Note: This feature on the best-selling pharmaceuticals of 2023 will be updated regularly as new data becomes available. Stay tuned for our ongoing coverage of the pharma sector’s sales dynamics. In 2023, as the grip of the COVID-19 pandemic began to loosen, the pharma sector returned to relying on immunology and oncology as sales drivers.…

To date, there have been more than 770 million confirmed COVID-19 cases and nearly 7 million deaths from the virus, according to the World Health Organization (WHO). Vaccines remain one of the most potent tools in blunting the severity of SARS-CoV-2 infection, and vaccine developers have distributed more than 13.5 billion vaccine doses to date.…

The biotech industry is facing a reckoning in 2023. To date, roughly 100 biopharmas have cut workers this year, matching the total number of layoffs in the sector in 2022. Many biotech startups have been hit hard. The wave of job cuts comes on the heels of a biotech boom following the COVID-19 pandemic, when…

The venture capital firm Artis Ventures, founded in 2001, coined the term “techbio” sector to describe biotech platforms where technology and engineering take the lead in advancing drug discovery and biomanufacturing. In circa 2019, the firm contributed to shaping the techbio landscape by setting up venture capital fund named Artis techbio that bridges the gap…

In the realm of drug discovery, AI is making waves, and 2023 could potentially be a pivotal year for this technology. As the technology enters the popular consciousness, pharma employees are wondering “why they can’t have similar AI-driven tools for their professional tasks,” said Diane Wuest, head of digital R&D at Sanofi, in a recent…

The pharma industry in 2023 has been marked by an uptick of M&A activity. The year began with a relative frenzy of massive mergers. Pfizer’s $43 billion acquisition of Seagen and Amgen’s $27.8 billion purchase of Horizon Therapeutics earlier in the year were notable examples. But that initial spike of billion-dollar megamergers significantly cooled in…

Large language models (LLMs) such as ChatGPT promise advances that extend beyond capturing public interest. Because transformer models like GPT have an architecture that supports the understanding of language in context, they point to an array of novel possibilities for scientific research. “The transformer architecture is critical,” according to Michael Connell, the chief operating officer…

Cataracts are one of the most common ailments of an aging population, manifesting in the fifth or sixth decade of life. This condition, which leads to blurred or cloudy vision, is caused by proteins that break down in the lens of our eyes, forming an increasingly opaque mass. Although cataracts can cause blindness if untreated,…

Emerging as a spinoff from Alphabet’s experimental division X, SandboxAQ recently pulled back the curtain on its latest endeavor —  the biopharma molecular simulation division AQBioSim. The venture has attracted investments from significant figures like former Alphabet CEO Eric Schmidt, who is now the chair of Sandbox AQ, and Salesforce.com Inc. founder Marc Benioff’s Time…

Vericel (Nasdaq:VCEL), a biopharma focused on sports medicine and severe burn care therapies, has a portfolio including the cartilage repair treatment MACI and the burn treatments Epicel and NexoBrid. Focal cartilage defects, which occur in approximately 60% of arthroscopies, can lead to debilitating osteoarthritis if left untreated. Vericel’s flagship product, MACI, tackles this medical challenge…

After a relatively quiet 2022, 2023 is anticipated to be a more robust year for pharma M&A activity. In recent months, players such as Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), Sanofi (NYSE:SNY), Chiesi, AstraZeneca (LON:AZN) and Amgen (Nasdaq:AMGN) have unveiled acquisition plans that could reshape the landscape of the sector. This article delves into the details of prominent recent…

For the past three years, CRB has published an annual report on the life sciences with an emphasis on the biopharma industry.  The latest Horizons: Life Sciences report, clocking in just short of 100 pages in length, relies on feedback from approximately 500 respondents from North America and Europe. A significant number of those respondents are managers,…

The pandemic exposed the innovation divide between the digitally transformed and those that lagged. Strict regulation made life sciences and bio/pharma organizations hesitant to modernize too quickly away from proven legacy methods and technologies, resulting in varying levels of digital transformation. But since the pandemic, organizations now recognize the necessity of digitalization and smart automation…

The pharmaceutical industry appears to have addressed a decade-long decline in R&D productivity, according to a recent analysis from Deloitte. In 2021, the projected R&D return on investment (ROI) rose 7%. For comparison, the ROI level in 2010 was 2.7%. Forecast peak sales per asset hit $521 million, up more than 23% over the $422 million…

The pharma industry has been slower to embrace technologies such as AI and digital technology than many less-regulated sectors. The COVID-19 pandemic has changed the equation, forcing pharma companies to become more agile and open-minded in approaching drug discovery and development, including managing evolving clinical trials. In this article, several experts offered their predictions of…

Earlier this fall, the FDA detected potential issues in data generated by two contract research organizations (CROs). Specifically, the agency’s statement noted “significant instances of misconduct and violations of federal regulations, which resulted in the submission of invalid study data to FDA.” Accordingly, the agency advised that all affected sponsor organizations repeat any bioequivalence and…

During the past few years, the biopharma and biotech markets have seen rapid growth. The global biotechnology market was worth $266 billion in 2019 is projected to reach $505 billion by 2026.1 In those strategic and important markets, what roles do private equity and Special Purpose Acquisition Companies (SPACs) play? An overview of the biotech…

A growing number of law firms are investigating claims of securities fraud associated with Athira Pharma (NSDQ:ATHA), a clinical-stage biopharma focused on small molecules targeting neurodegeneration. Its lead therapeutic candidate, ATH-1017, targets dementia associated with Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s. Law firms investigating potential securities fraud claims involving the company include the following: Ademi (Milwaukee). Block &…