WELCOME TO FIERCE LIFE SCIENCES WEEKLY DIGEST Good news from Pfizer and BioNTech spread across the world this week, with early COVID-19 vaccine data showing 90% effectiveness. And though that could drop as studies continue, it’s still far ahead of the 50% bar the FDA said any shot would have to clear. But the mRNA-based vaccine’s cold chain needs—stored at a brisk 94° F below zero—could hamper a global rollout, and Sanofi, GSK, J&J and Novavax are waiting in the wings with their doses that can survive in a common refrigerator. Those stories plus 10 Chinese biotechs to keep your eye on, and the rest of our top reads of the week, follow below. | |
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Featured Story | By Ben Adams Pfizer and German mRNA biotech partner BioNTech have released an early look at their experimental pandemic vaccine, and the news is good. read more |
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Top Stories Of The Week By Eric Sagonowsky Pfizer's COVID-19 vaccine this week set high efficacy expectations, but the vaccine has stringent storage needs and requires two doses, creating significant challenges for a massive vaccination campaign. If they prove themselves in the clinic, later-arriving shots from the likes of Sanofi, J&J and Novavax may be better suited for global distribution. read more By Angus Liu China has witnessed a biotech boom over the past decade, and the first crop just started to bear fruit. Here, we spotlight 10 companies that we think everyone who takes an interest in China’s biotech industry should know about since they'll likely compete on the global stage one day. What sets them apart is that all but one of them have attracted foreign Big Pharma companies buying into their R&D. read more By Amirah Al Idrus Biogen shocked the biopharma world last year when it resurrected its once-failed Alzheimer’s drug based on findings from a post hoc analysis. But its hopes for a speedy FDA nod look dashed as a panel of outside experts picked apart the data supporting the new drug application, panning it in multiple votes. read more By Beth Snyder Bulik It's been a tough year for the FDA's reputation already, and Friday's advisory committee meeting for Biogen's aducanumab just made it worse. The outside experts slammed FDA for its rose-colored-glasses view of the Alzheimer's candidate—and even as the panel gave the drug a resounding "no" vote, the fallout continued in public. read more By Arlene Weintraub On Monday, the same day that Pfizer announced that its COVID-19 vaccine was 90% effective in a clinical trial, CEO Albert Bourla sold 132,508 shares in a transaction that was set up months ago. It was the latest stroke of good fortune for a CEO who has already seen his pay skyrocket on R&D successes. read more By Angus Liu Big Pharma's operations abroad are a common punching bag for U.S. anti-corruption watchdogs, which have snared a series of high-profile settlements in recent years. Now, Pfizer will take its turn under those watchdogs' withering eyes for its business in Russia and China. read more By Conor Hale The diagnostic developed by GenScript is designed to provide a test result within one hour. read more By Amirah Al Idrus Launched in 2015 to tackle hearing loss broadly, Decibel Therapeutics kicked off 2020 with a new CEO and an R&D makeover. Now it’s grabbing $82 million to propel its lead programs, including a gene therapy for children with congenital deafness and a program left over from its early days designed to protect hearing in cancer patients undergoing chemotherapy. read more By Angus Liu Merck’s Keytruda is without doubt the king in previously untreated non-small cell lung cancer, but the company wanted to see whether adding another immuno-oncology agent from rival Bristol Myers Squibb would offer additional benefit. Turns out, doing that adds more harm and no good. read more By Arlene Weintraub Researchers at Boston Children’s Hospital engineered an antibody-drug conjugate to home in on pancreatic tumors and deliver a cancer-killing compound to them. Two doses of the drug shrank tumors and prevented metastasis in mouse models of the disease. read more By Conor Hale The FDA has cleared an app for the Apple Watch to help people suffering from nightmares or post-traumatic stress disorder get a better night’s sleep. read more Resources Sponsored By: WCG Need additional site resources for your current or upcoming clinical trial? Sponsored by: Veeva One sentence that will be displayed in the newsletter and should be written to grab the interest of your audience to want to read more. Sponsored By: BioAnalytix Download this eBook and Learn the Advantages of LC-MS based HCP Profiling for Development of Complex Biologics. Sponsored by: Vituity With COVID-19 as the catalyst, empowered clinician leaders are creating solutions to challenges they face every day. Get white paper. 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