COVID-19

After 45 years as a domestic Japanese biopharmaceutical company, JCR Pharmaceuticals is expanding into global markets. The company is betting that its manufacturing strength – which helped land a COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing deal with AstraZeneca – and blood-brain barrier crossing J-Brain Cargo technology will lead to success in Western markets.   

Manufacturing and supply chain resilience ensured that BTG Specialty Pharma met its sales target in the COVID-affected 2020. Its president, Anthony Higham, explained how this was possible while the company busily  ̶  and quietly – sought new ownership, and all under the shadow of Brexit.

Manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines at unprecedented speed and scale is 2021’s biggest challenge – and mRNA platforms are emerging as the leaders, living up to their promise as the ideal technology for pandemic preparedness.

An new $2.1bn incentive scheme for formulations follows on from an earlier scheme for APIs in India. Experts weigh in on the likelihood of industry participation and whether this $3bn push will result in $41bn of incremental sales for the industry while strengthening supply chains in a post-COVID world. 

Weaknesses in the global pharmaceutical supply chain, exposed and exacerbated by the coronavirus pandemic, have led major markets to pursue localization policies aimed at bolstering domestic production capacity. But any significant transformation promises to take many years.

Astellas’ chief medical officer, Bernie Zeiher, shares perspectives on how COVID-19 has forced the health care industry to think differently about patients’ diverse needs and how the best of these changes must become the norm in delivering patient-focused innovations.

Merck & Co. executive outlines how the company could sustain a “compliant supply performance” amid the pandemic, while senior officials from Sun Pharma, Cipla, Zydus Cadila and Biocon shared insights on coping with supply chain turbulence and moving away from over-dependence on China for starting materials.

A year after COVID-19 first turned the world upside down, executives across the biopharma industry consider what 2021 holds in store. The impact of the pandemic will have profound and long-lasting implications for a sector that has been at the heart of responding to the global health challenge.

The rapid development of a vaccine to fight COVID-19 is an effort that will be discussed and admired for centuries to come. The effort to make and deliver the vaccines to those who are most at risk is a battle all of its own. Two manufacturers talk to In Vivo about managing roll out strategies when the whole world is watching.

Biopharma’s accomplishments in tackling the global COVID-19 pandemic, unlike advances within oncology such as cell therapies and checkpoint inhibitors, or functional cures for HIV and hepatitis C, have captured the public’s imagination. Consequently, industry perception scores have ticked upwards sharply, albeit from a low base.

COVID-19 vaccines are only effective in individuals who get them. Lyft, the ride-share company based in San Francisco, CA, announced plans in December to provide 60 million rides to and from vaccination sites.

Off the grid ultra-cold storage “Vaccine Pods” and mRNA vaccines reformulated to be stable at room temperature are two innovative ways to address the problem of getting the whole world vaccinated against COVID-19.

After a baptism of fire during the coronavirus pandemic, mRNA vaccine technology has earned its stripes. In less than a year, mRNA vaccines have been catapulted from interesting pipeline prospects to game-changers in the fight against COVID-19. But what does this success mean for the future of the technology?

Experts discuss the complexities of pursuing compensation for COVID-19 vaccine-related injuries in India. Is there a case for ‘absolute liability’ for all injuries related to the two fast-tracked vaccines currently available, or alternatively a no-fault compensation program?

The pandemic has shaken up investor priorities and changed the outlook for health care start-ups – or has it? Nooman Haque managing director, life sciences and healthcare at Silicon Valley Bank, gives his view of what has changed over the past year, and looks at future trends.

The race to develop COVID-19 vaccines is intensifying long-standing debate over the ability of lower-income countries to gain affordable access to needed medical treatments. Patient advocates argue that drug makers and wealthy governments are striking deals that place poor countries at a disadvantage. The pharmaceutical industry, however, maintains it is moving as quickly as possible to not only discover safe and effective vaccines, but to enable equitable distribution.