INFOGRAPHIC: In 2019, 10 blockbuster medicines booked combined sales of $92.5bn. This infographic examines those drugs that commanded the greatest revenues globally, and answers some key questions. Which therapeutic areas include the most lucrative blockbusters? Which companies enjoyed their spoils? And which drugs were new to the top 10 last year? It also takes a look at the position of these products on the all-important US market. 

Pricing set somewhere down the middle as Moderna reaches deal with US government on initial supplies of its mRNA coronavirus vaccine.

Headquartered in both China and US, the new firm will help partners bring drugs to China and other Asian markets. Novavax licenses COVID-19 vaccine in Japan to Takeda, following previous week’s deal for the vaccine in India.

Deal Snapshot: In acquiring its fellow San Diego firm for an estimated deal value of up to $516m, Ligand picks up protein-expression technology, revenue-driving partnerships and the potential for more.

Created when BetterLife bought Altum at end-July, the merged entity will now focus on advancing the acquired group’s lead asset, an inhaled form of its patented interferon a2b product, as an early treatment for COVID-19.

Expanding on difficult conversations during the recent BIO Digital meeting, the group aims to take actions that will increase diversity and inclusion in health care, science and industry.

Risdiplam’s efficacy across two clinical trials and oral dosing made it a credible threat before its US FDA approval, but its weight-based pricing falls below Biogen’s Spinraza and Novartis’s Zolgensma. 

Following safety issues raised by the US FDA, no toxicity concerns have emerged in preclinical studies of Newron’s candidate schizophrenia therapy, evenamide, and a clinical safety study has started to evaluate its CNS effects.

Takeda has linked up with COVID-19 vaccine frontrunner Novavax, while Daiichi Sankyo has been selected by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare as an official participant under the first round of a national government initiative to build production capacity.

Competing with several other firms to bring the first microbiome-derived therapy to market, Seres says the magnitude of its Phase III efficacy compared to placebo may enough for registrational filing.