July 2022 Issue: Pulsed-field ablation, DeviceTalks Boston and the Pharma 50

Innovators shake up the Pharma 50

As a father raising a toddler and an infant, I was relieved by the latest milestone in the COVID-19 pandemic: the authorization of vaccines for children between 6 months and 5 years.

The good news came as Pharma Editor Brian Buntz and the rest of our team were putting the final touches on this edition’s Pharma 50 project. It’s our annual ranking of the biggest pharmaceutical companies by global revenue, featured on our affiliated Drug Discovery & Development site. (Our Big 100 report on largest medical device companies is out in September!)

Pfizer shot from the No. 9 spot on last year’s ranking to No. 1 this year with nearly $81.3 billion in revenue, pushing Sinopharm out of the top spot. Pfizer’s Comirnaty was the top-selling drug of 2021, and the vaccine’s success didn’t only boost Pfizer. The drugmaker’s partner on the vaccine, BioNTech, made its Pharma 50 debut at No. 18 this year, thanks almost entirely to Comirnaty sales.

Moderna also made the Pharma 50 for the first time this year, ranking No. 23 thanks to its own mRNA COVID vaccine. Meanwhile, competing vaccine maker Janssen (Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical segment) climbed from No. 6 to No. 4. With new variants emerging regularly, it’s not hard to imagine another shake-up in next year’s rankings from another blockbuster vaccine, hopefully one that prevents infection entirely.

COVID disruption was a likely suspect behind the record-low number of FDA medical device recalls in the agency’s most recent year. That’s according to an analysis by Senior Editor Danielle Kirsh of recall data and interviews with the FDA and regulatory experts in this edition. It’s a reminder of the importance of continued vigilance and improvement from the industry and regulators alike.

On the diabetes front, Associate Editor Sean Whooley interviewed Dexcom CEO Kevin Sayer about the future of integrated automated insulin delivery following FDA clearance of the Dexcom G7 continuous glucose monitoring system. AI algorithms and expanded data collection are going to lead to a diabetes “science boom” over the next decade, Sayer said.

This edition is also full of innovative insights shared at DeviceTalks Boston by industry leaders from Medtronic, Boston Scientific, Insulet and others. Highlights include an exploration of pulsed-field ablation for treating atrial fibrillation, Stryker’s involvement of users when designing orthopedic products for the digital age, and how new technology is changing how surgeons work in the operating room.

Find all this and much more in our latest edition of Medical Design & Outsourcing. Enjoy — and thanks for reading.

– Jim Hammerand, Managing Editor