A group of 31 biotechnology, biopharma and life sciences companies and educational institutions have launched the first global organisation dedicated to advancing mRNA medicines. The Alliance for mRNA Medicines (AMM), which issued its first announcement at the International mRNA Health Conference in Germany, is now the only scientific and policy organisation singularly focused on global mRNA innovation. It also serves as an advocate for policies before legislative and regulatory bodies in North America, Europe and Asia to support innovation, define regulatory standards and enhance patient access to mRNA medicines. The AMM states that its mission is to “propel the future of mRNA medicine, improve patients’ lives, and advance scientific knowledge by convening and empowering mRNA industry leaders, innovators, scientists and other key stakeholders”. Founding members of the organisation include BioNTech, CSL, CureVac, Ginkgo Bioworks, Ethris, Johns Hopkins University, Mayo Clinic, Replicate Bioscience and Verve Therapeutics. “This is a pivotal moment ...
By Tyler Patchen Pfizer reported third-quarter financial results Tuesday, pulling in $13.2 billion in revenues, a 42% drop compared to the prior-year period and the first quarterly loss since 2019. Third-quarter revenues for antiviral treatment Paxlovid dropped 97% operationally compared with the prior-year period, while COVID-19 vaccine Comirnaty revenues declined 70% in the quarter. However, Pfizer’s non-COVID products grew 10% operationally. Sales of its other vaccines, such as Prevnar 13 and 20 for pneumococcal conjugate vaccination, brought in over $1.8 billion in the third quarter while its RSV vaccine Abrysvo pulled in $375 million. “We are encouraged by the strong performance of Pfizer’s non-COVID products in the third quarter of 2023, including significant contributions from new launches and robust year-over-year growth for several key in-line brands,” CEO Albert Bourla said in a statement. Pfizer CFO David Denton noted in the release that new product launches will meet the company’s non-COVID ...
As COVID revenues dwindle for pandemic stalwart Pfizer, the company is turning attention to its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine launch and a potential entry into the hot obesity market. With only five months of sales under its belt, Pfizer’s RSV vaccine Abrysvo is “doing better than we thought,” Chief Commercial Officer Angela Hwang said on the company’s third-quarter earnings call, touting “very fast uptake” for the new shot. After a pair of approvals in late May and August, Abrysvo pulled in revenues of $375 million during the third quarter, Pfizer said Tuesday. Earlier this year, the shot won FDA nods to immunize older adults and then as a maternal vaccination to protect infants. In both settings, the Pfizer offering is facing off against Big Pharma competition. In the adult RSV vaccine marketplace, Pfizer is challenging GSK and its immunization Arexvy. GSK is set to report its third-quarter results Wednesday. ...
Two AstraZeneca studies have highlighted the continued significant and disproportionate burdens of COVID-19 on immunocompromised (IC) individuals.Covering almost 30 million individuals, the INFORM and EPOCH real-world studies showed that IC individuals have a higher rate of severe outcomes from COVID-19 compared to the general population. Including around 12 million participants aged 12 years and older in England, the INFORM study aimed to assess clinical outcomes and utilisation of healthcare resources in relation to COVID-19.The EPOCH study conducted an extensive insurance claims database of around 17 million people, providing real-world data on COVID-19 risks and outcomes in IC and non-IC populations within the US.The data revealed that 22% of all COVID-19 hospitalisations consisted of IC individuals, along with 28% of ICU admissions and 25% of deaths in England. People who are IC have a weakened immune system and are more susceptible to illness with COVID-19 or could be sick for a ...
Drug discovery increasingly requires sophisticated analysis of proteins, and Thermo Fisher Scientific is building up its capabilities to support such research with the $3.1 billion acquisition of Olink, a company whose technologies and services are used in laboratories around the world. According to deal terms announced Tuesday, Thermo Fisher, based in Waltham, Massachusetts, will pay $26 cash for each American depositary share of Olink. That price represents a premium of about 74% to the Uppsala, Sweden-based company’s closing stock price on Monday. When Olink made its Nasdaq debut in 2021, it priced shares at $20 apiece. Olink is a player in the field of proteomics, the analysis of proteins. But the company does not discover or develop new drugs. Rather, it provides tools and services for the scientists who do that research at biopharmaceutical companies and universities. The company sells kits that drug researchers can use to analyze proteins in ...
