Pfizer CEO’s texts prompt NYT lawsuit

This Week

Feb 17, 2023

UPDATED: Reed relinquishes R&D reins at Sanofi for J&J role


Pfizer CEO's texts with European Commission chief trigger new NYT lawsuit


Philips CPAP recall spurs another 82 reports of patient deaths, pushing total to 346


GSK was warned repeatedly about Zantac impurity but played down risks: Bloomberg


3 years after rejecting $1B buyout, Sorrento files for bankruptcy amid legal battles


'The Top Line': What the patent fight between Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech means, negotiating vaccine contracts via text messages and this week's news

 

Featured

UPDATED: Reed relinquishes R&D reins at Sanofi for J&J role

Sanofi's head of global R&D John Reed, M.D., Ph.D., has departed for a spot at Johnson & Johnson, where he'll serve as executive vice president of pharmaceutical R&D.
 

Top Stories

Pfizer CEO's texts with European Commission chief trigger new NYT lawsuit

Twenty-two months after European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen admitted to The New York Times that she negotiated a COVID-19 vaccine deal with Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla, Ph.D., through text messages, the newspaper is suing the commission over its refusal to make the texts public. While the lawsuit was filed on Jan. 25 and listed on the European Court of Justice’s public website on Monday, none of the documents related to the case are available to the public. Two people familiar with the suit confirmed it to Politico.

Philips CPAP recall spurs another 82 reports of patient deaths, pushing total to 346

Even as Philips nears the end of the repair-and-replace program for its recall of 5.5 million respiratory devices, complaints about the machines are still rolling in.

GSK was warned repeatedly about Zantac impurity but played down risks: Bloomberg

Facing tens of thousands of lawsuits over cancer risks on the popular heartburn drug Zantac, GSK has argued there's "no consistent or reliable evidence" that the medicine causes any cancer. But a new report in Bloomberg Businessweek says GSK's own scientists have long known about the risks.

3 years after rejecting $1B buyout, Sorrento files for bankruptcy amid legal battles

Sorrento Therapeutics is filing for bankruptcy amid ongoing litigation against billionaire Patrick Soon-Shiong and his company NantCell.

'The Top Line': What the patent fight between Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech means, negotiating vaccine contracts via text messages and this week's news 

This week on "The Top Line," we discuss the intense patent fight between Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech around the mRNA technology used in their COVID-19 vaccines. We also talk about negotiating vaccine contracts via text messages, one of the biggest medtech deals of the year and other top headlines from this week.

Pfizer launches new branded Paxlovid ad for COVID as it continues wait for FDA approval

As Pfizer looks to shore up falling Paxlovid sales this year, it has launched its first commercial for the COVID therapy that goes hard on branding.

New biotech VC takes off with $520M and a flight deck stacked with big-name investors ready to serve

Several biotech entrepreneurs have launched a new venture capital vehicle dubbed Curie.bio that will serve not only as a seed investor, but as a drug discovery co-pilot for founders.

Big Pharma divided? Pfizer, AZ, Lilly and more support Sanofi in high-profile Amgen patent fight

In the patent feud over rival PCSK9 inhibitors Praluent and Repatha, Amgen isn’t the only pharma with friends in high places.

Arrowhead’s $3.7B J&J deal is done, CEO says, after ‘out of the blue’ NASH decision

Hours after Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals revealed that Johnson & Johnson is returning a clinical-stage NASH asset “out of the blue," CEO Chris Anzalone says that the entire $3.7 billion collaboration between the two is done. 

GSK vaccine R&D head touts consistency of RSV data but is mum on restarting maternal trial

GSK's head of vaccine R&D, Phil Dormitzer, is confident that the company has posted pack-leading data for its RSV vaccine, as it nears the finish line of the regulatory race. But he wouldn't commit to restarting trials testing the shot in maternal women after a phase 3 study was halted a year ago.

Medtronic fined $106M in trial over TAVR device patent infringement

Medtronic was found guilty this week of infringing on a patent concerning transcatheter aortic valve replacement systems that was awarded to Colibri Heart Valve in 2014.

Sun Pharma recalls generic for high blood pressure after failed FDA lab test

In the latest FDA ding on India's Sun Pharma, the agency pulled 34,000 bottles of generic diltiazem hydrochloride after the pills failed impurity specification and dissolution testing at an FDA lab.

Labcorp's spinoff CRO business gets a name—Fortrea

Labcorp has its sight set on spinning off its CRO segment by midyear, and, now, the independently trading company's name has been revealed as Fortrea.
 
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'The Top Line': Moderna vs. Pfizer-BioNTech and this week's news 

This week on "The Top Line," we discuss the intense patent fight between Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech around the mRNA technology used in their COVID-19 vaccines. We also talk about negotiating vaccine contracts via text messages, one of the biggest medtech deals of the year and other top headlines from this week.

 

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