Mergers and acquisitions are set to gain momentum in South Korea as firms outside the sector seek new growth engines and more open-minded biopharma companies seek rapid growth and globalization.

HIV PrEP and treatments saw increases in sales, though the US treatment market’s recovery was slower than expected and may need “several” quarters to return to pre-pandemic levels.

While demand for Shingrix is expected to return in the US, the slow process of COVID-19 vaccination in many other countries will delay its uptake.

Faced with a slowdown in the US from a lack of regulatory approvals, Torrent Pharma is looking at alternate growth strategies. Its entry into the trade generics segment in India, joining other pharma majors, is one to be watched as it marks a strategic shift.

Dr Reddy’s is to press ahead with India filing plans for single-dose COVID-19 vaccine Sputnik Light and also expects to “build on” the Russian partner’s trial in adolescents of the two-dose Sputnik V. The company also pilots a partnered first-of-its-kind cashless digital health offering.

The company raised revenue guidance for its COVID-19 vaccine this year to a staggering $33bn from a prior estimate of $26bn.

They may have a good shot at passage given recent actions by President Biden and the Federal Trade Commission, and bipartisan interest in drug pricing. 

Biocon is awaiting a scheduled FDA pre-approval inspection for insulin aspart at its facility in Malaysia, amid concerns that the surge in COVID-19 cases in the Southeast Asian nation may cloud timelines. The Indian firm is also pursuing a mutual recognition agreement route with the agency for a generic product approval.

As Democrats in the US Congress work to move legislation empowering the Health and Human Services Department to negotiate drug prices directly with manufacturers, the Center For American Progress releases an analysis on which drugs would be targeted by House bill HR 3 and how much prices could be reduced.

Ipsen has inked a worldwide collaboration pact with BAKX Therapeutics to research, develop, manufacture and commercialize the biotech’s asset BKX-001 as a potential treatment for leukemia, lymphoma and solid tumors.

AGTC hopes to gain the first approval in X-linked retinitis pigmentosa for its gene therapy AGTC-501, now in a Phase II/III study. It also is advancing development in achromatopsia, another unmet medical need.

Deal Snapshot: The company is looking to expand its pipeline beyond Alzheimer’s, where it hit a speedbump in September with the failure of a tau-targeting drug.