Amgen’s Lumakras launch slows, shifting attention to other drugs

Sales of the closely watched lung cancer medicine fell short of analysts’ projections, adding to doubts about its market opportunity. 

By Christopher Newman • Nov. 4, 2022

Pfizer, BioNTech data support new Covid booster’s advantage over original vaccine

Follow-up data show the omicron-adapted shot boosted antibodies against the variant in older adults by more than the companies’ original version.

By Delilah Alvarado • Nov. 4, 2022

Explore the Trendline➔

Top 5 stories from BioPharma Dive

Looming patent expiries this decade and intensifying competition from China are forcing drugmakers to adapt, while new opportunities open up in oncology and in neuroscience.

By BioPharma Dive staff

Moderna cuts sales forecasts for its COVID-19 vaccine

The biotech dialed back its financial projections after reporting lower-than-expected sales for the shot, which currently remains the company’s only marketed product. 

By Delilah Alvarado • Nov. 3, 2022

Novo obesity drug sales lag as manufacturing problems persist

Manufacturing problems continue to weigh on Novo’s Wegovy launch as competition looms from Eli Lilly’s fast-selling diabetes medicine Mounjaro.

By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 2, 2022

Pfizer gets first positive result for an RSV vaccine in pregnant women

The shot kept newborns from getting severe respiratory infections in a Phase 3 trial, paving the way for the drugmaker to seek approval before its top rivals.

By Jonathan Gardner • Nov. 1, 2022

Lilly sales of new diabetes drug accelerate on rising patient demand

Company executives highlighted the “viral nature” of demand for Mounjaro, which was approved in May for diabetes and has also shown a strong weight-loss benefit in clinical testing.

By Ned Pagliarulo • Nov. 1, 2022

J&J to buy heart device maker Abiomed for $16.6B

The deal is the biggest by J&J since its $30 billion buyout of Actelion in 2017, and comes as the company works to split its consumer health business from its pharma and medtech units. 

By Elise Reuter • Nov. 1, 2022

With positive trial results, Bristol Myers looks to widen use of blood disease drug

Reblozyl, one of the drugmaker’s key assets, outperformed an older anemia drug in early-stage myelodysplastic syndrome, which could double the number of potentially eligible patients. 

By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 31, 2022

Inflation Reduction Act: What are the healthcare implications?

The Inflation Reduction Act helps support American families by lowering prescription drug prices and reducing overall healthcare costs.

Oct. 31, 2022

EMA looks to follow the FDA in limiting use of certain immune-regulating drugs

The new recommendations could further curtail use of so-called JAK inhibitors, though restrictions imposed in Europe are less severe than in the U.S.

By Christopher Newman • Oct. 28, 2022

Sanofi reveals setback for cancer drug acquired in Synthorx buyout

Disappointing study results have led the French pharma company to take a $1.6 billion impairment charge and plan new early-stage trials for a drug executives once called a potential “foundation” for newer immunotherapy combinations.

By Ben Fidler • Oct. 28, 2022

GSK shelves filing plans for arthritis drug after trial results

GSK said the drug, formerly a top prospect licensed from German biotech Morphosys, showed “limited efficacy” in a Phase 3 study of patients with rheumatoid arthritis.

By Delilah Alvarado • Oct. 27, 2022

Merck reveals chairman succession as earnings beat forecasts

CEO Robert Davis will take over leadership of the board from Ken Frazier on Dec. 1, one and a half years after being named the company’s chief executive.

By Ned Pagliarulo • Oct. 27, 2022

J&J wins approval of new kind of multiple myeloma drug

The treatment, which will be sold as Tecvayli, is the first bispecific antibody cleared for the disease. It joins a group of medicines on market that target a protein called BCMA. 

By Kristin Jensen • Oct. 26, 2022

Novartis sales of Zolgensma gene therapy slow as market shifts

Treatment is now mostly of infants newly diagnosed with spinal muscular atrophy, as many of those previously eligible either already received Zolgensma or other drugs from Biogen and Roche.

By Ned Pagliarulo • Oct. 25, 2022

AstraZeneca’s persistence pays off with Imjudo approval

After failing multiple studies, the company’s immunotherapy tremelimumab is cleared to treat liver cancer as part of a regimen that could challenge a similar drug combination from Bristol Myers Squibb.

By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 24, 2022

Novartis rival to AstraZeneca rare disease drugs succeeds in study

The pharma said iptacopan, one of its top pipeline prospects, outperformed Alexion’s Soliris and Ultomiris in certain patients with a disease called PNH.

By Ned Pagliarulo • Oct. 24, 2022

Pfizer planning steep price hike for COVID-19 vaccine

The company is considering charging as much as between $110 and $130 per dose — roughly four times the vaccine’s current price — once sales transition to the private market.

By Ned Pagliarulo • Oct. 21, 2022

Bristol Myers takes aim at Merck with Opdivo results in early melanoma

New data could support approval in a setting for which Merck’s Keytruda is already available — the latest salvo in the longrunning battle between the two immunotherapy rivals.

By Kristin Jensen • Oct. 20, 2022

J&J, flush with cash, says high valuations remain a dealmaking hurdle

“We don’t have to do anything out of desperation,” said CFO Joseph Wolk on J&J’s second quarter earnings call. J&J holds $34 billion in cash and other liquid assets. 

By Christopher Newman • Oct. 18, 2022

5 questions facing drugmakers as third quarter earnings begin

The newly enacted drug pricing law, along with Eisai and Biogen’s Alzheimer’s study success, will bring questions for many of the industry’s top companies.

By Jacob Bell , Jonathan Gardner , Ned Pagliarulo • Oct. 17, 2022

The demand for nanoparticles in drug formulation is rising

Collaborating with an experienced partner, such as a Contract Development & Manufacturing Organization (CDMO), could prove to be invaluable in developing nano-based systems.

By Kate Silver • Oct. 17, 2022

Pfizer, BioNTech say updated COVID booster raised omicron antibody levels in trial

The findings, which were disclosed in a press release without specific data, are the first immune response results in humans for the reformulated shot targeting the BA.4 and BA.5 substrains. 

By Delilah Alvarado • Oct. 13, 2022

GSK sets high bar with trial results for RSV vaccine

With data expected for several other vaccines for the respiratory disease, GSK reported positive clinical trial results showing efficacy above 80%.

By Jonathan Gardner • Oct. 13, 2022

Merck pays $250M to license Moderna cancer vaccine

The drugmaker’s decision to grab rights to the shot deepens its ties with the COVID-19 vaccine developer and comes weeks before a key data release. 

By Kristin Jensen • Oct. 12, 2022