Senators expand probe of Pfizer, Lilly DTC platforms

Today’s Big News

Mar 14, 2025

Roche settles UPenn suit alleging patent infringement by Herceptin, 3 other breast cancer meds


Sutro discards CEO, 50% of staff, sole clinical-stage ADC and manufacturing site to save cash


Senators expand probe of Pfizer, Lilly DTC platforms to include telehealth provider partners


In rebound year for Pfizer, CEO Albert Bourla scored 14% total pay increase to $24.6M


Chutes & Ladders—Gilead's accounting chief hits the exit

 

Featured

Roche settles UPenn suit alleging patent infringement by Herceptin, 3 other breast cancer meds

The University of Pennsylvania and Roche’s Genentech unit have settled a lawsuit UPenn originally brought to a Delaware federal court in 2022, which accused the drugmaker of infringing a now-expired patent on methods of tumor treatment pioneered at the university’s Abramson Cancer Center.
 

Top Stories

Sutro discards CEO, 50% of staff, sole clinical-stage ADC and manufacturing site to save cash

Sutro Biopharma is undergoing a seismic shake-up—jettisoning its CEO, half of its workforce, its lead candidate and its manufacturing facility in a major bid to save cash.

Senators expand probe of Pfizer, Lilly DTC platforms to include telehealth provider partners

Several months after a group of senators sent letters to Pfizer and Eli Lilly investigating their respective direct-to-consumer telehealth platforms, the lawmakers are now directing similar queries toward several of the platforms’ partners.

In rebound year for Pfizer, CEO Albert Bourla scored 14% total pay increase to $24.6M

In a year in which he faced down a challenge from activist investor Starboard Value, Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla received a total compensation increase of 14%.

Chutes & Ladders—Gilead's accounting chief hits the exit

Gilead’s Sandra Patterson has “decided to leave the company” after two years in the SVP corporate controller and chief accounting officer role, according to a company filing. Patterson was also Gilead’s principal accounting officer. In her place, the company’s board tapped Diane Wilfong in an interim position amid the search for a permanent successor.

MicroTransponder nets $65M for stroke rehabilitation neurostimulator

The company’s Vivistim system targets the body’s vagus nerves in the neck, delivering electrical pulses during exercise regimens to help retrain a damaged brain.

Pliant, Acelyrin resort to ‘poison pills’ as threat of Concentra buyout looms

With Concentra Biosciences expanding its stock influence on Pliant Therapeutics and Acelyrin, the two biotechs have shored up their corporate defences against a potential acquisition.

FDA chief counsel Hilary Perkins hits the exit, resigning amid controversy two days into the job

The FDA chief counsel pick quickly attracted controversy due to her prior defense of medical abortion under the Biden administration's Department of Justice.

AstraZeneca embraces pickleball trend with Fasenra tour sponsorship, themed DTC ad

AstraZeneca is hopping aboard the pickleball craze as its serves up a new marketing push for its asthma med Fasenra.

FBI and other agencies investigate fire at Bayer executive's New Jersey home: reports

Following a fire at a Bayer executive’s home earlier this month, eight agencies—including the FBI—are now looking into the blaze as a possible arson, according to reports. The fire originally broke out around 7:30 a.m. on March 4 at an “occupied residence” in the New Jersey borough of Madison, the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office told multiple news outlets this week.

Oligomerix small molecule tamps down tau tangles, improves coordination in mice

An oral small molecule from New York-based biotech Oligomerix curbed the tangling of tau protein in the brains of mice that model a rare neurological disease.
 
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