As the coronavirus outbreak has shifted to the endemic phase, drugmakers have warned of a drop in demand for COVID-19 products, with the impact coming into focus during the fall vaccination season. Pfizer has stepped up to the plate with an update, and its effects are staggering as the company has slashed its 2023 revenue projection by $9 billion. Pfizer now expects sales to reach between $58 billion and $61 billion, down from a prior range of $67 billion to $70 billion. In delivering its update late Friday afternoon, a time often reserved by companies to reveal bad news, Pfizer chalked up most of the decline to a $7 billion decrease in its projection for sales of oral antiviral Paxlovid. The company has also cut its forecast for sales of COVID vaccine Comirnaty by $2 billion. Pfizer also sees earnings per share plummeting to between $1.45 and $1.65, down from ...
GSK has announced results from a survey revealing that parents are less knowledgeable about meningitis compared to other childhood infectious diseases. The multi-country GSK-commissioned and funded survey conducted by Ipsos revealed that 72% of over 4,000 parents said they were somewhat knowledgeable or knew a lot about meningitis. However, this result was significantly lower compared to other infectious diseases, including COVID-19 (95%), influenza (94%), measles (86%), pneumonia (82%) and whooping cough (74%). Additionally, 93% of parents across the US, Brazil, Germany, France, Spain, the UK and Italy surveyed said they could not identify the three most common symptoms of the condition: fever, headache and stiff neck. Annually, 2.5 million people are diagnosed with meningitis globally, of which 1.2 million cases are invasive meningococcal disease (IMD). Despite 88% of parents considering meningitis to be a serious childhood illness, only 38% said they believed that their child was at risk of catching ...
By Gerard Platenburg Pictured: RNA/iStock, Artur Plawgo Based on the significant progress made over the last few decades with RNA therapeutics, RNA editing is widely considered the next generation of promising medicines in this field. RNA therapies have made significant progress over the last few years, with an increasing number of FDA approvals beginning in 1998 with Vitravene for CMV retinitis, followed by Macugen for macular degeneration in 2004 and Spinraza for spinal muscular atrophy in 2016. There have also been multiple siRNA-based drugs, including Onpattro for polyneuropathy of hereditary transthyretin-mediated amyloidosis in 2018. And finally, in 2020, perhaps the most well-known products in the RNA space were introduced: the mRNA-based COVID-19 vaccines. All of these demonstrate the strength of RNA therapies and their potential impact on diseases with high unmet need. RNA therapeutics are indeed elegant approaches to altering RNA and thus protein expression, opening the potential to target ...
The European Commission, the European Investment Bank and the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation have announced a €1.1bn ($1.17bn) financing collaboration to tackle polio and make healthcare systems more accessible in low-income countries. The funding partnership is expected to include €500m ($531m) for the Global Polio Eradication Initiative (GPEI), including World Health Organization (WHO) and UNICEF, €500m ($531m) in investments and grants to strengthen health systems and €80m ($85m) grants for technical assistance. Polio is a serious viral infection that mainly affects children in low-income countries. The virus attacks the nervous system, leading to paralysis and sometimes death. According to WHO, wild poliovirus cases have decreased by over 99% since 1988. However, wild poliovirus remains an endemic in Pakistan and Afghanistan, with most of the cases being found in just four subnational regions. President of the European Commission Ursula von der Leyen said: “With 1 billion euros supported by our ...
Merck & Co – known as MSD outside the US and Canada – has shared positive results from a late-stage trial of its anti-PD-1 therapy Keytruda (pembrolizumab) in certain bladder cancer patients. The phase 3 AMBASSADOR trial has been evaluating Keytruda versus observation as an adjuvant treatment for patients with localised muscle-invasive urothelial carcinoma and locally advanced urothelial carcinoma. At a pre-specified interim analysis, Keytruda demonstrated a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement in the dual primary endpoint of disease-free survival versus observation in these patients after surgery. The safety profile of Keytruda was consistent with that observed in previously reported studies, Merck said, adding that the National Cancer Institute-sponsored study will continue to evaluate its second dual primary endpoint of overall survival. More than 82,000 people in the US are expected to be diagnosed with bladder cancer this year, and approximately 7% of bladder cancer cases are locally advanced ...
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