Biotech company Valneva is manufacturing a Covid-19 vaccine at its plant in West Lothian, which is currently going through clinical trials.

SOTIO — highlighted a variety of ways the industry could address the high cost of making these therapies. Despite the fact each of these experts is focused on different types of cell therapies (allogenic and/or autologous) and therapeutic indications, their mindset was strikingly aligned around just how innovative a simplified C&G therapy manufacturing process would be.

If you’re not a fan of needles, how about a vaccine you take with a glass of water? That’s what San Francisco biotechnology company Vaxart is working on.

Acepodia closed its Series B round Tuesday morning, hoping to build upon CEO Sonny Hsiao’s work from when he was a biologist at UC Berkeley. The biotech plans to use the funds to advance its lead program through the end of a Phase I trial and launch a Phase II study, as well as to get two other candidates into the clinic.

A relevant topic in the healthcare space that has arisen amid the COVID-19 pandemic is the alarming drop in cancer screening rates globally due to limited access of patients to hospitals settings and cancellations of non-elective procedures, which will inevitably result in increased cancer deaths in coming years. The pandemic has reemphasized the relevance of the advancement of patient-friendly solutions that can help diagnose the warning signs of cancer effectively, while also reducing the need of hospital visits and invasive procedures. I believe that, in 2021, we will continue to see efforts from biotech and medical technology companies to improve performance of current patient-friendly screening tools, to offer increased sensitivity and specificity while ensuring patient compliance. For some cancers, such as colorectal cancer, this is particularly relevant, since screening for and later removal of benign colorectal polyps can in fact prevent development of the disease and later cancer.