Newsletter Tool

To view this email as a web page, click here

Today's Rundown

Featured Story

Biden faces calls to break COVID-19 vaccine patents. Would that boost global supply?

By Eric Sagonowsky

Some lawmakers are calling on the Biden administration to suspend patent protections on COVID-19 vaccines to help boost supply in other countries. Last week, they took a shot at pitching the idea to White House officials. But breaking patents might not be the best solution, experts say.

CDC: mRNA COVID-19 vaccines highly effective in preventing infections among healthcare workers

By Robert King

A new study found strong evidence COVID-19 mRNA vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna were highly effective in preventing infections among healthcare workers and other essential personnel.

Humanigen's COVID-19 phase 3 hits goal, sending stock soaring

By Nick Paul Taylor

A phase 3 clinical trial of Humanigen’s lenzilumab in hospitalized COVID-19 patients has met its primary endpoint. Humanigen plans to use the data to seek emergency use authorization from the FDA.

Johnson & Johnson pledges 400M single-dose COVID-19 vaccines to African Union

By Fraiser Kansteiner

Johnson & Johnson will provide 400 million doses of its COVID-19 vaccine to Africa, with plans to start deploying 220 million in the third quarter. That's in addition to the 500 million doses J&J aims to distribute to lower-income countries via the World Health Organization's COVAX facility.

Digital papers, please? New York becomes first state to roll out IBM's digital COVID-19 vaccine passport

By Andrea Park

The race is on to develop a standardized COVID-19 “passport” that will make it easier for businesses and venues to verify a customer’s vaccination or testing status before allowing them entry. First to cross the finish line? IBM and New York state, which launched the Excelsior Pass.

GlaxoSmithKline, Novavax team up on COVID vaccine production in U.K., helping reduce dependence on AZ shot

By Kevin Dunleavy

GlaxoSmithKline will help manufacture 60 million COVID-19 vaccine doses for Maryland drugmaker Novavax, which will help relieve the U.K.'s vaccine dependence on AstraZeneca.

The top 20 pharma companies by 2020 revenue

By Eric Sagonowsky

The pharma industry quickly took center stage when COVID-19 caught the world off guard early last year. As 2020 progressed, drugmakers battled the coronavirus on one hand and on the other, contended with pandemic disruptions—to manufacturing, marketing, R&D and revenue alike. Here's how the year shook out for the top 20 drugmakers by global revenues.

Biopharma roundup: NeuroRx to submit drug data to FDA

By Kevin Dunleavy,Fraiser Kansteiner,Eric Sagonowsky

New data demonstrate the real-world benefits of the Pfizer and Moderna shots. NeuroRx's Zyesami posted positive data in a phase 2/3 trial in critical COVID-19. President Joe Biden is facing calls to break COVID-19 drug and vaccine patents to boost global supply. Plus more.

Healthcare roundup:” instead of “UPDATED Coronavirus tracker

By Healthcare Staff

Follow along with the latest COVID-19 news straight from the Fierce Healthcare team.

Digital health's top 10 money raisers in 2021 — so far

By Heather Landi

Three months into 2021 and the explosion of digital health funding shows no signs of abating. So far this year, just 10 companies have raised nearly $2.6 billion. Check out the biggest money raisers in the first quarter of 2021.

How new insights into COVID's spike protein could guide treatment design

By Arlene Weintraub

Researchers at Lehigh University discovered a previously unknown interaction between sugars, or glycans, on the surface of ACE2 receptors and SARS-CoV-2’s spike protein. It may explain why COVID-19 has a higher infection rate than the outbreak caused by SARS-CoV-1 two decades ago, they said.

COVID-19 Tracker