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COVID-19 treatments will continue to lift pharma sector, according to Moody’s

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The pandemic has eased throughout much of the world. But demand for COVID-19 vaccines and treatments continues to be brisk, according to ratings agency Moody’s. In general, the pandemic will contribute to the pharmaceutical industry’s projected EBITDA growth rate of 4% to 6% over the coming 12 to 18 months, the firm concluded.

While a significant number of vaccines and antivirals are already in use, more will likely win regulatory authorization in the coming months. But the volume of future COVID-19 therapy sales will hinge upon “how the pandemic evolves,” the Moody’s report acknowledged.

Other factors driving growth include growing healthcare use as countries such as the U.S. continue to lift COVID-19 restrictions.

Oncology, one of the most rapidly growing pharma areas, is likely to continue its growth trajectory. Moody’s expects immuno-onco…

How lupus clinical trials are evolving

A high magnification micrograph of histomorphologic changes in a lymph node resulting from systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). Image from Wikipedia.

In the past half-century, scores of investigational drugs for lupus have seemingly failed in clinical trials. GSK’s Benlysta (belimumab) is unique in winning approval from the FDA and European regulatory authorities.

Anifrolumab from AstraZeneca, which would be a first-in-class type I interferon inhibitor, is one of the most promising investigational drugs for treating systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE). SLE is the most common form of lupus. The PDUFA date for anifrolumab is September 30, 2021, according to the Antibody Society.

A fully human monoclonal antibody, anifrolumab binds to subunit 1 of the type I interferon receptor, potentially calming the impact of pro-inflammatory cytokines involved in lupus.

Anifrolumab has shown promise in SLE patie…

AstraZeneca’s TULIP trials highlight role of interferon in lupus

A recent post hoc analysis from AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) found that the monoclonal antibody anifrolumab (Saphnelo) led to consistent improvements in skin rash and arthritis in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), which is the most common lupus type. A pooled analysis of the Phase 3 TULIP-1 and TULIP-2 clinical trials investigating anifrolumab showed the drug led to a sustained reduction in SLE symptoms based on the British Isles Lupus Assessment Group (BILAG)–based Composite Lupus Assessment (BICLA).

Anifrolumab binds to the type I interferon receptor subunit 1 and blocks all type I interferons.

If approved, anifrolumab would be a first-in-class lupus treatment. Researchers have known for decades that inflammation-causing signaling proteins known as interferons were involved in lupus. It was, however, unclear whether inhibiting interferons would provide relief to lupus patients. The TULIP clinical trial series, which draws its name from an acronym of …

Olaparib improved survival rates in patients with breast cancer subtype

AstraZeneca (LON: AZN) announced that its oncology drug olaparib (Lynparza) led to clinically meaningful improvements in a Phase 3 study. The study focused on patients with germline BRCA-mutated high-risk human epidermal growth factor receptor 2 (HER2)-negative early breast cancer.

Some 5% of breast cancer patients have BRCA1 and BRCA2 mutations.

Clinical trial investigators have repeatedly demonstrated that olaparib is effective against BRCA-related cancer.

NEJM recently published a summary of the study, known as OlympiA, whose primary endpoint was disease-free survival. The study had 1,836 participants.

After a median follow-up period of 2.5 years, the 3-year invasive survival-free survival rate for olaparib recipients was 85.9% compared with 77.1% in the placebo group.

For patients who had received local treatment and standard neoadjuvant or adjuvant chemotherapy, olaparib led to a 42% reduction in invasive breast can…

AstraZeneca could enlist Catalent to produce COVID-19 vaccines

After stopping the production of its COVID-19 vaccine at an Emergent Biosolutions facility in Baltimore, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) is in negotiations with Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) to shift production to one of its plants in nearby Harmans, Md.

FDA has yet to authorize the AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccine, although it has won full approval in Australia and Brazil and has received emergency use authorization (EUA) in 168 other countries.

As a majority of U.S. citizens have already received at least one COVID-19 vaccine dose, officials at AstraZeneca are reportedly mulling the option of pursuing full approval of its vaccine instead of EUA, according to The Wall Street Journal.

The U.S. government required Emergent Biosolutions to halt production of the AstraZeneca vaccine after a production error forced Emergent to discard 15 million COVID-19 vaccine doses. Emergent intended to produce AstraZeneca’s and Johnson & Johnson’s adenovirus-vectored vaccines in the same f…

Anifrolumab data promising for systemic lupus erythematosus

AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) has announced that a new posthoc analysis of data from the TULIP Phase 3 clinical trials of anifrolumab showed promise in patients with systemic lupus erythematosus (SLE), the most common type of lupus. Anifrolumab is a monoclonal antibody that blocks the activity of interferons such as interferon-α and interferon-β. If approved, anifrolumab would be a first-in-class type I interferon inhibitor.

