Merck

Merck (NYSE: MRK) and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics has announced that the European Medicines Agency (EMA) has begun a rolling review for molnupiravir, the experimental antiviral that could be the first oral treatment for COVID-19 to hit the market. Merck has also submitted emergency use authorization (EUA) paperwork related to the drug to FDA. The…

CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP) unanimously recommended two doses of GlaxoSmithKline’s (NYSE:GSK) Shingrix (a recombinant adjuvanted zoster vaccine) for adults 19 and older with immunodeficiency or immunosuppression as a result of disease or therapy. CDC considers Shingrix to be an adult vaccine, and its recommendation is for the adult immunization schedule, which begins…

Merck’s (NYSE:MRK) oral drug molnupiravir (MK-4482) could be a COVID-19 game-changer, assuming it wins emergency use authorization. The medicine could also be lucrative for Merck, assuming it finds widespread use. Costing $712 for a treatment course, according to a contract obtained by Knowledge Ecology International, molnupiravir’s retail cost would be almost 40 times more than…

The antiviral molnupiravir appears to be destined to become the first oral treatment for COVID-19. Merck and its partner Ridgeback Biotherapeutics intend to file for emergency use authorization after announcing that the drug appears to reduce the risk of hospitalization or death by about 50%. One potential hurdle for the drug is whether unvaccinated individuals…

Merck (NYSE:MRK) has agreed to acquire the biopharma Acceleron Pharma (NSDQ:XLRN) for $180 per share in cash, bringing the purchase price to roughly $11.5 billion. The companies expect the deal to close in the fourth quarter of 2021. Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Acceleron specializes in developing drugs that aim to balance transforming growth factor (TGF)-beta, which plays…

FDA has approved a new indication for Lilly‘s (NYSE:LLY) Erbitux (cetuximab injection) in combination with Pfizer’s Braftovi (encorafenib) to treat adults with metastatic colorectal cancer (CRC) with a BRAF V600E mutation confirmed with an FDA-approved test. The indication covers previously-treated patients. Erbitux is currently the only FDA-approved antibody that targets the epidermal growth factor receptor…

Merck & Co. (NSDQ:MRNA) scientists have explored fighting cancer by way of the STING (stimulator of interferon genes)-controlled innate immune pathway. Now, the company has published research in Advanced Therapeutics detailing a preclinical study with its partner Vesselon Inc. that reported impressive pharmacokinetics results related to MSA-1, a STING agonist. The researchers found that low…

Immunotherapy-specialist Hookipa Pharma (NSDQ:HOOK) has announced a clinical collaboration and supply agreement with Merck (NYSE:MRK). Hookipa will test its immunotherapeutic HB-200 in conjunction with Merck’s blockbuster anti-PD-1 therapy, Keytruda (pembrolizumab), as first-line treatment for patients with advanced head and neck squamous cell carcinoma (HNSCC). Last year, Merck raked in $14.5 billion in sales revenue from Keytruda.…

Merck (NYSE:MRK) announced today that it received FDA approval for Keytruda for treating high-risk, early-stage, triple-negative breast cancer (TNBC). Kenilworth, N.J.-based Merck’s Keytruda anti-PD-1 therapy received approval for use in combination with chemotherapy as neoadjuvant treatment, then continued as a single agent as adjuvant treatment after surgery, according to a news release. Approval was based…

The Galien Foundation has revealed its latest nominees for the 2021 Prix Galien USA Award highlighting innovations in biotechnology, pharmaceutical agents, medical technology and digital health products. Entrants to the competition must have received FDA approval within the past five years and demonstrate exceptional therapeutic potential. The Galien Foundation does not use financial data to…

FDA has indicated Merck‘s Recarbio for infections resulting from susceptible gram-negative microorganisms. The drug combines imipenem (a penem antibacterial), cilastatin (a renal dehydropeptidase inhibitor) and relebactam (a beta-lactamase inhibitor). Current FDA indications for the drug include hospital-acquired bacterial pneumonia and ventilator-associated bacterial pneumonia, complicated urinary tract infections and complicated intra-abdominal infections.

