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In August last year, the Health Department cut around $500 million in mRNA research funding, with Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. saying the agency would instead divert the money “toward safer, broader vaccine platforms.”
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Billions of dollars’ worth of cancer drugs are discarded each year. Manufacturers must refund Medicare for some of this waste. A data-driven approach offers a practical path to greater efficiency.
Sales of Merck’s longtime oncology blockbuster Keytruda will erode more starkly in about 2033 rather than 2029, predicts Bloomberg Intelligence, translating to some $22 billion more in revenue.
The necessity of delivering medicine days after it’s produced drives decisions about where to build facilities and how to ship radioactive materials to healthcare providers.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
FDA
Following the FDA’s refusal to review Moderna’s investigational mRNA flu vaccine last week, Commissioner Marty Makary faced questions from the U.S. president about the agency’s handling of vaccines. It’s a clear signal that the tension long brewing at the drug regulator has now gone all the way to the top.
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In this episode presented by DIA, BioSpace’s head of insights Lori Ellis discusses the underrepresentation of women in clinical trials with Martin Hodosi, partner at Kearney and Melissa Laitner, director of strategic initiatives at the National Academy of Medicine.
FDA
Experts express concern that last week’s unprecedented FDA layoffs will trigger a little-known mechanism that could result in a “disaster” the Trump administration doesn’t see coming.
Jefferies analysts predict Annexon’s tanruprubart could be approved by mid-2026.
Leerink analysts noted, however, that Uplizna’s slow onset of therapeutic efficacy compares unfavorably to would-be competitors in generalized myasthenia gravis.
The Fourth Circuit’s ruling follows a Supreme Court verdict that also allowed the Trump administration to move forward with its mass layoffs at federal agencies.
Known as the home of big-name companies including Johnson & Johnson, New Jersey has become a destination for more and more small and midsize life sciences businesses. Choose New Jersey, Grace Therapeutics and Onyx Equities executives discuss the state’s life sciences scene.
As the industry awaits official word from the administration on how the tariffs will hit, analysts go over the possibilities with one certainty: there will be increased costs for medicines.
Analysts suggested that the tariffs will have little effect on reshoring manufacturing and will likely decrease patient drug access and increase costs.
The National Security Commission on Emerging Biotechnology recommends at least a $15 billion investment into biotech over the next five years.
The FDA approved the use of Opdivo with Yervoy in front-line colorectal cancer, while a Manhattan court junked a class action complaint over the blood cancer drug Pomalyst.