.12, 2020, the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved four new clinical…
ImmunityBio, NantKwest announced positive interim phase 1 safety data of hAd5 COVID-19 vaccine dose study
On Nov. 10, 2020, ImmunityBio and NantKwest, a clinical-stage, natural killer cell-based therapeutics company, announced they had administered…
Single-cell study of Ebola highlighted virus’s lethal maneuvers
On Nov. 6, 2020, in a study published in Cell, the researchers identified antiviral defense genes that the…
Stanford developed CRISPR ‘lab on a chip’ for detecting COVID-19
On Nov. 4, 2020, using the cutting-edge genetic editing technique known as CRISP ‘lab on a chip’ technology,…
UC Berkeley launched pop-up lab to monitor Bay Area sewage for COVID-19
On Oct. 29, 2020, UC Berkeley announced that it had launched a new high-throughput pop-up lab – a…
Vacaville unveiled California Biomanufacturing Center and next generation of biotech development
On Oct. 22, 2020, the City of Vacaville announced the start of the next generation of development of…
Entos announced spin-off company Aegis Life to support global vaccine commercialization
On Oct. 15, 2020, Entos Pharmaceuticals announces that its San Diego-based spinout company Aegis Life, will pursuing U.S….
DOD awarded $481 million to Cue Health to increase domestic production capacity of point-of-care testing
On Oct. 13, 2020, the Department of Defense (DOD), on behalf of the U.S. Department of Health and…
Cue received $481 million award to expand domestic production capacity of molecular, point-of-care COVID-19 tests
On Oct. 13, 2020, Cue Health announced a $481 Million award from the Department of Defense (DOD), on…
Biotechnology | Chemical | CRISPR | Genomics | Therapeutics
The Nobel Prize in Chemistry for 2020 was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer A Doudna
On Oct. 7, 2020, the Nobel Prize in Chemistry 2020 was awarded to Emmanuelle Charpentier and Jennifer Doudna…
Hologic Panther Platform and HIV-1 Quant assay used in ‘HIV Cure’ research
On Oct. 6, 2020, Hologic announced that two studies in the Journal of Clinical Microbiology demonstrated the utility…
FDA awarded contract to Stanford University to perform in-depth analysis of tissue samples to learn how SARS-CoV-2 causes COVID-19
On Oct. 5, 2020, the FDA awarded a research contract to the Stanford University School of Medicine to…
Lilly and Amgen announced manufacturing collaboration for COVID-19 antibody therapies
On Sept. 17, 2020, Eli Lilly and Amgen announced a global antibody manufacturing collaboration to significantly increase the…
Biotechnology | COVID-19 | Infectious Disease | Life Science History | Medicine | Non-Profit Research | Stem Cell | Therapeutics
California’s Stem Cell Agency and the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative partnered to create COVID-19 database
On Sept. 8, 2020, a new collaboration between the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) and the Chan…
U.S. Department of Defense sites selected for phase III COVID-19 vaccine trials
On Sept. 3, 2020, the U.S Department of Defense announced that five locations were identified to participate in…
Biotechnology | COVID-19 | FDA
OraSure’s ORAcollect-RNA device Included in EUA granted to MiraDx for SARS-CoV-2 test
On Sept. 3, 2020, OraSure Technologies announced that its ORAcollect-ﾷRNA (OR-100) collection device was included along with other…
Aegis Life launched to fight COVID-19 via DNA vaccines and therapeutics enabled by Fusogenix delivery technology
On Sept. 1, 2020, Entos Pharmaceuticals announce the launch of its San Diego-based spinout company Aegis Life, dedicated…
Titers of antibodies against SARS-CoV2 did not decline within four months
On Sept. 1, 2020, scientists at deCODE genetics in Iceland, a subsidiary of Amgen, published a study in…
Genomic analysis revealed many animal species may be vulnerable to SARS-CoV-2 infection
On Aug. 24, 2020, humans are not the only species facing a potential threat from SARS-CoV-2, the novel…
FDA approved teatment for rare disease affecting optic nerves, spinal cord
On Aug. 17, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Genentech’s Enspryng (satralizumab-mwge) for the treatment…
Biotechnology | Disease | FDA | Therapeutics
FDA approved oral treatment for spinal muscular atrophy
On Aug. 7, 2020, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Genentech’s Evrysdi (risdiplam) to treat patients…
Scientists revealed structural details of spike protein used in leading COVID-19 vaccine
On Aug. 7, 2020, scientists at Scripps Research announced they had obtained high-resolution, atomic-scale details of the structure…
First clone of endangered Przewalski’s horse born in conservation effort to save the species
On Aug. 6, 2020, the world’s first successfully cloned endangered Przewalski’s horse was born. Revive & Restore, San…
Members of the COVID R&D alliance and quantum leap healthcare collaborative enrolled first patients in I-SPY COVID trial
On Aug. 3, 2020, members of the COVID R&D Alliance AbbVie, Amgen and Takeda Pharma announced the first…
Biotechnology | COVID-19 | NIH
Quidel received NIH contract for $71 million to expand manufacturing capacity for Sofia SARS-CoV-2 antigen test for diagnosis of COVID-19
On Jul. 31, 2020, Quidel announced a preliminary contract with the NIH to support the expansion of its…
StartX Med Alliance of Remote and Telehealth companies respond to shift in patient care during COVID-19 crisis
On Jul. 28, 2020, StartX, a non-profit startup community of more than 1600 Stanford faculty and alumni founders,…
CIRM board approved two new discovery research projects for COVID-19
On Jul. 24, 2020, the governing Board of the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM) approved two new…
COVID-19 antibodies decay quickly after mild illness
On Jul. 22, 2020, University of California at Los Angeles researchers reported that they found. levels of antibodies…