Aurinia Pharmaceuticals announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved LUPKYNISTM in combination with a background immunosuppressive therapy regimen to treat adult patients with active lupus nephritis. LUPKYNIS is the first FDA-approved oral therapy for LN. In pivotal trials, patients treated with LUPKYNIS in combination with standard-of-care were more than twice as likely to achieve renal response and experienced a decline in urine protein creatinine ratio twice as fast as patients on typical SoC alone. Patients treated with LUPKYNIS showed improved response rates in all parameters across immunologically-active classes of LN studied. LUPKYNIS was approved by the FDA under Priority Review and was previously granted Fast Track designation from the Agency in 2016.

Lyft urged federal officials to ensure that drive through vaccination sites are accessible to people with mobility challenges. In a letter to the acting administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, Megan Callahan, Vice President of Lyft Healthcare said, "Without addressing transportation challenges for people who do not drive, drive-through only vaccination sites may not be accessible to many high-risk populations. We are already seeing reports of seniors - unable to drive long distances over long periods of time - facing transportation issues as they attempt to get to mass vaccination sites."

In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money Omar Asali said Ranpak is 100% paper and fiber based, a leader in environmentally friendly packaging. It has equipment that customizes the size of the box so waste is limited, Asali added. 50% of the company's business in the U.S. "We provide services to all the big e-commerce players in the U.S.," he noted. Ranpak is investing in material science with a focus on building solutions in the cold chain. According to Asali, the company aims to replace styrofoam.

Novavax announced that it has finalized an agreement with the Government of Canada to supply up to 76M doses of NVX-CoV2373, the company's recombinant protein-based COVID-19 vaccine. Canada has committed to purchase 52M doses of the vaccine with the option for up to an additional 24M doses. NVX-CoV2373 is currently in Phase 3 clinical development for the prevention of COVID-19. The company expects to supply NVX-CoV2373 to Canada beginning as early as the second quarter of 2021, following authorization by Canada's regulatory agency.

Northrop Grumman was awarded a firm-fixed-price prototype award with a total value of $155.03M through the Missile Defense Agency's authority under 10 U.S. Code 2371b. This prototype award was competitively solicited among awardees of the hypersonic and ballistic tracking space sensor phase IIA effort, which was competitively awarded as a prototype other transaction pursuant to 10 U.S. Code 2371b. Four proposals were received. Under this award, the performer will provide the Missile Defense Agency's hypersonic and ballistic tracking space sensor program with an on-orbit prototype demonstration, culminating with launch and early orbit testing. The work will be performed in Redondo Beach, California, with an estimated completion date of July 22, 2023. FY20 research, development, test and evaluation funds in the amount of $25M will be obligated at the time of award. These funds will expire at the end of the 2021 fiscal year. Missile Defense Agency is the contracting activity.

Boeing has been awarded option year four to its indefinite-delivery/indefinite-quantity contract via multiple task orders estimated at $123.11M for engineering support services, or ESS. ESS option year four exercise provides recurring and non-recurring engineering support services from Boeing in support of commercial derivative aircraft. Work is expected to be completed Jan. 31, 2023. This contract is the result of a sole-source acquisition. FY21 operation and maintenance funds in the amount of $49.26M are obligated at time of award via task order. The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center is the contracting activity.