BioNTech, Pfizer complete exploratory talks with the European Commission for 200M COVID-19 vaccine doses
Plus computationally designed antivirals from the Institute for Protein Design, non-human primate data for BioNTech’s lead vaccine and more
BioNTech, Pfizer vaccine to supply vaccine to EU
On Wednesday, BioNTech SE (NASDAQ:BNTX) and Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) became the sixth group of COVID-19 vaccine developers to complete exploratory talks on procurement with the European Commission. The EC is looking to BioNTech and Pfizer to supply 200 million doses of BNT162 to EU members, with an option for extra 100 million doses, beginning by YE20 if BNT162b2 is authorized. The partners also said they have provided an expression of interest to supply BNT162 to the COVID-19 Vaccine Global Access (COVAX) facility.
Computationally designed COVID-19 antivirals
A team led by David Baker, an investigator at University of Washington’s Institute for Protein Design, has designed 10 miniproteins that inhibit SARS-CoV-2 replication in cells with IC50 values of 24 pM–35nM. The proteins, described Wednesday in a Science paper, block the interaction between the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein and its host cell receptor ACE2. The researchers, which included Washington University in St. Louis professor Michael Diamond, generated the miniproteins by optimizing computational scaffolds built around either the spike domain that binds ACE2, or the portion of ACE2 that interacts with the spike...