AstraZeneca nabs $23 million from US government for COVID-19 treatment development

Amid rumors of a possible merger with Gilead, AstraZeneca have secured $23.7 million in funding from the Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority (BARDA) and the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) a U.S. government agency that aims to advance the development of antibody-based COVID-19 treatments.

This collaboration between the three organizations is meant to support AstraZeneca's monoclonal antibody coronavirus treatment development. This investment will help the drugmaker move two COVID-19 antibody therapies it has licensed from researchers into clinical studies in the next two months.

Accroding to AstraZeneca, it has licensed six monoclonal antibody candidates from Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee.

Read the Reuters report