WELCOME TO FIERCE LIFE SCIENCES WEEKLY DIGEST David Sabatini, MIT professor and founder of several biotechs, has been ousted from his lab after a sexual harassment investigation. The cell signaling and cancer metabolism scientist, credited with co-discovering the mTOR pathway, is “no longer associated” with either the Whitehead Institute or the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Details of the specific allegations are yet to emerge. That story, plus our other top reads of the week, follow below. | |
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Featured Story | By Nick Paul Taylor David Sabatini, the scientific founder of several biotechs, has been ousted from his lab after a sexual harassment investigation. The high-profile cell signaling and cancer metabolism scientist is “no longer associated” with either the Whitehead Institute or the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. read more |
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Top Stories Of The Week By Kevin Dunleavy It's been a relatively smooth ride for Moderna's global COVID-19 vaccine roll out. But on Wednesday, the company said it's investigating the possible contamination of one batch sent to Japan. Moderna said it is focusing its probe on its manufacturing partner in Spain, CDMO Rovi. read more By Fraiser Kansteiner Drugmakers have myriad tools in their arsenal when looking to grow sales, but it's new drug approvals that reign supreme and ultimately prove the worth of a company's development engine. See how 11 of the world's top drugmakers are faring. read more By Annalee Armstrong Merck KGaA’s biliary cancer hopeful bintrafusp alfa—the immunotherapy at the heart of a $4.2 billion deal with GlaxoSmithKline—has nabbed its third strike. The German pharmaceutical company announced Monday that a phase 2 clinical trial of bintrafusp alfa has been discontinued as the therapy is unlikely to improve overall survival. read more By Noah Higgins-Dunn The U.S. FDA awarded Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech its first full approval for a COVID-19 vaccine, a historic decision that could spark a wave of new vaccine mandates among businesses and universities awaiting the agency's final nod. read more By Conor Hale While facing sharp declines in public demand for rapid COVID-19 screening over the spring and first half of this summer, Abbott directed its workers to shred millions of paper testing cards that it felt had no chance of selling, according to a report by The New York Times. read more By Angus Liu Johnson & Johnson is switching captain to lead the world’s largest pharma company by 2020 revenue. Nine-year CEO Alex Gorsky will hand the helm to vice chairman of executive committee and leader of its COVID-19 response group, Joaquin Duato, early 2022. read more By Ben Adams Janet Woodcock, M.D., has spent more than three decades at the FDA, but her time running the agency as its interim leader is looking less likely to materialize into a full-time gig. read more By Fraiser Kansteiner With a self-proclaimed “Super Plant” already on the way in South Korea, Samsung Biologics CEO John Rim said in January that the CDMO’s expansion was just getting started. He wasn’t kidding. The manufacturer’s parent company Samsung Group is investing an eye-popping 240 trillion won ($205 billion) across its biopharmaceutical, semiconductor and telecommunications businesses, among others. read more By Arlene Weintraub Using CRISPR, a team at Penn’s medical school discovered that an epigenetic regulatory protein called ZMYND8 governs the expression of genes that are critical for the growth and survival of AML cells. They uncovered a way to target it with drugs and to predict which patients are likely to respond to ZMYND8 inhibition. read more By Beth Snyder Bulik Pharma's reputation continues to slide, now down to 53% of consumers who still hold a positive view. The decline began after a February high of 62% approval, down to 60% in May and then 56% in June—and now down three more percentage points, according to The Harris Poll. read more |  | Webinar: Avoiding pitfalls in sterile manufacturing Thursday, September 9, 2021 | 11am ET / 8am PT The rapid development of COVID-19 vaccines brought to light the challenges involved in ramping up the production of injectables. Companies struggled to compress a year-long process of getting up to speed into a matter of months. Such pitfalls can be avoided by improving planning processes and adopting new technologies to streamline manufacturing. Register Now. |
Resources Sponsored by: Patheon by Thermo Fisher Scientific Learn how a decentralized clinical trial strategy improves patient recruitment, reduces drop-out rates, and ultimately streamlines the path to the next trial phase. Sponsored by: Patheon by Thermo Fisher Scientific Learn how to build a robust packaging strategy and the key technical considerations in packaging design and operational planning to enable rapid commercialization of pharmaceuticals. Sponsored by: Patheon by Thermo Fisher Scientific Learn how regulations are changing and key considerations for commercializing cell and gene therapies without sacrificing quality. Sponsored by: LabVantage Solutions Uncover the real impact of “digital transformation” with practical advice to help you plan your own transformative journey to a harmonized digital ecosystem. Sponsored by: Box Read Get to Know Cloud Content Management for Life Sciences and learn how to eliminate silos across all workflows, from R&D to commercialization. Sponsored by: Cytiva A one-stop hub for Cytiva resources to support process intesification Sponsored by: Cytiva A one-stop hub for Cytiva resources to support process development and manufacturing of your novel molecule Sponsored By: Remarque Systems Remarque Systems consolidates data, then layers on visualization and automated metrics to generate consistent, actionable data insights in real-time. Click here for more info. Sponsored By: Within3 We enable virtual work — offering over-time sessions where participants are more focused, insights are more diverse and business goals are met. Sponsored by: Catalent Hear industry experts discuss the recent advances, challenges and considerations in pediatric drug development. Real-life examples presented by the experts illustrate the impact of age-appropriate dose forms for pediatrics and highlight insights into the caregiver perspectives. Sponsored by: Catalent Autologous cell therapies have seen propelled growth since 2017, with the spotlight on the first FDA approval of a chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell immunotherapy, Kymriah® (tisagenlecleucel), for the treatment of relapsed/refractory B-cell acute lymphoblastic leukemia. | 
