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This Week

Feb 7, 2025

UPDATED: CDC withdraws new scientific publications to scrub specific words: reports


Thermo Fisher's layoff spree continues with 300 dismissals in Massachusetts


Astellas fires CSO and chief manufacturing officer in C-suite shake-up


Bristol Myers Squibb, Kyowa Kirin layoffs hit 119 in New Jersey amid separate restructuring campaigns


Pfizer axes B7-H4 ADC, triggering $1B impairment charge as blockbuster vision evaporates


Merck halts Gardasil shipments to China, withdraws $11B sales target as demand nosedives


Baxter CEO José Almeida to retire, effective immediately 

 

Featured

UPDATED: CDC withdraws new scientific publications to scrub specific words: reports

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has asked its staff to withdraw any scientific papers currently under consideration for internal or external publication so that certain words can be removed, according to several reports.
 

Top Stories

Thermo Fisher's layoff spree continues with 300 dismissals in Massachusetts

Despite recent evidence of its financial turnaround, Thermo Fisher’s layoff spree will continue into 2025. According to a Massachusetts Worker Adjustment and Retraining Notification report from last week, the company will lay off 300 workers at its viral vector manufacturing facilities in Cambridge and Plainville

Astellas fires CSO and chief manufacturing officer in C-suite shake-up

Astellas is preparing a significant shake-up of its top tier roles, including ushering out its current Chief Scientific Officer and Chief Manufacturing Officer.

Bristol Myers Squibb, Kyowa Kirin layoffs hit 119 in New Jersey amid separate restructuring campaigns

As the major cost-cutting initiative at Bristol Myers Squibb rolls on, the company has launched another round of layoffs in its home state of New Jersey.

Pfizer axes B7-H4 ADC, triggering $1B impairment charge as blockbuster vision evaporates

Pfizer tallied up $1.2 billion in impairment charges in response to changes in development plans and commercial forecasts for Seagen-acquired ADCs.

Merck halts Gardasil shipments to China, withdraws $11B sales target as demand nosedives

The recent decline of Merck & Co.’s HPV vaccine Gardasil in China has come to a head as the New Jersey drug giant is suspending shipments to the world’s second-most populous country.

Baxter CEO José Almeida to retire, effective immediately

The news comes just days after Baxter completed the sale of its Vantive kidney care unit through a $3.8 billion deal with the Carlyle Group that had been in the works since last summer.

Trump tariffs threaten US drug supplies and risk higher prices, trade groups warn

With President Donald Trump’s tariffs about to take hold, industry groups are warning that the move could hamstring U.S. pharmaceutical supplies and productivity, and put an extra strain on patients’ wallets, too.

Novo flunks kidney disease trial, again linking obesity prospect to neuropsychiatric side effects

Novo Nordisk’s cannabinoid CB1 receptor blocker has run into another problem. Months after sharing obesity data that left investors underwhelmed, the Danish drugmaker has reported the failure of a midphase diabetic kidney disease trial of the molecule.

Novartis chided after LinkedIn likes break drug promotion rules

Novartis has become the latest drugmaker to get in trouble over an employee’s LinkedIn likes. The U.K. drug marketing watchdog ruled the employee’s act broke the rules on advertising prescription medicines to the public but placed the blame on the worker, not the company.
 
Fierce podcasts

Don’t miss an episode

How Congress may approach healthcare reform under Trump

As the first two weeks of his second term showed, keeping up with Trump’s actions—and their ramifications—requires full-time focus. A policy expert breaks down how Congress might approach reform in 2025.
 

Resources

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This paper reviews key developments in the oncology market during 2024 and outlines what they mean for the future.
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Study shows significant Rx growth using new EHR marketing technique.
 

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