COVID-19

AstraZeneca and CANbridge obtain new approvals for their rare disease drugs in China, where a new domestic mRNA vaccine is also being made available amid a new wave of COVID infections. Meanwhile, the CEOs of pharma and other companies pay visits, showing China remains high on their list of global priorities.

Trustworthiness in the pharmaceutical industry has settled since its peaks during the COVID-19 pandemic but it can move upwards again if companies assume responsibility to inform on wider issues, according to experts at Edelman.

Concentra's unsolicited bid for Atea is the latest proof that promising but financially strapped biotechs that are trading below cash are prime M&A targets.

Sales Of Pfizer’s pandemic products decline as other vaccines are scheduled for a second-half launch but the road back to 2022’s all-time high in annual revenues will not be easy.

Amid positive ongoing forex impact, Astellas, Shionogi and Daiichi Sankyo logged solid fiscal years and Chugai has good growth in its first quarter, although some of the majors are expecting a decline in sales as demand due to COVID-19 wanes. Even so, Shionogi logged record results on the back on government procurement of its pandemic antiviral.

Japan's SCARDA is building networks with academia and industry to support new vaccine development, while offering support through funding and knowledge. But is that enough to overcome the shortcomings highlighted by the pandemic?

COVID-19 products contributed almost a third to the global revenues from the top 20 best-selling drugs in 2022. However, strong growth was also seen for drugs across categories from immunology and cancer to HIV and cardiometabolic.

Gains from its COVID-19 vaccine made Serum Institute’s founder the world’s richest healthcare billionaire. But the demand for boosters hasn’t materialized as expected, leading to a deal with Biocon being tweaked. Meanwhile, gains from India’s first indigenously-developed HPV vaccine and Oxford-partnered malaria vaccine seem imminent.

HPV vaccines have come a long way since their launch in 2006, though not without their share of bumps and misinformation campaigns. US pediatric infectious disease specialist, Dr Kenneth Alexander, talks to Scrip about how data has evolved, why the US may not be the best example to emulate for HPV vaccination and new products on the horizon, among other topics.

As the COVID-19 graph trends upward in countries like India, preparing for future pandemics is high on the agenda of intergovernmental forum G20. Digital healthcare and governance tools, One Health approach and tackling AMR emerged as focus areas at the recent meeting of its Health Working Group

AstraZeneca vaccine chief Mark Esser is excited about the first in vitro data on AZD3152 which show that the antibody neutralizes all known variants, from Wuhan to Omicron XBB.1.5.

The company unveiled antibody and T-cell responses in patients with blood cancers and also plans to explore GM-CM04S1 in additional immunocompromised populations, such as lupus patients.

The price will be more expensive than prior COVID-19 antibodies, reflecting its target to critically ill patients who are hospitalized.

In this week's podcast version of Five Must-Know Things: ripples from SVB’s failure; Karuna’s schizophrenia win; big pharma remains open to partnering; ChatGPT comes to medical congresses; and China’s COVID vaccine lessons.

CEO of Chinese vaccine developer BravoVax shares views with Scrip on pandemic lessons learned and new approaches needed to move forward.

Speakers from BMS, Takeda, UNICEF and more discussed how a shift in R&D focus, free flow of data on animal and human health, public sector investment and higher regulatory flexibility are key to make ‘One Health’ work and prevent future pandemics