| Coronavirus cases entered a new phase of international and exponential growth this week, with reports outside of China more than doubling. Heavy demand has spread to nearly every aspect of the industry—for diagnostic tests, ventilators, masks, hardware, personnel, vaccines and treatments. To catch up, companies and governments alike are wielding some unconventional approaches to get products to people as fast as possible. Our top reads of the week follow below—plus looks at the top drugs losing protection, and the launch of our annual (and safely socially distant) FierceMadness tournament. Get your votes in! | |
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Featured Story | | | Wednesday, March 18, 2020 Biopharma companies have scrambled to start new R&D projects and repurpose existing medicines amid the COVID-19 crisis. Now, Bayer is donating an older treatment to the U.S. government for potential use. |
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Top Stories Of The Week Monday, March 16, 2020 It’s a pretty extraordinary story that started off with a CEO exiting a biotech and has now become about the U.S. president allegedly wanting to lure that biotech over to the U.S. to build a vaccine for the coronavirus—but just for Americans. Each year, drugmakers lose their monopolies on a slate of big-selling old medicines. While top brands like Lyrica and Herceptin lost exclusivity last year—and more big rollouts are expected for 2021 and beyond—this year's exclusivity losses will cause some significant pain of their own. Friday, March 13, 2020 Roche received a green light from the FDA for emergency use of its high-volume coronavirus diagnostic, the first commercially developed test to do so. The agency said it approved the test within 24 hours of receiving the application. Monday, March 16, 2020 A Biogen management meeting held in Boston in late February has spawned 108 confirmed or presumptive positive cases of the novel coronavirus—and have now led to a criminal investigation. Monday, March 18, 2019 If it’s March, it must be #FierceMadness, FiercePharma’s annual take on the March Madness NCAA basketball tournament and bracket mania—with a pharma twist. This year we’re once again pitting pharma's advertising campaigns against one another on the road to the Final Four and ultimate championship. Monday, March 16, 2020 At a time of unprecedented panic over the rapidly spreading COVID-19 coronavirus, several research groups are asking whether existing therapies could be repurposed in fighting the disease. Suggestions over the past week include combinations of drugs and supplements as well as a stem cell product that has proven effective in reducing inflammatory biomarkers. Wednesday, March 18, 2020 Among a long list of biopharma companies developing vaccines against the novel coronavirus, China’s CanSino Biologics and Massachusetts-based Moderna Therapeutics are so far the front-runners. After Moderna dosed its first subject this week, CanSino said it's been cleared to start its trials. Monday, March 16, 2020 BioNTech is in advanced talks with Pfizer over ex-China development of a coronavirus vaccine that is due to enter the clinic late next month. News of the progress of the vaccine and deal-making inside and outside of China sent shares in BioNTech up more than 50%. Tuesday, March 17, 2020 As COVID-19 spreads worldwide, drugmakers are enacting stay-at-home policies for sales reps, subbing digital tools and virtual meetings for face-to-face visits. The novel virus is accelerating a yearslong trend—and, in the end, it may shift pharma to digital detailing permanently. Friday, March 13, 2020 While the FDA has been monitoring the impact of the COVID-19 outbreak on drug supplies to the U.S., it turns out the Trump administration's ban on travel from Europe threatened to interrupt shipments of Novartis’ Kymriah gene therapy, delivery of which is time-sensitive. Friday, March 13, 2020 Eli Lilly has teamed up with AbCellera to develop a treatment for the novel coronavirus. The partners aim to have an antibody in the clinic within four months, giving them a shot at contributing to efforts to counter the virus. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Merck KGaA has donated Rebif supplies to investigators in France for a clinical study. Medtronic and GE Healthcare are bolstering ventilator production. Plus, Trump talked about advancing therapeutics, but FDA chief Hahn said there's still a lot to learn about potential treatments. Enrollment Showcase | | | Presented by: Global EMBA for Healthcare & the Life Sciences, University of Toronto Prepare to step up in your career, build the expertise you need to reshape your organization, and explore opportunities worldwide. Download the guide. |
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Resources Sponsored by: eClinical Solutions Key findings from the 2019 Life Sciences Data & Analytics Survey conducted by the Tufts Center for the Study of Drug Development will be unveiled during this live webinar led by industry expert and study lead, Ken Getz, Director of Sponsored Programs and Associate Professor. Sponsored by: Catalent Learn how to drive excellence within the forecasting process and utilize forecasting throughout the clinical study to better plan clinical supply budgets and project timelines. Explore how to identify potential supply-related issues before they can negatively impact your study. Sponsored by: Catalent Whether a study is simple or highly complex, forecasting and simulation reports serve as data driven communication tools to help minimize risks and keep the study on track. Learn more about forecasting solutions for informed decision making and supporting contingency planning for clinical study. Sponsored by: Catalent Learn about a real-world example of how clinical supply management expertise was applied to overcome inventory challenges for a complex, global study. Sponsored by: Metabolon Metabolomics can help you streamline your drug development process by providing the framework to make a stronger, more confident, and more valuable case for a molecule in a shorter timeframe. Sponsored by: Epsilon Download this e-book to learn 9 ways to enhance the customer experience within healthcare marketing. Sponsored by: Reprints Desk/Research Solutions 3 ways you may be overspending on scientific literature access, and how to fix them. Sponsored by: Baxter When different drug products are produced in shared facilities, potential for cross-contamination needs to be addressed. Outsourcing to a CMO with experience in multiproduct facilities can be an option. Sponsored by: WCG Metrics Champion Consortium Ineffective measurement could mean wasting both time and money. This whitepaper showcases a custom-built Metric Maturity Model that helps illustrate and define the process for measuring the right things the right way. Sponsored by: The Kinetix Group Read about the innovative ways payers are making smart moves in the healthcare game. Sponsored by: Catalent This whitepaper discusses the benefits of end-to-end solutions and share case studies on how flexible manufacturing strategies can accommodate the changing landscape of pharmaceutical products and help bring a drug to market. Sponsored by: Blue Matter Consulting White paper describing how a biopharma company can successfully differentiate an oncology product when the clinical profile alone is not enough to get the job done. Sponsored by: Catalent Learn how recent innovations in demand-led supply and direct-to-patient distribution are converging to create a next-generation clinical supply chain that is flexible, lean and most importantly patient-centric. Sponsored by: Altran This whitepaper highlights the challenges of implementing the right digital twin strategy while providing key use cases in the manufacturing domain for which a digital twin is extremely useful and several examples of technology trends that will shape the future. Sponsored by: Catalent Pharma Solutions In this Q&A, four Catalent Biologics experts share how scale-up, regulatory expectations, demand forecasting and process validation all play a role in the success of a biologic when embarking upon the commercial manufacturing journey. | 
