WELCOME TO FIERCE LIFE SCIENCES WEEKLY DIGEST As Americans’ attention shifts from COVID to other concerns such as inflation and the war in Ukraine, the pandemic stars Pfizer and Moderna have seen their standing among top brands fall sharply. Meanwhile, Amgen was able to hold off Mirati’s KRAS challenger on the key durability metric in data presented at the American Society of Clinical Oncology conference. Also featured this week is a special report on the top 20 drugs worldwide, plus stories on GSK, Sanofi, AbbVie and more. | |
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Featured Story | By Ben Adams What a difference a year makes: Pfizer and Moderna were riding high in Americans' minds last year, but a new report from The Harris Poll shows how both have fallen from grace. read more |
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Top Stories Of The Week By Annalee Armstrong Mirati seems to have gotten what it needed in terms of efficacy for its KRAS inhibitor, notching an objective response rate of 43% in non-small cell lung cancer, compared to Amgen’s 37% for its already approved med Lumakras. But the problem lies with how long the effect lasts. On that measure, Amgen appears to have taken the win. read more By Kevin Dunleavy While the global sales rankings of Big Pharma's superstar drugs naturally feature the biggest names in the business, several new meds popped up on the list this year because of the coronavirus. Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine displaced AbbVie's Humira at the top slot, which the immunology drug had held for nearly a decade. read more By Angus Liu Most cancer immunotherapies primarily rely on T cells to neutralize tumors. But in two new studies, scientists at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and Stanford University have described novel immuno-oncology approaches, showing that mobilizing B cells and NK cells may achieve better antitumor effects. read more By Teresa Carey This week on "The Top Line," we discuss our special report on the top 20 drugs by 2021 sales, and it is no surprise that products that fight COVID-19 dominated the biopharma landscape. We also talk about this weekend’s ASCO meeting and the week's other big headlines. Plus, we have bloopers! read more By Nick Paul Taylor GSK is betting big to reenergize its fight for a share of the pneumococcal vaccine market, agreeing to pay $2.1 billion upfront to acquire Affinivax for a challenger to Pfizer’s blockbuster Prevnar franchise. read more By Andrea Park The joint venture will develop a range of new kidney care tech, with a specific focus on at-home treatments that’ll make dialysis more easily accessible, offering an alternative to the typical schedule of in-clinic sessions three times a week. read more By Zoey Becker Sanofi is aiming to switch erectile dysfunction pill Cialis from prescription to over-the-counter availability, but the FDA isn't allowing the trial to continue for now. read more By Andrea Park A new artificial intelligence algorithm may be the key to slashing the drawn-out period between when pulmonary hypertension symptoms first arise and a definitive diagnosis is reached. read more By Annalee Armstrong Back in 2020, Amgen cast aside a cardiovascular disease hopeful from Cytokinetics and pointed the spotlight at a small interfering RNA treatment it thought could make up for the lost partnership. Now, in some limited phase 2 data, the pharma is making its case. read more By Conor Hale Vibrant Gastro is putting forward its novel approach as a completely drug-free alternative to treatments for infrequent or difficult bowel movements. read more By Kevin Dunleavy Analysts surveyed by Evaluate Pharma predict AbbVie will generate more prescription drug sales than any company in 2028. They see AbbVie's $66 billion in expected 2028 sales closely followed by Roche at $65 billion. Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Pfizer round out the top 5 in their projections. read more By Joseph Keenan Gilead Sciences, which has been in the headlines recently for manufacturing layoffs and recalls due to glass shards, has named a new head to its manufacturing operations. read more By Annalee Armstrong Oncology trial starts reached record levels in 2021—particularly in rare indications—as disruptions in cancer care brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic began to ease, according to the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science. read more Resources Sponsored by: PwC Don’t miss these critical considerations when evaluating your HCP interactions management program. 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