Companies

Pharma groups must decide how best to invest their cash to generate the biggest returns, and while huge sums can be made with luck and good judgement, strategic missteps can have far-reaching consequences.

Outstanding Q1 growth in sales and profits have pleased the markets, and investors are now keen to hear more about AstraZeneca’s 2030 masterplan at its investor day next month.

CEO Daniel O’Day highlighted Gilead’s large pipeline and relative safety from patent expirations over the next few years in the company’s Q1 earnings call.

Revlimid and Eliquis beat expectations in the first quarter, but the products have dwindling exclusivity, making new drugs the main focus for Bristol. So the company will reinvest cost savings in R&D.

AstraZeneca’s CEO says his potential 11% pay rise is needed to help the European industry remain competitive with its higher paying US counterparts.

Pfizer/BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty toppled after recording the highest ever annual sales for a pharmaceutical in 2022, while Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic climbed rapidly. But Merck & Co’s immuno-oncology blockbuster Keytruda was secure in the number one spot in 2023 as COVID-19 receded.

The Swiss major brings a new ruthlessness to the compounds in its pipeline: if they’re not first or best, they’re out.

UK-based Ochre Bio has signed its first major deal with Boehringer Ingelheim. Scrip talked to its co-founder and CEO, Jack O’Meara, about its human tissue-based drug discovery platform, its resulting RNA platform for liver disease and how the fledgling drug company's early work mirrored that seen in diagnostics.

Sanofi’s BTK inhibitor – one of two from its 2021 Principia buy – passed a Phase III test in immune thrombocytopenia as the company focuses on Dupixent-like blockbusters going forward.

Bristol Myers Squibb’s head of major markets, Monica Shaw, wants to improve patients’ access to lifesaving therapies. And the group has several new products ready to roll.

The Swiss pharma company is looking to tap into the experience of ex-BMS leader Giovanni Caforio to help further it US-first commercial strategy.

Corbus has presence in both antibody drug conjugates and obesity, and was the stand-out small-cap target for investors with a fivefold increase in its share price in Q1.

J&J’s Medtech division outshone pharma while recently launched innovative products contributed minimally: it is to be hoped investors’ reactions to the first set of big pharma Q1 results will not set the tempo for earnings season.

The top 10 biggest share price winners and losers in Q1 from Evaluate show the investor frenzy for obesity drugs continues, while companies with governance doubts see shareholders retreat.

The highs of the COVID-19 era, and the lows that supplanted it, are beginning to fade.

Dalzanemdor (SAGE-718) showed no difference from placebo in a Phase II Parkinson’s disease study, raising concerns about readouts later this year in Huntington’s and Alzheimer’s diseases.