Interviews

When Mads Øvlisen was persuaded by his father-in-law to join the family business, Novo Industri, in 1974 for a short stint in the legal department, little did he know it would the beginning of a lifetime of service to the company that he helped to shape into the diabetes powerhouse it is today.

The company believes the Phase III Clarity AD results offer a high level of evidence that may convince the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services to change its stance on anti-amyloid antibodies for lecanemab. 

The German biotech plans to prevent chemotherapy-induced hearing loss and treat chronic hearing loss by targeting a potassium channel in the ear’s sensory hair cells as it tackles a widespread but side-lined area.

Eyestem founder and CEO talks to Scrip about progress made by the firm’s experimental treatment for dry age-related macular degeneration, cell and gene therapy pricing considerations and the wider competitive landscape. The company is also developing treatments for retinitis pigmentosa and idiopathic pulmonary fibrosis.

The UK major has been building its cell therapy portfolio for about three years internally, oncology R&D chief Susan Galbraith tells Scrip, and the purchase of Neogene and its TCR-Ts targeting neoantigens in solid cancers is a logical step.

Roche’s global head of neurodegeneration, Rachelle Doody, talks to Scrip about the failure of gantenerumab and its next-generation ‘brain shuttle’ technology for Alzheimer’s disease.

Merck & Co. chief medical officer Eliav Barr talks with Scrip about the generational leadership change under way at the company, Merck's next oncology plays and its bold plan to rebuild a cardiovascular franchise.

A China returnee CEO has raised roughly $50m for his bioventure that is looking to clinically validate and commercialize an RNA activation platform he co-discovered while working in the US.

Dr Toichi Takenaka, the first winner of the Lifetime Achievement Award in the inaugural Pharma Intelligence Awards Japan earlier this year, talks to Scrip about his journey from researcher to CEO and today as a mentor for Japanese bioventures. Starting his career in an “empty lab” in the 1960s motivated him to pursue a string of collaborations with universities in Japan and on to the discovery of four successful drugs.

Among Vaxxinity’s immunotherapeutic vaccine candidates are one for Alzheimer’s that shows a 50% reduction in cognitive decline, another that shows superior durability than Pfizer and Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccines and one that could prevent migraines. Vaxxinity CEO speaks to Scrip about these and more in this interview

After inking major deals with AbbVie and AstraZeneca, China-US company Harbour BioMed recently shifted strategy, divesting its site in Suzhou to WuXi in a bid to be “more focused, efficient and nimble” and emerge stronger post-pandemic, says founder, chairman and CEO Jingsong Wang in an exclusive interview.

After fighting for years to bridge the gender health gap where many women receive poorer treatment than men from academia and non-profits, Kelle Moley has moved into pharma with Ferring to further her vision.