mRNA
Later this month, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.'s revamped CDC vaccine advisory committee will discuss RSV vaccination guidelines for the newly approved patient group, high-risk adults 18 through 49. Analysts and other experts have warned that the new panel includes some who have documented anti-vaccine sentiments as well as those who have spoken out against mRNA technology specifically.
Vocal skeptics of COVID-19 vaccinations gave mRNA a bad name and government funding for mRNA research is now being cut. On the flip side, at least one CEO said the pandemic also provided “elevated acceleration” for the field, which also holds promise in therapeutics for cancer and rare diseases.
Arcturus is extending its cash runway into 2028 by discontinuing its early-stage vaccine candidates.
As it did during the COVID-19 pandemic, mRNA technology offers an efficient way forward in developing products for diseases that lack approved treatments.
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference started off with a flurry of deals that reinvigorated excitement across the biopharma industry. Johnson & Johnson moved to acquire Intra-Cellular Therapies for $14.6 billion, breaking a dealmaking barrier that kept Big Pharma’s 2024 biotech buyouts to under $5 billion.
The funding, which follows the $176 million the government awarded Moderna in June 2024, aims to get mRNA vaccines ready before bird flu strains currently circulating in the wild and on farms can potentially cause human outbreaks.
Biopharma executives make their predictions for the year ahead, from a bold forecast for the return of the megadeal to a plea for the slow, healthy recovery of the industry at large.
As I ran from interview to interview across San Francisco, I was consistently warmed by the stories I was told by biotech and pharma executives—and the general comradery in the air throughout the chaotic event.
AbbVie and Gilead are going back to their roots and leaning on their established areas of expertise to set themselves up for sustainable success in 2025.
While investors and analysts push for a deal, Biogen CEO Chris Viehbacher and Head of Development Priya Singhal refuse to make one out of desperation.
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