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The company expects that the U.S. COVID-19 vaccination rate will be “maybe a couple of points lower” than the prior level of around 20% but that pricing and Comirnaty’s market share will hold steady.
FEATURED STORIES
COUR Pharmaceuticals has been around a while, but not until last year did the company solidify behind its ultimate mission with a series A raise.
FDA
The hammer came down on an unspecified number of FDA employees this weekend, days after Robert F. Kennedy Jr. was confirmed as HHS Secretary.
Continuing our SCOPE 2025 coverage, Rohit Nambisan, CEO at Lokavant addresses not only current challenges, but the life sciences industry’s responsibility to maintain scientific integrity.
Job Trends
Astellas Pharma Inc. (TSE: 4503, President and CEO: Naoki Okamura, “Astellas”) announced today that it has completed the acquisition of Propella Therapeutics, Inc. (President and CEO: William Moore, “Propella”), and has become a wholly owned subsidiary of Astellas as of U.S. Eastern Time December 21, 2023.
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Nearly 90% of senior leaders who were at the FDA a year ago are no longer with the agency, a BioSpace analysis shows. None remain from the Office of the Commissioner.
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The layoffs will heavily affect Vertex’s operations in Rhode Island, where the biotech will consolidate three facilities into one.
Guggenheim Partners called Insmed’s Phase IIb readout “impressive across the board,” with an efficacy profile that positions TPIP to be best-in-class in pulmonary arterial hypertension.
For $812 million, Novo Nordisk will enlist Deep Apple to discover and develop a non-incretin therapy for obesity, months after the Danish pharma’s amylin efforts underwhelmed investors.
The deal is Lilly’s second obesity tie-up in a week, after sinking up to $870 million into an agreement with Camurus to develop long-acting versions of molecules against GLP-1 and other incretins.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. made waves this week, firing the remaining members of the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices; Metsera’s amylin drug produced weight loss of 8.4% at 36 days; and FDA leaders gathered last week to discuss the future of cell and gene therapy, a sector that has been in turmoil since the ousting of CBER Chief Peter Marks.
Some companies’ preferences for people who already have industry experience and the tough job market are among the hurdles those just starting out in biopharma must navigate, two recruitment experts told BioSpace.
Despite substantial investments in groundbreaking treatments, companies struggle to communicate value early and to the right audience. Here’s how they can do better.
Looking at licensing deals struck in the past 10 years, Jefferies found that many Big Pharmas do not ultimately follow through with M&A after earning a right of first negotiation. Sanofi, on the other hand, almost always does, as it did with Vigil recently.
Gene therapies have ridden investor mania to huge valuations but commercialization challenges have pushed market caps to the floor. At a roundtable last week, FDA leaders promised faster approvals and broad support to the industry.
BioSpace did a deep dive into executive pay, examining the highest compensation packages, pay ratios and golden parachutes—what a CEO would get paid to leave.