A new global clinical trial initiative is assessing a number of second-generation candidate vaccines for COVID-19. The Australian medicines regulator has given the go-ahead for an approval application for one of the vaccines, from Taiwan’s Medigen.

Deal Snapshot: In addition to investigating the ADAR1 target with the UK biotech, Exelixis also has optioned a second candidate for non-Hodgkin’s lymphoma under its 2019 deal with Aurigene.

In this week's podcast edition of Five Must-Know Things: AstraZeneca looks to return to normality; Bayer’s hopes for Kerendia; Novartis’s plans for a new version of Zolgensma; Arcturus benefits from mRNA interest; and AbbVie changes tack in Alzheimer’s.

Singapore has granted approval for a Phase I/II trial of Arcturus’s next generation mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidates, hot on the heels of a similar approval from Vietnam earlier this week. The biotech’s share price duly rocketed, but there may be more at play.