It takes a lot of negotiation with regulators, advisory boards, and alignment between commercial and portfolio management teams to define and agree a clinical trial protocol. Why on earth would companies change it once a study is underway?

Only one last step remains before the approval of South Korea’s first home-grown COVID-19 vaccine as SK Bioscience’s SKYCovione (GBP510) receives positive assessments from review committees. Any nod, which could happen this week, would mark a milestone for the country's ambitions of becoming a global vaccine hub.

Private Company Edition: While the tough state of financing for publicly traded drug developers continues, venture capital firms and private biopharma companies revealed billions of dollars in new VC funds and start-up financings, including $100m-plus mega-rounds for Tessa, Alladapt and ImCheck.

Bepirovirsen made the hepatitis B virus undetectable in nearly 30% of patients in a Phase II study – but it remains to be seen whether this response be sustained once treatment with the novel antisense product ends.