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Pharmalittle: U.S. Senate committee passes PBM bills; Pfizer CEO predicts pharma will sue over Medicare price negotiations

May 12, 2023... The U.S. Senate health committee passed a package of bills aimed at speeding generic drug competition and reining in pharmacy benefit managers.

Pharmalittle: Lilly’s Mounjaro helped people lose 15.7% of body weight; Sanofi earnings boosted by Dupixent

April 27, 2023... Eli Lilly’s drug Mounjaro for type 2 diabetes helped people who are also overweight or obese lose up to 15.7% of their body weight in a new study.

Bill Cassidy -- Health Policy coverage from STAT

Pharma executives shower Bill Cassidy with campaign cash

April 27, 2023... Sen. Bill Cassidy’s new perch as the top Republican on the Senate health committee has attracted some campaign cash from pharma company execs.

Pharmalittle: GSK will buy Bellus Health for $2 billion; FDA inspectors are leaving faster than they can be replaced

April 18, 2023... GSK plans to purchase Bellus Health for $2 billion, adding a promising chronic cough drug to its pipeline.

Packages of misoprostol and mifepristone -- coverage from STAT

Where is PhRMA in the mifepristone debate?

April 10, 2023... PhRMA hasn’t put out a press release about a Texas judge suspending approval for mifepristone, even though the ruling could destabilize the FDA.

Novo Nordisk Denmark

U.K. trade group suspends Novo Nordisk for ‘serious breaches’ in promoting obesity drug

March 16, 2023... A U.K. pharmaceutical industry trade group suspended Novo Nordisk for two years due to “serious breaches” involving promotion of a weight-loss drug.

Pfizer buys Seagen, maker of targeted cancer drugs, for $43 billion

March 13, 2023... Pfizer said it is acquiring Seagen, a maker of targeted cancer drugs, for $43 billion.

Pharmalittle: Pharmacies are battlegrounds in the abortion debate; Lilly Alzheimer’s drug failed to prevent memory loss in study

March 9, 2023... An experimental Eli Lilly drug failed to prevent memory loss in a study of healthy older people with a high risk of developing clinical Alzheimer’s disease.

light shines behind Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla as he attends a ceremony in Greece

Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla maxed out campaign contributions to Dr. Oz ahead of midterm elections

March 9, 2023... Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla made the maximum possible campaign contribution to Mehmet Oz ahead of his failed bid to represent Pennsylvania in the U.S. Senate.

Pharmalittle: Looming abortion pill ruling could undermine drug approval system; Medicare says no to changing Alzheimer’s drug restrictions

Feb. 23, 2023... A court challenge to approval of mifepristone could set a sweeping precedent that might undermine the infrastructure for evaluating all drugs.

Albert Bourla

Albert Bourla

Feb. 15, 2023... Under Bourla’s leadership, Pfizer was the first to win FDA approval of an mRNA vaccine against Covid-19 in late 2020, along with its partner BioNTech, followed a year later by authorization for the oral Covid antiviral Paxlovid. Then, last August, Pfizer — simultaneously with Moderna — got the FDA’s nod last for a revamped vaccine…

Pharmalittle: Biotech is in shake-out mode; Sanofi R&D head jumps to Johnson & Johnson

Feb. 14, 2023... The biotech industry is in shake-out mode after the ranks of public drug developers swelled in recent years amid an IPO boom.

Pharmalittle: Amgen pricing for Humira biosimilar may not help patients; pharma wins court battle over drug discount program

Jan. 31, 2023... Amgen's long-awaited pricing for its Humira biosimilar suggests the biggest winners may be health insurers and others in the supply chain, but not patients.

Pfizer BioNTech vial

U.K. lawmakers urge Pfizer not to raise the price of its Covid-19 vaccine

Jan. 30, 2023... Several U.K. lawmakers have asked Pfizer not to raise the price of its Covid-19 vaccine, citing concerns such a move could strain the National Health Service.

Pharmalittle: Pfizer is scolded by U.K. industry group over CEO’s remarks on vaccination; Amgen to lay off 300 U.S. employees

Jan. 30, 2023... Pfizer was scolded by a U.K. pharmaceutical trade group after its CEO made misleading statements about the need to vaccinate young children against Covid-19.

