💊 Novo Nordisk’s diabetes battle grows stronger; Biogen takes on Alzheimer’s; SII back to AZ's Covid vaccines

#318 | Ghana says yes to Oxford malaria vaxx; US CDC says no to AMR; Medtech layoffs persist

Hello and welcome back to The Kable for a refreshingly light news day during what has otherwise been a rather heavy week.

Novo Nordisk has entered a potentially $2.6 billion deal with Canada’s Aspect Biosystems, which grants the former an exclusive worldwide license to leverage the latter’s bioprinting technology in a quest for up to four cell therapies targeting diabetes, obesity or both.

Biogen, meanwhile, is taking its partnership with Denali Therapeutics further as it picks up the development of a preclinical Alzheimer’s drug candidate which targets amyloid beta plaque in the brain.

In South Africa, the University of Cape Town’s Holistic Drug Discovery and Development Centre has received R13 million (~715k USD) from USAID through the MATRIX project. This collaboration will facilitate tech transfer and skill development to establish systems for the cost-effective development of APIs in the country.

Covid is back again in India, and how. After ceasing Covishield production in December 2021, the Serum Institute of India is restarting production of the AstraZeneca shot. SII currently also has a stock of six million Covovax shots.

Things aren't so sunny in Sunnyvale, California, at least for the 59 Medtronic workers who got laid off, as the facility they work in is set to shut in June this year.

And finally, in Japan, eggs are going from being a staple to a luxury. All thanks to that pesky avian influenza.