WELCOME TO FIERCE LIFE SCIENCES WEEKLY DIGEST As a slate of drugmakers race to prove their COVID-19 vaccines, national governments are sprinting to secure supplies for their countries—and they’re hedging their bets. After inking a deal for AstraZeneca and Oxford’s candidate, the U.K. is now pursuing a $625 million pact with GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi for 60 million doses, if they work. Meanwhile, the story behind Moderna’s delayed phase 3 vaccine trial deepens, with insight into tensions with the U.S. government over the study’s design. Those stories plus our top reads of the week are below. | |
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Featured Story | By Angus Liu As COVID-19 vaccines near final stages of testing, governments are also racing against each other, busy securing supply for their own countries. The U.K. government, on the heels of locking up delivery from AstraZeneca, is reportedly ready for more doses from an alliance between Sanofi and GlaxoSmithKline. read more |
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Top Stories Of The Week By Amirah Al Idrus Late last week, Stat reported that Moderna would delay the phase 3 study of its COVID-19 vaccine, thanks to changes to the trial’s protocols. Such changes are not uncommon, highlighting just how closely watched anti-COVID-19 efforts are, but the delay is part of a trend of tensions in the biotech’s relationship with the U.S. government. read more By Eric Sagonowsky A pandemic hasn’t stopped some drugmakers from pushing through their traditional mid-year price hikes. But though pharmas big and small have raised prices so far this month, the current round of increases is far smaller than January's. read more By Ben Adams Gilead is ditching a new avenue of treating hepatitis B as it cuts ties with Precision Biosciences less than two years into their research pact. read more By Kyle Blankenship Johnson & Johnson, like all drugmakers in the COVID-19 vaccine race, is hoping to cobble together enough manufacturing capacity to rapidly scale production of its shot hopeful. Now, to the tune of nearly half a billion dollars, J&J is ready to put its money where its mouth is. read more By Kyle Blankenship In the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic, Sanofi and Regeneron launched an ambitious plan to try out rheumatoid arthritis med Kevzara in desperately ill patients. But after early warning signs, a phase 3 flop has forced the drugmakers to can their U.S. trial. read more By Conor Hale Novartis has teamed up with smart inhaler developer Propeller Health to package and ship its digital medication-tracking platform alongside the Big Pharma’s newly approved asthma treatment in Europe. read more By Ben Adams Pfizer is deepening its already long-term investment and partnership strategy with U.K.-based biotech Mission Therapeutics and its work on selectively inhibiting deubiquitylating enzymes. read more By Beth Snyder Bulik Eli Lilly is reenlisting its long-time ambassador, singer and songwriter Crystal Bowersox, to help people living with diabetes recognize and manage low blood sugar symptoms. In the “Know Before the Low” campaign, Bowersox, who was diagnosed with Type 1 diabetes at age six, talks about the need for a plan and the importance of a support network. read more By Arlene Weintraub Biogen has formed a research pact with Harvard’s Massachusetts Eye and Ear to develop a gene therapy for an inherited form of retinitis pigmentosa caused by mutations in the gene PRPF31. If it succeeds, it could help even more patients than the FDA-approved gene therapy for retinitis pigmentosa, Spark Therapeutics' Luxturna, the researchers believe. read more Resources Sponsored by: PRA Health Sciences Collaboration across the industry will be key to meeting the demands of the RACE Act and ensuring pediatric patients receive the care and treatments they need. Sponsored by: LexisNexis Risk Solutions With today’s rapidly evolving environment, we have created this five-part content series to highlight pressing issues and topics that are more pertinent today than ever before. Sponsored by: Cambrex The industry trend of outsourcing to CDMOs continues. With more services, capabilities, facilities, and employees than ever before, our experts have contributed more articles to our biggest eBook yet. Sponsored by: EVERSANA How predictive analytics and machine learning have the potential to transform healthcare by predicting “Patient Switching Behaviors.” Sponsored by: Recro Gainesville Wurster processing is a versatile technique for developing and manufacturing multiparticulates for modified release dosage forms. Read this whitepaper to determine whether Wurster processing is the right option for your project. Sponsored by: PRA Health Sciences Collaboration across the industry will be key to meeting the demands of the RACE Act and ensuring pediatric patients receive the care and treatments they need. Sponsored by: Systech Get an inside look… Merck shares its next-generation approach to supply chain protection with new digital platforms, including Blockchain. Sponsored by: Automation Anywhere Built on advances in Artificial Intelligence (AI), data mining, and information integration into various systems at 100% accuracy, the new era of intelligent automation is integral to life sciences for devising new treatments faster and at a lower expense. Sponsored by: Research Solutions Learn four ways to squeeze more value from your limited R&D resources. Sponsored by: BioAnalytix Download this eBook and Learn the Advanced Analytical Approaches for Improved Development of Cell and Gene Therapies Sponsored by: Catalent Regardless of the assigned FDA expedited approval designation and approach, the key action items should be: the assurance of a detail-oriented plan and the adaption of a “forward-thinking” approach that will assist in any future challenges and opportunities for growth of each project. Sponsored by: Catalent Get expert insights on strategies to implement flexible manufacturing and different technologies that are easily scalable and reproducible. Sponsored by: Catalent This whitepaper discusses the benefits of end-to-end solutions and share case studies on how flexible manufacturing strategies can accommodate the changing landscape of pharmaceutical products and help bring a drug to market. Sponsored by: Catalent Learn about a real-world example of how clinical supply management expertise was applied to overcome inventory challenges for a complex, global study. Sponsored by: Catalent Whether a study is simple or highly complex, forecasting and simulation reports serve as data driven communication tools to help minimize risks and keep the study on track. Learn more about forecasting solutions for informed decision making and supporting contingency planning for clinical study. Sponsored by: Catalent Learn how to drive excellence within the forecasting process and utilize forecasting throughout the clinical study to better plan clinical supply budgets and project timelines. Explore how to identify potential supply-related issues before they can negatively impact your study. | 