Glassdoor has released its latest list of the top 100 best places to work in 2021, and six pharmaceutical companies made the cut. One thread running across the entries in the entire list is the employers’ ability to empower and inspire workers in a time of continued challenges. In addition to the pharma companies, the Glassdoor ranking…

President Joe Biden’s administration will spend $3 billion in American Rescue Plan money to accelerate the discovery, development and manufacturing of antiviral medicines against COVID-19, HHS announced today. Not only will the Antiviral Program for Pandemics seek to boost the availability of medicines to prevent serious COVID-19 illness and save lives, but it will pursue sustainable…

Pfizer’s (NSE:PFE) pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine Prevnar 13 is one of pharma’s bestsellers, earning nearly $6 billion last year. Now, the company has scored FDA approval for its Prevnar 20 vaccine for adults 18 and older. The vaccine is the first to offer protection against 20 serotypes of pneumococcal disease that cause the majority of pneumonia and…

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…

Pfizer’s (NSE:PFE) pneumococcal 13-valent conjugate vaccine Prevnar 13 brought in $5.85 billion last year, but Merck (NYSE:MRK) is hoping to increase its presence in the market with its investigational 15-valent pneumococcal conjugate vaccine. Although Merck has a pneumococcal vaccine on the market known as Pneumovax 23, its sales were $1.1 billion last year. While technically a…

The pandemic has heightened interest in COVID-19 therapies, sometimes stealing attention from other pharmaceutical breakthroughs. But the pandemic has also served as a reminder that investment in new drugs can pay dividends while leading to a greater societal appreciation for the industry. A 2019 study published in International Health concluded that pharmaceuticals that have launched…

Drug sales in 2020 proved more resilient than many experts anticipated in the early days of the pandemic. Still, the impact on many injectable drugs was tangible in the first half of the year as hospitals initially dissuaded patients from seeking in-person treatment. But sales were generally strong for the full year. AbbVie’s injectable biologic…

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…

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…

Merck (NYSE:MRK) today announced positive results from a Phase 1 study of its subdermal drug-eluting implant for preventing HIV-1 infection. The investigational implant has the potential for extended administration of islatravir for pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) of HIV-1 infection, according to a news release. Get the full story at our sister site, Drug Delivery Business News.

President Joe Biden is reportedly set to announce a partnership in which Merck (NYSE:MRK) will make Johnson & Johnson’s (NYSE:JNJ) recently approved COVID-19 vaccine. The Washington Post reported that the agreement between the two competitors will boost the supply of the single-dose vaccine from J&J’s Janssen subsidiary, which received FDA emergency use authorization last week. Get the full story at…

Merck (NYSE:MRK) announced today that it is discontinuing the development of its two COVID-19 vaccine candidates, with the Kenilworth, N.J.-based pharma company focusing on two therapeutic candidates instead. Merck officials say they made the decision after Phase 1 clinical studies that showed the V590 and V591 vaccine candidates produced an immune response that was inferior to…

A former director of medical and scientific affairs at Merck (NYSE:MRK) faces criminal charges in federal court in New Jersey for allegedly stealing and transmitting trade secrets. Shafat A. Quadri has been released on $100,000 unsecured bond. He was most recently employed at AstraZeneca (NSDQ:AZN). The single count of trade secret theft carries a maximum potential…

Molnupiravir, an experimental antiviral drug developed by Emory University, Merck (NYSE:MRK) and Ridgeback Biotherapeutics, has promise in the battle against COVID-19 based on an animal trial published in Nature from Georgia State University researchers.   Also known as MK-4482 or EIDD-2801, the oral drug Molnupiravir has an advantage over SARS-CoV-2 therapies such as remdesivir and reconvalescent serum that require infusion.…