The most recent clinical trial data demonstrated that anifrolumab led to consistent skin rash and arthritis improvements in patients with moderate to severe SLE compared to placebo.

“Arthritis and rash are the most common and persistent problems in lupus and often have a significant impact on a person’s life,” said Joan Merrill, Oklahoma Medical Research Foundation, Arthritis & Clinical Immunology Research Program, U.S., in a statement. The data from the recent analysis indicate that anifrolumab was “consistently effective using three different…

10 of the best pharma companies to work for

The pharmaceutical industry is on the upswing and is poised to have a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% from 2020 to 2027, according to projections from Grand View Research.

The industry’s resurgence is a good opportunity for employees in the sector, who frequently enjoy comfortable salaries.

To get a sense of which pharmaceutical companies in the sector were the best employers, we sifted through data on company reviews sites Glassdoor and Comparably, and other sources.

Here are the 10 companies that came in on top:

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

10 of the best pharma companies to work for

The pharmaceutical industry is on the upswing and is poised to have a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% from 2020 to 2027, according to projections from Grand View Research.

The industry’s resurgence is a good opportunity for employees in the sector, who frequently enjoy comfortable salaries.

To get a sense of which pharmaceutical companies in the sector were the best employers, we sifted through data on company reviews sites Glassdoor and Comparably, and other sources.

Here are the 10 companies that came in on top.

Get the full story from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

And browse data on all the Pharma 50 companies here.

10 of the best pharma companies to work for

The pharmaceutical industry is on the upswing and is poised to have a compound annual growth rate of 13.7% from 2020 to 2027, according to projections from Grand View Research.

The industry’s resurgence is a good opportunity for employees in the sector, who frequently enjoy comfortable salaries.

To get a sense of which pharmaceutical companies in the sector were the best employers, we sifted through data on company reviews sites Glassdoor and Comparably, and other sources.

Below are the 10 companies that came in on top. (And browse data on all the Pharma 50 companies here.)

1. Sage Therapeutics

Glassdoor rating: 4.4/5 83% would recommend to a friend

Pros: Workers at Sage Therapeutics applauded the company’s work-life balance and culture. Just under three-quarters (74%) had a positive business outlook for the firm. One recent reviewer found meaning in “doing the toughest job in the world by developing CNS drugs.” The company’s brain health p…

Pharma’s top 20 R&D spenders in 2020

[Lab image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay]The past year has been an unprecedented time for the pharmaceutical industry.

On the one hand, the pandemic resulted in substantial delays to clinical trials while also forcing sponsors to rethink clinical trial design to protect participants. But on the other hand, the pandemic underscored the importance of the pharma industry in society.

While the pandemic certainly was a driver for substantial R&D spending in the industry in 2020, a significant expense for many companies last year was licensing fees and other acquisition costs. That trend is not just apparent for Incyte, which tops this list, but also for several other companies in this ranking of 20 firms, which are ranked below based on the percent of revenue they invest in R&D. (To find out the top 50 pharma companies, check out our recently published ranking here.)

Get the full picture from our sister site, Drug Discovery & Development.

Pharma’s top 20 R&D spenders in 2020

[Lab image by Michal Jarmoluk from Pixabay]

The past year has been an unprecedented time for the pharmaceutical industry.

On the one hand, the pandemic resulted in substantial delays to clinical trials while also forcing sponsors to rethink clinical trial design to protect participants. But on the other hand, the pandemic underscored the importance of the pharma industry in society.

While the pandemic certainly was a driver for substantial R&D spending in the industry in 2020, a significant expense for many companies last year was licensing fees and other acquisition costs. That trend is not just apparent for Incyte, which tops this list, but also for several other companies in this ranking of 20 firms, which are ranked below based on the percent of revenue they invest in R&D. (To find out the top 50 pharma companies, check out our recently published ranking here.)

Pharma 50: Here’s how the world’s largest pharma companies are doing

The global pharmaceutical industry held up well during the pandemic, with 10 of the largest businesses only seeing a roughly –3% drop in revenue in 2020. Eight of the 10 even came out ahead.

That’s one of the big takeaways from Drug Discovery & Development’s inaugural Pharma 50, a compilation of data on the largest pharma companies in the world. (Browse data on all 50 companies here.)

Overall, the 50 largest pharma companies brought in $851 billion in sales in 2020. Pharma companies also overcame COVID-19-related clinical trial disruption and staffing hurdles, driving unprecedented R&D advances to introduce novel vaccines and therapies to battle the pandemic. The resulting shift in public perception could benefit the industry for years to come.

One of the most notable achievements involved the mRNA vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna, according to analyst Mani Foroohar at SVB Leerink.

Other achievements, according to Foroohar, includ…