To view this email as a web page, click here

Today's Rundown

Featured Story

AstraZeneca CEO blames trial delays, not manufacturing, for COVID vaccine delivery shortfall

AstraZeneca had an order to supply 100 million doses of the University of Oxford’s COVID-19 vaccine to the U.K., including 30 million doses by September. The drugmaker missed that deadline, but according its CEO, it was due to manufacturing consideration after a clinical trial delay.

read more

Top Stories

Cigna says health utilization continued to rebound in Q3

Cigna posted $1.4 billion in profit for the third quarter, performance it says is bolstered by its newly rebranded Evernorth subsidiary.

read more

Hologic’s diagnostic sales rocket 375% as COVID-19 demand continues to rise

After seeing its overall sales slip last quarter, Hologic’s COVID-19 testing sales have continued to skyrocket—powering the company’s most recent quarterly income to over $1.3 billion.

read more

Biopharma roundup: Gilead's Veklury absent from WHO's drug procurement plan

AstraZeneca chief Pascal Soriot deflected reports of vaccine delivery delays. Bangladesh secured 30 million AZ doses as Chile OK'd a clinical trial of the shot. WHO won't include Gilead's Veklury in its plan to supply drugs to low-income countries. And the U.S. recorded more than 100,000 new cases Wednesday.

read more

Healthcare roundup: Fitbit partners with DOD to develop wearable that detects COVID-19

Follow along with the latest COVID-19 news straight from the Fierce Healthcare team.

read more

Parexel pens blood, serology pact with Drawbridge Health and Synexa for COVID-19 trials

Major CRO Parexel has signed up with bioanalytics company Synexa Life Sciences and blood drawing specialist Drawbridge Health for a “more streamlined solution for blood sample collection and serology testing.”

read more

Many pediatricians say vaccines, visits dropped off amid COVID-19. Nemours says it bucked the trend

While plenty of adult primary care as well as pediatric practices continue to report sluggish returns in visits among their patients, Nemours officials say they have been able to return to somewhat normal visit volumes and actually increased immunizations among kids year-to-date. Here's how.

read more

Charles River Labs sees strong Q3 growth, CEO lauds 'resilience of our business model'

As an early-stage CRO, Charles River Labs has escaped the broader damage of its peers and is still steaming ahead in the third quarter with a jump in revenue.

read more