When Cecilia Jones started at Genzyme, there was next to nothing in Kendall Square.
“It was just us,” Jones said. “There wasn’t much to even go for lunch.”
Jones would work in Cambridge, MA, for the next 17 years — spending seven at Genzyme and 10 at Biogen, where she would go on to hold a VP role in finance — as Kendall Square and Cambridge grew into a biotech hub.
“It’s like night and day,” Jones said of the area now.
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With household names like Botox and cancer treatment Keytruda, it’s no surprise that the global injectable drugs market is expected to top $1.2 trillion between 2022 and 2030. With a projected 9% compound annual growth rate (CAGR) in that same period, the market is quickly expanding to provide desperately needed treatments in areas like oncology and orphan disease to psychiatric disorders and immunodeficiencies.
In the end, the internal tensions ripping at BIO had barely surfaced in fresh turmoil than the stormy surface waters were smoothed by CEO Michelle McMurry-Heath’s quick exit. Late Monday came word that she had resigned her top post, swapping it for an advisory position, and soon after we learned that long-time biotech exec Rachel King would be taking her position until they can find a full time replacement.
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Merck consistently spotlighted the multibillion-dollar sales potential of sotatercept, the lead drug in Acceleron’s pipeline, as it explained to investors why it wagered $11.5 billion to acquire the biotech late last year.
The pharma giant is now one step closer to fulfilling that potential.
As promised, Merck has unveiled topline data from the pivotal Phase III STELLAR trial, which it said met the primary endpoint as well as all but one of the nine secondary endpoints.
After a short, rocky two-year tenure highlighted by an event-killing pandemic, cutbacks and new pricing legislation widely viewed in biotech as a calamity, BIO CEO Michelle McMurry-Heath has gone on leave in what may be a step ahead of her quick exit.
In a statement issued to Endpoints News Sunday, BIO said:
The BIO CEO is currently on leave. BIO does not speculate on rumors relative to employees or personnel. BIO remains vigilant in its advocacy for biotech innovation and the wellbeing of patients.
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With the number of biopharma acquisitions in 2022 so far falling below recent years, the investment bank SVB Securities on Sunday published a new report on M&A and where there may be some action in the near term.
As far as the acquirers, the report notes that large biopharma companies’ execs have a “broad appetite for M&A and BD,” and companies like Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson are both carrying cash balances of about $33 billion each as of June 30, while other companies like Novartis with $20 billion, and Bristol Myers Squibb with $13 billion, can take the lead.
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Maiden Pharmaceuticals, an India-based producer of several generic drugs, came under fire recently from the WHO as several of its cough syrup products were linked to the deaths of more than 60 children in Gambia, according to reports.
The WHO last week issued an alert over four cough syrup-based products: Promethazine Oral Solution, Kofexmalin Baby Cough Syrup, Makoff Baby Cough Syrup and Magrip N Cold Syrup. The WHO alert said there are no safety guarantees, and lab samples contain contaminants such as diethylene glycol and ethylene glycol, which are chemicals mainly used in antifreeze or brake fluid.
Pharma companies and even Congress have made efforts over the last year to ensure clinical trials are more representative of the patients they serve — but two researchers argue that isn’t enough.
Brigham and Women’s urologist Thomas Hwang and John’s Hopkins oncology professor Otis Brawley opined in a New England Journal of Medicine piece on Saturday that achieving diversity in clinical trials will take a combination of federal incentives and regulations.
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Discussions about climate change often revolve around temperature changes and more turbulent weather-related conditions. However, there’s an under-discussed related effect on human health. AstraZeneca wants to emphasize that issue and spur more conversations with a corporate campaign now rolling out around sustainability and science.
At the heart of the new “Science Can” effort is a two-minute short film that lays out the connection between climate change and public health.
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With the midterm elections approaching next month and Republicans likely to win back control of either the House, Senate or both, Republican Sens. James Lankford (OK) and Mike Lee (UT) recently introduced a bill that would gut the Democrats’ recent drug pricing victory.
That new law will allow for drug price negotiations, and even potentially price controls (via the threat of steep fines), for a sliver of the most expensive drugs for seniors, all of which will have already been on the market for years.
Bioscience & Technology Business Center The University of Kansas Lawrence, Kansas
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