Business

As the second quarter of 2023 draws to a close, DDW’s Megan Thomas reviews key updates and results from three top pharmaceutical companies. Business updates   Pfizer reported second quarter 2023 revenues totalling $12.7 billion, a decrease of $15.0 billion, or 54%, compared to the prior year quarter, reflecting an operational decline of $14.7 billion, or […]

The life sciences sector has seen significant M&A activity over the last few weeks. DDW’s Diana Spencer provides an overview. BioIVT acquires PrecisionMed In July BioIVT acquired biospecimens company PrecisionMed, gaining access to, reportedly, the largest private, global repository of longitudinally collected human CSF for scientific research. “We are thrilled to announce BioIVT’s acquisition of […]

Biogen has revealed an agreement to acquire Reata Pharmaceuticals for approximately $7.3 billion. The news follows an announcement by the company last week that it would cut around 1,000 jobs, or 11% of its workforce, to allow investment into its product pipeline. In its second quarter results, the company said its new ‘Fit for Growth’ […]

Shares in AstraZeneca fell by 6% on July 3 when the company published the first results from its Phase III trial for datopotamab deruxtecan (Dato-DXd) and continued to fall throughout the day, though there was some recovery on July 4. It was reported that the therapy demonstrated statistically significant improvement in progression-free survival vs docetaxel […]

Sales of branded anti-obesity drugs (AOB) could hit $44 billion in 2030 vs $2.5 billion in 2022, with just under 70% stemming from the US. The predictions come from analysts at Bloomberg Intelligence (BI), who believe securing broad reimbursement and supply are key, with a possible upside from further innovations including combination products. Michael Shah, […]

This is the latest episode of the free DDW narrated podcast, “The impact of technology on drug discovery”. It covers two articles written for Volume 23, Issue 2 – Spring 2022 of DDW. They are called “Talking Tech” and “Rejuvenation biotech: Can this company make age a thing of the past?” With Covid-19 taking so […]

PerkinElmer has successfully completed the divestiture of its Applied, Food and Enterprise Services businesses to New Mountain Capital. The resulting new Life Sciences and Diagnostics business will share the PerkinElmer name until a new name, brand and ticker symbol is unveiled in Q2 2023 pending shareholder approval. “Today marks the culmination of the hard work […]

Craig Caceci, Managing Director at Terebellum, offers guidance to pharmaceutical companies that are in the position to take their drugs to market.  In today’s competitive environment, a winning, fail-safe drug launch strategy is more important than ever, especially with increased NHS and private payer influence, steep standards for coverage and ongoing issues such as safety, […]

Kristina Tatiossian, PhD, founder of Arkitekt Agency, looks at how biotech companies are currently using social media and provides a five-step guide for how to make the most of this ubiquitous marketing tool. Biotechnology organisations can leverage social media for a variety of purposes, from boosting awareness and increasing engagement, to connecting with stakeholders and […]

DDW Editor Reece Armstrong takes a look at the pharmaceutical research and development market in 2023 and asks key opinion leaders what challenges and trends will emerge throughout the year.   The Market After over two years of the Covid-19 pandemic, 2022 year was somewhat of a return to normal for both the world at […]

WuXi STA, a subsidiary of WuXi AppTec, has received scores of 60+ with a Silver rating from EcoVadis, a provider of business sustainability ratings, for its three sites in China.  The scores were received for active pharmaceutical ingredients (API) R&D and manufacturing from the Changzhou site, and for formulation development and manufacturing from the Shanghai […]

GSK has announced strong quarterly results, reporting sales of £7.8 billion and growth in various sectors of the business.   Overall, the company’s adjusted operating profit for the third quarter came in at £2.6 billion, a 17% increase compared to the same period last year and reflecting a 4% year-on-growth at CER.   The quarterly results are […]

Clinical-stage company Respira Technologies has appointed a new Chief Executive Officer (CEO) to the company.  Brian Quigley will take over as CEO after working as Respira’s Chief Operating Officer (COO) for the past two years.   Quigley previously worked at Altria Group for 16 years where he spent seven years as President & CEO at Altria’s […]

Artificial intelligence (AI) company Atomwise has signed an exclusive research collaboration with Sanofi to use its AtomNet platform for computational discovery and research of up to five drug targets.  The agreement will see Atomwise receive $20 million from Sanofi to identify, synthesise, and advance lead compounds for up to five targets, which will be exclusive to […]

Clinical-stage drug discovery company Ryvu Therapeutics has received €22 million from the European Investment Bank (EIB) to help it advance its portfolio of cancer treatments.   The funding, which is being provided under the EIB’s venture debt instrument, will help Ryvu finance its development pipeline of new cancer treatments from discovery through to clinical trials. Ryvu’s […]

News round-up by DDW’s Reece Armstrong for 8-12 August  New insights into melanoma, a company transition into life sciences and a Lyme disease vaccine are some of the stories in this week’s news round-up. Pfizer launches Phase III trial for Lyme disease vaccine    Pfizer has launched a Phase III clinical trial of a vaccine to […]