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 our sister publication 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 last year overcame clinical trial disruption and staffing hurdles to drive 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.

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

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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 our sister publication 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 last year overcame clinical trial disruption and staffing hurdles to drive 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.

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

Read more
  • 0

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 our sister publication 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 last year overcame clinical trial disruption and staffing hurdles to drive 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.

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

Read more
  • 0

U.S. to donate 60M doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

The Biden administration announced today that it will begin sharing its store of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine following safety reviews.

Once the vaccine clears federal safety reviews, 60 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be made available, according to a Tweet from senior White House advisor Andy Slavitt.

“BREAKING: U.S. to release 60 million Astra Zeneca doses to other countries as they become available,” Slavitt wrote on the social media platform.

Get the full story at our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World.

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U.S. to donate 60M doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine

The Biden administration announced today that it will begin sharing its store of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine following safety reviews.

Once the vaccine clears federal safety reviews, 60 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be made available, according to a Tweet from senior White House advisor Andy Slavitt.

“BREAKING: U.S. to release 60 million Astra Zeneca doses to other countries as they become available,” Slavitt wrote on the social media platform.

He followed the initial announcement with a reply, saying “to everyone who understandably says: ‘about time’ or ‘what were they waiting for’, at this time there are still very few available. No real time has been lost.”

The Associated Press, which was first to report the news, said the decision expands upon Biden’s earlier promise to share 4 million doses of the vaccine with Mexico and Canada.

According to the AP report, th…

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FDA releases scathing inspection report regarding Emergent BioSolutions plant

An FDA report cites multiple failures in an Emergent BioSolutions plant tapped to produce vaccines for Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca.

The vaccine plant had been forced to discard up to 15 million doses of Johnson & Johnson’s COVID-19 vaccine in a single manufacturing batch.

Emergent Biosolutions recently paused production of the vaccine during the FDA inspection and had quarantined doses it had in reserve. The FDA will subject those vaccines to further testing before clearing the way for their distribution, explained two head FDA officials, Peter Marks and Janet Woodcock, in a statement.

Get the full story from our sister site, Pharmaceutical Processing World. 

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A quick history of the tech behind J&J, AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccines

Adenovirus image from Wikipedia

Regulatory authorities in the U.S. and Europe have either paused or constrained the use of COVID-19 vaccines from AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), causing some to wonder why the adenoviral-vector vaccines have been potentially linked to similar blood clotting events.

Researchers have observed blood clotting events associated with adenoviral vectors since the late-1990s in early experiments with the platform. But the safety of the platform has improved as genetic engineering has advanced.

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

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EU won’t renew J&J, AstraZeneca vaccine contracts, report says

[Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash]Reports from Italy claim that the European Union Commission won’t renew COVID-19 vaccine contracts next year with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

According to Reuters, Italian outlet La Stampa reported that sources from the Italian health ministry have said the commission does not want to pursue contract renewals with those two companies once those encompassing the current year expire, with Brussels reportedly emphasizing its focus on mRNA vaccines like those produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

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

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EU won’t renew J&J, AstraZeneca vaccine contracts, report says

[Photo by Daniel Schludi on Unsplash]

Reports from Italy claim that the European Union Commission won’t renew COVID-19 vaccine contracts next year with AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson.

According to Reuters, Italian outlet La Stampa reported that sources from the Italian health ministry have said the commission does not want to pursue contract renewals with those two companies once those encompassing the current year expire, with Brussels reportedly emphasizing its focus on mRNA vaccines like those produced by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna.

The report quoted an EU Commission spokesperson as saying the commission is keeping all options open to prepare for the next stages of the pandemic, but it can’t comment on contractual matters.

Later on today, the EU Commission president stated that the EU was in talks with Pfizer and BioNTech over a new contract for 1.8 billion doses as well, …

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EMA begins investigation of J&J COVID-19 vaccine’s blood clotting potential

The European Medicines Agency (EMA) announced that it is beginning a review of blood clots appearing in a handful of recipients of the Johnson & Johnson COVID-19 vaccine. 

EMA recently concluded that blood clots associated with low blood platelet levels were a “very rare” side effect of Vaxzevria, the vaccine from AstraZeneca. 

Four recipients of the Johnson & Johnson vaccine have had such blood clotting events. One of those individuals has died. 

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

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AstraZeneca vaccine drama complicating the pandemic fight

The recent spectacle surrounding Vaxzevria, the AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) COVID-19 vaccine, could exacerbate vaccine hesitancy, which is significant in many parts of the world.

In the U.S., the independent data and safety monitoring board overseeing the Phase 3 trial contacted government authorities with concerns that the summary data were misleading.

More recently, the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has concluded that blood clots are a “very rare” side effect of the vaccine, and the U.K. and other countries have constrained its use. There could be a backlash against the vaccine.

People “who are anti-vaxxers are now going to go and say: ‘I told you so, we were right,’ said Iain Duncan Smith, former Leader of the Conservative Party in the U.K. “This is going to be very difficult and damaging. It plays into the hands of those who are trying their level best to disrupt the vaccination program.”

Given that dynamic, AstraZeneca should stress i…

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AstraZeneca vaccine linked to rare blood clots, according to EMA official 

European Medicines Agency (EMA) official Marco Cavaleri said there was a link between AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine and rare reports of blood clots, including pulmonary embolism, deep vein thrombosis and thrombocytopenia, according to a Reuters report.

Two separate research groups in Europe had reached similar conclusions regarding the blood clots in March.

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

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