Pharma companies are resisting a tentative agreement between 130 countries to create a minimum corporate tax of 15%. The plan intends to combat tax inversion and other forms of tax avoidance. Some U.S. industries, including Big Tech, have backed the plan given its potential to simplify accounting — even if it increases their tax rate.…

Earlier this year, Xilinx (San Jose, Calif.) launched its Kria line of adaptive system-on-modules (SOMs) for a host of AI applications, including in factory and healthcare environments. In terms of the former, the SOMs target digital twin, predictive maintenance and defect detection applications. SOMs, which are small embedded boards about the size of a credit…

Miki Pulley (Plymouth, Minn.) has new magnetic couplings that “mechanically isolate” the shafts and motor to provide clean operation in mixing systems, including in pharmaceutical and laboratory operations. The mechanically isolated magnetic coupling transmits torque through the air through both input and output hubs of the coupling. The couplings contain rare-earth neodymium magnets, which create…

Vacaville, Calif. is home to a burgeoning biotech hub. And there’s more to Vacaville’s biomanufacturing industry than Genentech’s presence there. “Genentech is just one of the biotech companies to open in Vacaville,” said Don Burrus, the city’s director of economic development services. “We’ve had biomanufacturers here for almost 30 years.” Genentech set up shop in…

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) announced today that the U.S. government has purchased another 200 million doses of their COVID-19 vaccine. Media outlets including CNN and the Financial Times cited a Biden administration official saying the additional doses are needed to vaccinate children under 12, pending FDA authorization, plus the potential need for additional booster…

Takeda Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:TAK) has announced that it is investing $126 million to expand a production facility in Thousand Oaks, one of the largest cities in Ventura County, California. The money will support constructing a new 15,000-ft2 manufacturing facility and renovating an existing 14,000–ft2 plant. The mayor of the city, Claudia Bill-de la Peña, joined Takeda officials…

The possibility that SARS-CoV-2 resulted from a laboratory accident has gained a degree of plausibility among several world leaders. But China has rejected calls for further investigation into the matter, saying such allegations disregard “common sense,” as Zeng Yixin, vice-minister of the National Health Commission (NHC), said at a press briefing. White House press secretary…

California Attorney General Rob Bonta announced a $26 billion settlement with Johnson & Johnson, among other companies, over opioids. The settlement includes Johnson & Johnson, which manufactured and marketed opioids, and pharmaceutical distributors Cardinal, McKesson and AmerisourceBergen. According to a news release, the settlement resolves investigations and litigation over the companies’ roles in creating and…

Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) today announced an agreement with Biovac to manufacture the companies’ COVID-19 vaccine for distribution in Africa. Cape Town, South Africa-based Biovac will perform manufacturing and distribution activities within Pfizer and BioNTech’s global COVID-19 vaccine supply chain and manufacturing network to aid in distribution within the African Union, according to a…

HCW Biologics Inc. (NASDAQ:HCWB) has announced that it is launching an underwritten initial public offering of 7,000,000 shares of common stock. Initially valued at $8.00 per share, the IPO would generate approximately $56.0 million. That sum does not include underwriting discounts, commissions and other offering expenses. The Miramar, Fla.–based preclinical-stage company specializes in immunotherapies that…