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The new structure will help Merck as it slides toward a loss of exclusivity for Keytruda, pharma’s best-selling drug.
Ralph Abraham, a vocal vaccine skeptic who served at the agency for just three months, has stepped down due to “unforeseen family obligations,” according to the CDC.
Many scientists-turned-CEOs paradoxically abandon scientific principles when it comes to commercializing their innovations. But applying the scientific method to business decisions can help life science entrepreneurs avoid common pitfalls, attract investment and ultimately bring transformative technologies to market.
The FDA outright refuses to review Moderna’s mRNA-based flu vaccine as CBER director Vinay Prasad’s conduct is scrutinized; Disc Medicine receives an unexpected rejection, which Prasad may also have had a hand in; Compass Pathways posts new late-stage data on its psilocybin-based depression drug; CDC is once again leaderless.
Richard Pazdur had spent 26 years at the FDA before stepping down last year due to disagreements with Commissioner Marty Makary about lowering the number of clinical trials required for a new drug application, Pazdur told the media.
The sudden departure stands in contrast to other EU pharma leaders who have been given much longer transitions in recent months, including GSK’s Emma Walmsley and Novo Nordisk’s Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen.
A rapturous response to data published last year for Pelage’s hair loss candidate overwhelmed the biotech. Now, the company is ready to show the world the science behind the breakthrough.
Onvansertib cut the risk of death or disease progression by 62% versus standard of care, but analysts await more detailed data.
Attendance at the Biotech CEO Sisterhood’s annual photo of women leaders and allies in Union Square doubled this year. There’s still more work to do.
In his annual letter, Flagship Pioneering’s Noubar Afeyan lays out a choice between near-term “human-made miracles” and a reversion to the pain and suffering of past diseases due to “growing contempt” in the U.S. for the scientific method.
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