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BMO Capital Markets analysts said the first day of the CDC vaccine advisory committee meeting Thursday had anti-vaccine overtones as the panel, which was revamped by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. in June, voted to recommend that children under four receive the measles, mumps, rubella (MMR) vaccine separately from a chickenpox vaccine. Today the advisors will vote on changing the childhood schedule for the hepatitis B and COVID-19 vaccines.
FEATURED STORIES
FDA
The FDA has several big-ticket decisions lined up to close out July, including applications in lymphoma, rare diseases and a hormone deficiency, while GSK dares to DREAMM again in multiple myeloma.
Market reaction to recent readouts from Compass Pathways and Beckley Psytech/atai in treatment-resistant depression speaks to the hurdles psychedelic therapies must clear to quell concerns about commercial viability.
Only with the adoption of digital imaging and AI-powered analysis will next-generation precision oncology therapies reach their full potential and ensure no eligible patient is overlooked.
Job Trends
Merck, known as MSD outside of the United States and Canada, announced that the Phase 3 KEYNOTE-B21 trial evaluating KEYTRUDA, Merck’s anti-PD-1 therapy, in combination with chemotherapy as adjuvant treatment, with or without radiotherapy, did not meet its primary endpoint of disease-free survival for the treatment of patients with newly diagnosed, high-risk endometrial cancer after surgery with curative intent.
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Read our takes on the biggest stories happening in the industry.
Following restricted vaccine approvals and changes to CDC immunization schedules, Merck, Pfizer, GSK and Sanofi are all suffering revenue hits to their vaccine programs.
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Generate:Biomedicines’ Nicole Clouse is one of the key legal minds trying to understand who owns what AI creates. The answers are critical to the future of biotech.
If the trend holds, IQVIA expects 2025 deal volume between Chinese and multinational companies to easily eclipse the 100 agreements signed in 2024.
While Truist Securities analysts said the results from the ATTAIN-2 trial leave “room for competition,” they also pointed to a manufacturing advantage that could unlock a “double-digit billion dollar opportunity” for Eli Lilly.
The MIT professor of management, who already sits on the CDC’s revamped immunization advisory committee, is a known skeptic of vaccines, particularly mRNA technology.
Based on new data, argenx expects to file for the expansion of Vyvgart’s label into patients with generalized myasthenia gravis who are negative for antibodies against the AChR marker—an indication William Blair analysts called the broadest option in this disease space.
The White House has denied reports that the government could soon ban COVID-19 vaccines, noting that in the absence of an official announcement, “any discussion about HHS policy should be dismissed as baseless speculation.”
Appia Bio’s shutdown continues an unfortunate trend this year that has seen biotech closures nearly every month.
Closely watched data from Eli Lilly and Viking Therapeutics this month have reignited the discussion around oral weight-loss drugs—and their ultimate place within the anti-obesity medication market.
Companies have claimed improvements to yield, batch consistency and output while acknowledging the risks and challenges created by the technology.
IPO
LB Pharma will test the IPO market to seek funding for a Phase III-ready schizophrenia asset.