Sean Whooley

Cell culture media, protein purification and molecular biology reagent manufacturer Teknova announced that it appointed Stephen Gunstream as its new CEO. Gunstream has nearly 20 years of experience in life sciences, having previously served as VP and GM for the research and clinical business at BD Biosciences, as well as the CCO at Integrated DNA…

Watson-Marlow Fluid Technology Group (WMFTG) announced that it launched its Certa Plus pump series for versatile fluid management in pharmaceuticals. Certa Plus uses the company’s MasoSine sinusoidal pumping technology to function across a range of applications with lower shear, lower power consumption, full traceability and cleanability when transferring syrups, oils, creams and gels, according to…

Tekni-Plex announced that it is debuting a new bench-top vial filling and sealing machine designed for lab research and small quantity start-up production. The Pentafill L + Fill machine is an upgrade to Tekni-Plex’s previous Pentafill L unit, which only seals vials. The latest tech accommodates five-unit strips of 0.33-, 0.6-, 1-, 3-, 5- and…

Inovio Pharmaceuticals (NSDQ:INO) announced that it received $71 million from the U.S. Defense Dept. to support its Cellectra 3PSP smart device. Funding from the DoD is set to support large-scale manufacturing for the Cellectra 3PSP and the procurement of Cellectra 2000 devices, which are used to deliver its INO-4800 COVID-19 vaccine candidate directly into the skin.…

Two U.S. government agencies today announced an agreement with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) for production and delivery of 100 million doses of a COVID-19 vaccine. The U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services, along with the U.S. Defense Dept., agreed to the large-scale production and U.S. delivery deal once Pfizer’s vaccine is successfully manufactured and approved. In addition to…

Researchers at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) are touting a computational model that could prevent microparticle clogging during injections. Microparticles, which are about the size of a grain of sand, can be difficult to inject if they get clogged in a typical syringe. The research team at MIT developed this new model that determines…

Emergent BioSolutions announced a five-year manufacturing agreement with Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) Janssen Pharmaceuticals for the parent company’s SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate. Gaithersburg, Md.-based Emergent is set to provide contract development and manufacturing services to produce Johnson & Johnson’s Ad26.COV2-S vaccine candidate at scale over five years, with the deal valued at approximately $480 million for…

The U.S. Health and Human Services Dept. and Defense Dept. announced a joint agreement with Novavax  (NSDQ:NVAX) worth $1.6 billion to scale the manufacturing of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate. Gaithersburg, Md.-based Novavax’s commercial-scale manufacturing is expected to produce 100 million doses of the investigational vaccine that would become available for use in clinical trials or,…

A new study by West Health and Gallup revealed that Americans are concerned with potential negative developments resulting from the COVID-19 pandemic. Nearly 90% of the 1,016 U.S. adults surveyed between May 11, 2020, and May 22, 2020, said they are “very” (55%) or “somewhat” (33%) concerned that the pharmaceutical industry will leverage the ongoing…

The U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) and Dept. of Defense (DoD) announced a joint effort to increase manufacturing for vials earmarked for COVID-19-related drugs and vaccines. The Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA), as part of HHS, collaborated with DoD to provide funding for U.S.-based companies Corning Inc. and SiO2 Materials…