The UK BioIndustry Association has welcomed the government’s fresh investment in COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing capacity, while Sanofi and GSK are striking European and US deals for their vaccine candidate. A number of potential therapies are also being developed, including products based on interferon and hyperimmune globulin, but Roche/Chugai’s Actemra (tocilizumab) looks like a non-runner.

Having secured FDA approval, the UK's Acacia Pharma will market Byfavo, the first new product in the sedation space in decades, which was licensed from Italy's Cosmo and developed by Germany's Paion.

The standout development in this latest Coronavirus Notebook is that the cheap and plentiful steroid dexamethasone has been shown to reduce deaths by a third in ventilated COVID-19 patients in the UK Recovery trial. In other news, there is fresh funding for smaller firms working on potential treatments and vaccines, and a number of organizations have decided to make their research tools and resources available free of charge in return for open publication of any coronavirus-related findings.

Public Company Edition: The gene therapy firm’s IPO priced at $18 and ended its first day up 23.3% at $22.20 but fell to $21.50 when stocks recovered on 2 March. Also, RedHill raised $115m for product launches and Movantik purchase, and Avadel raised $65m to compete with Jazz.