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Today's Rundown

Merck has better luck with 2nd COVID-19 drug attempt as it sees a positive in early molnupiravir data
Senate narrowly passes COVID-19 package that includes ACA subsidy boost, rural hospital money
Moderna lures Novartis' top lawyer to be its own as COVID-19 vaccine rollout raises legal risks
Cue Health's COVID-19 cartridge test authorized for home use with no prescription
Johnson & Johnson has been using a virtual trial approach from IQVIA for its phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine
Trinity Health posts $2.7B in net income for 2nd half of its fiscal year
CytoDyn digs deep for signs of efficacy in COVID-19 trial flop
As viral vector demand surges, fledgling CDMO Matica establishes a beachhead in Texas
COVID-19 tracker: Russia tries to influence vaccine confidence; New hope for Merck COVID-19 drug
Seres stops microbiome cancer trial, deprioritizes drug as COVID-19 throttles enrollment

Featured Story

Merck has better luck with 2nd COVID-19 drug attempt as it sees a positive in early molnupiravir data

By Ben Adams

Merck has had a torrid time with COVID-19 vaccines and a major setback with its OncoImmune-partnered pandemic med, but now, finally, it’s seeing some good news on that R&D front.

Senate narrowly passes COVID-19 package that includes ACA subsidy boost, rural hospital money

By Robert King

The Senate passed a $1.9 trillion COVID-19 package that temporarily boosts ACA subsidies and gives more money to rural hospitals but doesn't include several priorities for hospitals.

Moderna lures Novartis' top lawyer to be its own as COVID-19 vaccine rollout raises legal risks

By Angus Liu

Moderna has recruited a new chief legal officer with a decade of Big Pharma experience as its COVID-19 vaccine rollout kicks into gear. Shannon Thyme Klinger, the Novartis chief legal officer who stepped in after the Swiss pharma's Michael Cohen scandal, will become Moderna’s legal mastermind on June 1.

Cue Health's COVID-19 cartridge test authorized for home use with no prescription

By Conor Hale

One year into the pandemic, the FDA has authorized its first molecular COVID-19 diagnostic that can be performed completely at home and purchased without a prescription.

Johnson & Johnson has been using a virtual trial approach from IQVIA for its phase 3 COVID-19 vaccine

By Ben Adams

Johnson & Johnson recently nabbed an emergency use authorization from the FDA for its single-shot COVID-19 vaccine, but today it said its trials for the shot had largely been done virtually through IQVIA.

Trinity Health posts $2.7B in net income for 2nd half of its fiscal year

By Robert King

Trinity Health posted net earnings of $2.7 billion for the second half of 2020 as the system was able to weather major declines in net patient service revenue caused by COVID-19.

CytoDyn digs deep for signs of efficacy in COVID-19 trial flop

By Nick Paul Taylor

A phase 3 clinical trial of CytoDyn’s leronlimab in COVID-19 patients has missed its primary and all major secondary endpoints. However, CytoDyn zeroed in on a subgroup of patients and performed an “age adjustment” analysis to hail the study as evidence of the efficaciousness of leronlimab.

As viral vector demand surges, fledgling CDMO Matica establishes a beachhead in Texas

By Kevin Dunleavy

Matica, a subsidiary of South Korea-based CHA Biotech, will carry the hopes of the parent company to establish a CDMO business in the United States. One thing's for sure: Between the burgeoning gene therapy pipeline and the surge of pandemic vaccines, there will be demand for its viral vectors.

COVID-19 tracker: Russia tries to influence vaccine confidence; New hope for Merck COVID-19 drug

By Kevin Dunleavy,Fraiser Kansteiner,Eric Sagonowsky,Angus Liu,Conor Hale

Russia is promoting its coronavirus vaccine Sputnik V, while also mounting a campaign to undermine confidence in Western vaccines. Merck got a positive bit of good news in testing for a COVID-19 drug. Amid poor results for its COVID-19 drug, CytoDyn found hope by focusing on a subgroup.

Seres stops microbiome cancer trial, deprioritizes drug as COVID-19 throttles enrollment