USA Big Pharma has been raging against the US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA) ever since it was passed last year. Merck (MSD global) has recently taken its indignation a step further and sued the US government, arguing that the new legislation violates the constitution, but shareholders at the ICCR are not…

USA Although clinical trial diversity remains high on the agendas of industry sponsors, there is still a long road to travel towards more equitable and representative research – and ultimately safer and more effective medicines. On this theme, writing in the June 2023 edition of the DIA Global Forum magazine, Jorge…

USA Speaking at the 2023 BIO International Convention Chris Viehbacher who joined Biogen as CEO only a few months ago, criticised the US’s Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), legislation that will allow Medicare to negotiate prices for the drugs it spends the most on as of 2026. Viehbacher, who was brought in…

USA While the COVID-19 pandemic was a global wake-up call for many, life sciences stakeholders argue that not enough is being done to address the rising threats of further health crises and equate health security with national security, a necessity that requires consistent public funding. In addition, as a recent panel…

USA During a panel discussion at the BIO International Convention, Peter Marks, director of the US FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) discussed the positive regulatory outcomes of the COVID-19 pandemic as well as the backlogs it created and the challenges of carrying the lessons learned forward.   At…

USA During the ongoing BIO International Convention in Boston between June 5th and 8th, the US lobbying group has announced a new board chair in Ted Love as well as a new executive committee.   Love is a longstanding BIO board director and the former President & CEO of Global Blood…

USA Sanskriti Thakur of decentralised clinical trial platform provider Medable, writing in the May 2023 edition of DIA’s Global Forum magazine, argues for an urgent rethink of clinical research to better include a more diverse patient population and protect women, mothers, families, and society at large.   This Mother’s Day, women…

Global The UHC2030 Private Sector Constituency (UHC2030 PSC), which is hosted by the World Bank Group, has released a statement on the private sector commitments toward universal health coverage (UHC), ahead of Multi-stakeholder Hearings on UHC that will take place in New York on 9th May 2023. The IFPMA’s Thomas Cueni…

USA With a total R&D spend of USD 2.66 billion in 2022 and a pipeline that features cutting-edge technologies such as mRNA, cell therapy and gene editing, Vertex Pharmaceuticals is looking to deliver “serial innovation” by investing most of its resources in research. And while some other biopharma companies depend on…

USA In the current economic environment companies are faced with increased pressure to manage cash and meet investor expectations with tightened budgets. Life science industry CFOs, as a recent survey and webinar reveal, are looking to preserve and generate cash by making their companies more efficient and building partnerships while confronting…

USA After considerable government pressure to reduce insulin costs in the US, Eli Lilly recently slashed its prices by as much as 70 percent, followed by competitors Novo Nordisk and Sanofi. While these steps to make insulin more affordable, together with the US Medicare insulin price cap that came into effect…

Global In the largest pharma acquisition in four years, Pfizer has picked up oncology biotech Seagen for USD 43 billion. The deal, which could signal a rebound in M&A activity as big pharma companies look to renew their pipelines in preparation for post-COVID and off-patent losses, bolsters Pfizer’s continuing push into…