To view this email as a web page, click here

Today's Rundown

Featured Story

AstraZeneca gets $486M to test if COVID-19 antibodies can provide 12 months of protection

AstraZeneca has secured $486 million from the U.S. government to fund two phase 3 clinical trials of its anti-SARS-CoV-2 antibody cocktail AZD7442. The larger of the two studies will assess the ability of the long-acting antibodies to prevent infection with the pandemic coronavirus for up to 12 months.

read more

Top Stories

Amid Regeneron's emergency use bid, former FDA chief says U.S. 'too late' on mass manufacture of COVID-19 antibodies

Days removed from its star turn in President Donald Trump's COVID-19 treatment, Regeneron's antibody cocktail could be on the fast track to an emergency approval. But if it gets there, will there be enough supply to meet this year's demand? That boat's already sailed, a former FDA chief warned.

read more

How COVID-19 forced Humana's Broussard to rethink his leadership style

Humana CEO Bruce Broussard said that the COVID-19 pandemic forced him to reevaluate his leadership style as employees transitioned to working from home.

read more

Mayo Clinic, startup launch 'health passport' app with initial focus on COVID-19

Mayo Clinic has teamed up with a startup to roll out a mobile app that provides COVID-19 health status verification, much like a health passport. Here's why Mayo Clinic's John Halamka, M.D., believes digital health apps will play a key role in a post-COVID-19 "new normal."

read more

You've met Moderna, BioNTech and CureVac. Now meet Kernal Bio, the startup working on mRNA 2.0

Messenger RNA (mRNA) candidates are among the front-runners in the race for a COVID-19 vaccine, with Moderna and tandem Pfizer and BioNTech planning to seek emergency approvals later this year. But vaccination is just the tip of the iceberg for mRNA technologies, which Yusuf Erkul, Ph.D., thinks could be more useful as treatments for cancer, COVID-19 and beyond.

read more

Biopharma roundup: AstraZeneca signs shot licensing pact with Thailand; Abbott nabs FDA emergency nod for 8th diagnostic

British drugmaker AstraZeneca has signed a deal with the nation of Thailand to license and distribute the University of Oxford's recombinant protein-based COVID-19 shot. The FDA has granted an emergency use authorization to Abbott's AdviseDx blood serum antibody test, making it Abbott's eighth diagnostic with a tentative approval. 

read more

Healthcare roundup: University Hospitals pilots sleep pods for frontline workers during COVID-19

Follow along with the latest COVID-19 news straight from the Fierce Healthcare team.

read more

AstraZeneca debuts cancer awareness campaign to encourage continuing care during COVID-19

AstraZeneca wants people to know that while many aspects of daily life have stopped during the pandemic, cancer hasn’t. That's the goal of the company's “New Normal Same Cancer” awareness campaign to address the drop in cancer screenings and care during the pandemic.

read more

KFF analysis reaffirms payers' strong financial performance amid COVID-19

A new analysis from the Kaiser Family Foundation reaffirms an ongoing trend in the industry amid the coronavirus pandemic: insurers' strong financial performance.

read more