AstraZeneca has begun a U.S. phase 3 clinical trial of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate AZD1222. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority-funded study will enroll 30,000 adults at sites in the U.S. and some other countries in which the virus is prevalent.

After being bounced by Bristol Myers after its Celgene takeover, Jounce is courting again, this time an early romance with Gilead Sciences.

A new report from life science data analytics firm GlobalData has found that two-thirds of healthcare experts surveyed over the summer plan to use decentralized clinical trials.

After bagging a Novartis R&D exec earlier this year and three drug programs in 2018, Boston Pharmaceuticals is back at the Swiss major’s front door, nabbing an unwanted fatty liver drug.

Ionis Pharmaceuticals has struck a deal to buy its lipid disorder spinout Akcea Therapeutics. The deal will see Ionis pay around $500 million to acquire the 24% of Akcea that it doesn’t already own.

2019 was not a good year for Gilead’s fatty liver programs. Its lead prospect did worse than placebo in not one, but two, phase 3 studies, while its combination treatments also fell short in phase 2. It’s not letting those efforts go to waste, though—in studies presented at this year’s virtual International Liver Congress, Gilead and partner PathAI suggest improvements to NASH drug development.

Novartis has presented midphase data showing paroxysmal nocturnal hemoglobinuria (PNH) patients can safely transition from Alexion’s Soliris to its experimental oral candidate LNP023.

It’s no secret that Unum Therapeutics has had a tough run—in March, the company cut more than half its staff and wound down its clinical work in a bid to shore up a preclinical CAR-T prospect. Now, that program, along with the technology behind it, has found a new home: Sotio, a Prague-based biotech developing multiple types of cancer treatments.

AbbVie and Harvard University have signed up to a new $30 million early-stage infectious disease pact with coronavirus and hemorrhagic fever viruses two key targets of the deal.

Despite pandemic-related setbacks in its clinical program earlier this year, Novartis has continued to stack up favorable data for its cholesterol drug inclisiran—with a new analysis showing that 99% of treated patients cut their LDL levels by at least 30%.