Vaccines

RSV
The FDA flagged at least five cases of severe or very severe RSV lower respiratory tract infections in infants immunized with Moderna’s investigational RNA vaccines.
President-elect Donald Trump and his incoming administration are unlikely to attempt a wholesale restructuring of U.S. healthcare and could promote M&A activity, but controversial picks like Robert F. Kennedy could impact vaccine sales, experts say.
Emboldened by technological advances and a deeper knowledge of glioblastoma, Merck, Kazia Therapeutics, CorriXR Therapeutics and others are targeting the often-fatal brain tumor.
Career conservative and former congressman Dave Weldon will, if confirmed, act as director of the Centers of Disease Control and Prevention, where his anti-vaccine views will mesh with those of selected Department of Health and Human Services head Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
RFK Jr. as HHS head is perhaps President-elect Donald Trump’s most controversial Cabinet pick now that Matt Gaetz has withdrawn as nominee for Attorney General. With Dr. Oz tapped to lead CMS and maybe Marty Makary at the FDA, it’s going to be quite the show.
FDA
Novavax’s shared jumped 12% in pre-market trading on the news.
While Moderna’s Spikevax beat Wall Street estimates in the third quarter, William Blair analyst Myles Minter in a Thursday note to investors said sales of the company’s respiratory syncytial virus vaccine mRESVIA was significantly lower than expected.
BMO Capital Markets analyst Evan Seigerman in a note to investors called Gilead’s third-quarter performance “consistent” and “steady,” while noting the company continues to demonstrate “reliable strength” in its human immunodeficiency virus business.
Driven by the early approval of its updated COVID-19 vaccine, BioNTech far exceeded analysts’ expectations in the third quarter and reported its first quarterly profit in 2024. However, the German biotech also cut its outlook for the year.
Offsetting Merck’s growth in the third quarter were disappointing revenues from its HPV vaccine Gardasil and type 2 diabetes pill Januvia, with the company on Thursday narrowing its 2024 sales and adjusted profit outlooks.
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