Aug. 21 Quick Takes: Pfizer’s Abrysvo granted maternal indication

FDA has expanded the label of respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine Abrysvo from Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) to include use in pregnant individuals to prevent RSV in infants under six months. The vaccine, which was approved in May for adults aged 60 and older, will now compete with Beyfortus nirsevimab, a mAb from AstraZeneca plc (LSE:AZN; NASDAQ:AZN) and Sanofi (Euronext:SAN; NYSE:SNY) that was approved in July to prevent the disease in newborns, infants and toddlers aged two and under. Abrysvo was already competing with RSV vaccine Arexvy from GSK plc (LSE:GSK; NYSE:GSK) in the older adult population; Arexvy is not being developed for the maternal population.

Genesis Therapeutics Inc. announced a $200 million series B financing co-led by its seed investor Andreessen Horowitz and an undisclosed, U.S.-based life-sciences-focused investor, bringing its total funds raised since launching in 2019 to over $280 million. The funds will help Genesis bring its first candidates to the clinic, expand its pipeline, and advance its GEMS (Genesis Exploration of Molecular Space) platform, which uses physics-based AI to generate billions of virtual small molecules for hit identification, and guides lead optimization with tunable controls. New investors included Fidelity Management & Research Co., BlackRock, and Nvidia’s venture capital arm NVentures; existing investors T. Rowe Price Associates, Rock Springs Capital, Radical Ventures, and Menlo Ventures also participated in the round. Genesis has R&D collaborations with Roche (SIX:ROG; OTCQX:RHHBY) and Eli Lilly and Co. (NYSE:LLY)...