An early high for Pfizer with its strong first-quarter results was followed by patent waiver worries. At the other end of the spectrum, Esperion reminded us of the challenges in making a commercial success as a small biopharma firm in the pandemic.

Novartis’s comparatively anemic revenue growth and Lilly’s sales shortfall suggest that hopes for an immediate sector recovery from the pandemic are premature.

Recovering pharmaceutical and medical device revenues at J&J hint at the green shoots germinating from the pandemic. Roche’s COVID-19 diagnostics revenue growth was its own green shoot, but can these be maintained as the pandemic evolves?

Contrasting first-quarter preannouncements from a DNA sequencing company and a molecular diagnostics company may, with other seasonal pressures, imply a comparatively weak first quarter for therapeutic drug companies.

The FDA’s rejection of Acadia’s label expansion into a broader patient population for its only approved drug resulted in an aggrieved reaction. Better disclosure from both sides would have helped.

Conventional wisdom from the first biosimilar launches was that the European market that was far tougher on innovator products than was the US. More recent data suggest that things may play out differently in the long run.