The failure of the SGLT2 inhibitor is not unexpected, but allays any concerns that it could have worsened outcomes for patients with hypertension or heart disease.

In this week's podcast version of Five Must-Know Things, hear about whether safety concerns may affect JAK inhibitors, Takeda’s strategic R&D plans, Cigna’s psoriasis insurance program, Phase III readouts to look for, and an overview of the global pharma R&D pipeline.

Sanofi is the latest drugmaker to announce a major initiative aimed at improving access to medicines in poorer countries, the type of move that should continue to lift the reputation of big pharma above the likes of big oil and big tobacco.

The EMA and MHRA issue parallel safety updates on the vaccine, with the UK offering an alternative of the Pfizer/BioNTech or Moderna vaccines to the under 30s.

Global research consortium to investigate the use of immunoglobulin as a COVID-19 therapy ends following disappointing results from a Phase III trial. Meanwhile, Russian vaccine producer RDIF is snapping up more production capacity in India, where interferon has also progressed as a possible treatment. 

Categories from asthma to high blood pressure to cancer showed reductions in new medication users in 2020, likely caused by fewer new diagnoses because of the pandemic, a report from Cigna’s Evernorth shows.

The company doubled its series A total of $51m to not only test its coronavirus and RSV candidates, but to also advance a vaccine targeting both RSV and hMPV for pneumonia prevention in elderly adults.

Facing a slow roll-out of COVID-19 vaccines, China is implementing more promotional measures and increasing the pressure on the public to get inoculated. Vaccine diplomacy efforts meanwhile are facing challenges.

Growing evidence of an association between the vaccine and rare, sometimes fatal blood clots puts Europe’s vaccine program leaders in a difficult position.

The impact of the coronavirus pandemic on the size of the pharma R&D pipeline in 2020 could be felt in a number of ways.

The companies still plan to develop a variant-specific version, while J&J said it anticipates meeting vaccine supply goals despite a manufacturing mix-up.

Therapy shows some promise in helping COVID-19 respiratory failure patients but the US FDA may question company’s data cut. 

Agreeing that decentralized trials are here to stay, experts discussed in a recent meeting ways in which the pharma research landscape is set to change. With nearly 85% of the industry at different stages of adoption, such trials have seen greater traction in the US, while stricter data privacy laws have hampered progress in Europe, ISCR’s annual conference heard.

An EUA would carve out a market advantage, although Moderna should be releasing similar data soon for its COVID-19 vaccine.

Success of the vaccine will fuel the company’s push into immunotherapy, as it reported first commercial sales.

Given its ever-growing role as a critical component of the global biopharma industry, you can’t afford not to be up to speed on Asia. This selection of recent insights from our experienced on-the-ground team will help.