Russia’s Sputnik V vaccine gets the all-clear in India as the COVAX initiative hits the shortages speed bump. Also, two more antibody treatments are OKd for use in COVID-19 in the UK.

Zentalis outlines promising antitumor activity associated with its WEE1 inhibitor, Phase II trials are planned for Pieris Pharmaceuticals’ fusion protein in HER2-positive cancers, while HPV-positive cancers are being targeted by Hookipa’s immunotherapeutics in arenavirus vectors, and Eli Lilly is planning early-stage clinical trials with its next-generation KRAS inhibitor.

Following last year's licensing deal with Precision Biosciences and the acquisition of Prevail Therapeutics, Eli Lilly is expanding its gene therapy efforts by backing Jaguar, a start-up staffed by former AveXis bosses.

With a couple of major partnerships and a stable of internal projects, Teva expects to play a role in the “majority of meaningful US biosimilar launches in the next five-to-eight years,” executive vice-president for North America commercial Brendan O’Grady told Generics Bulletin in an exclusive interview.