Albert Bourla - Pfizer CEO

Pfizer is scolded by a U.K. trade group for remarks its CEO made about vaccination

Jan. 27, 2023... A U.K. pharmaceutical industry trade group ruled on a complaint that Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla's remarks to the BBC were “extremely promotional in nature.”

The unexpected alliance lobbying for Medicare to pay for new obesity drugs

Jan. 26, 2023... An unexpected alliance is lobbying for Medicare to pay for new obesity drugs.

globe and meds illo

Pfizer says it will widen access to hundreds of off-patent medicines in low-income countries

Jan. 17, 2023... Pfizer's effort comes amid harsh criticism of the pharmaceutical industry for failing to do more to widen access to its products.

Pharmalittle: Pfizer will not license generic Covid-19 pill in China; BioMarin signs outcomes-based deal in Germany for gene therapy

Jan. 11, 2023... Pfizer 's CEO said the company is not in talks with China to license a generic version of its Covid-19 pill, Paxlovid, for use there.

Moderna bivalent COVID-19 vaccines are stored in a freezer for use at a clinic

Moderna plans to follow in Pfizer’s footsteps, charge up to $130 for Covid-19 vaccine in U.S.

Jan. 9, 2023... "This is the wrong move for public health and the wrong move for fighting the pandemic," one critic said.

Pharmalittle: Lawmakers accuse Pfizer of ‘pure greed’ over Covid vaccine price hike; Takeda to spend $4 billion on experimental pill

Dec. 14, 2022... Two U.S. lawmakers urged the Pfizer CEO to “back off” from plans to charge Americans up to $130 for the company’s Covid-19 vaccine.

Lawmakers tell Pfizer CEO to ‘back off’ on planned price hike for Covid-19 vaccine

Dec. 13, 2022... In a letter to the Pfizer CEO, U.S. Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass) and Sen. Peter Welch (D-Vt) called the price hike "pure and deadly greed."

Pharmalittle: Second clinical trial death may be linked to Eisai-Biogen Alzheimer’s drug; pharma presses the U.K. over ‘out of control’ levy

Nov. 28, 2022... A 65-year-old woman who was receiving lecanemab for early Alzheimer’s disease died from a massive brain hemorrhage that some researchers link to the drug.

Pharmalittle: Type 1 diabetes drug is priced at $194,000; abortion opponents sue FDA over abortion pill approval

Nov. 21, 2022... Provention Bio priced its new type 1 diabetes prevention therapy at $13,850 per vial — equivalent to almost $194,000 for its 14-day course — a higher level than predicted by analysts.

Albert Bourla and Matthew Herper on the STAT Summit stage.

Pfizer CEO says Covid vaccine will remain ‘free for all Americans,’ overlooking indirect costs

Nov. 18, 2022... Pfizer's CEO says the company's Covid vaccines will remain "free for all Americans" — an assertion that overlooked indirect costs that will be passed on to consumers.

The scientist behind Pfizer’s Covid vaccine says a flu pandemic is only a matter of time

Nov. 16, 2022... Vaccine researcher Kathrin Jansen said at the #STATSummit that a flu pandemic is inevitable: “The question is, does it come tomorrow or 50 years from now?”

Pharmalittle: BioNTech eyes cancer vaccine before decade’s end; Pfizer asks Supreme Court to review copay programs

Oct. 17, 2022... Vaccines that target cancer could be available before the end of the decade, said the husband and wife team behind one of the most successful Covid shots.

European Prosecutor’s Office confirms it’s investigating European Union Covid vaccine contracts

Oct. 17, 2022... In an unusual step, the European Public Prosecutor’s Office confirmed it has opened an investigation into the Covid-19 contracts the European Union made with Pfizer.

Pharmalittle: FDA approves a medicine to combat ALS; Medicare drug-price talks are poised to become a legal battle

Sept. 30, 2022... The FDA approved a new medicine for ALS from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals, providing a desperately needed new treatment option.