“You may choose to look the other way, but you can never say again that you did not know.”
— William Wilberforce
Pfizer, Inc. reported that the company sold $7.8 billion worth of their COVID-19 biologic BNT162b2 in the second quarter of this year raising the company’s 2021 sales forecast for the two-dose vaccine to $33.5 billion from the previously estimated $26 billion.1 The $7.8 billion from direct sales of the shot is split with its German […]
Story Highlights A group of Israeli researchers have studied close to 3,000 approved drugs to see if any could be repurposed to treat COVID-19. They identified 18 that showed encouraging results in laboratory studies, in many cases completely protecting human cells despite infection with SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. Three drugs have been singled […]
On July 14, 2021, Johnson and Johnson Consumer, Inc. voluntarily recalled all batches of five NEUTROGENA and AVEENO aerosol sunscreen product lines distributed to consumers through a variety of retail channels. The corporation recalled the products after a cancer causing chemical known as benzene was detected in samples. The products were distributed nationwide and Johnson […]
Stephen Hahn, MD, who served as commissioner of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) from Dec. 17, 2019 through Jan. 20, 2021, has been hired by Flagship Pioneering Co.—the venture capital firm that launched biotechnology Moderna, Inc., maker of the experimental mRNA-1273 COVID-19 biologic currently being distributed in the United States under an emergency […]
Moderna, Inc. expects to generate $18.4 billion from sales of its experimental mRNA-1273 COVID-19 vaccine being distributed in the U.S. under an Emergency Use Authorization (EUA) granted by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). This will be the first time that the U.S. based pharmaceutical company will make a profit since it was established in […]
Story Highlights On Nov. 9, 2020, Pfizer released preliminary Phase 3 clinical trial data indicating that its experimental mRNA COVID-19 vaccine is 90 percent effective, triggering a big surge in stock price. Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla immediately sold 60 percent of his company stock, realizing a gain of $5.6 million in what the company called […]
In a poll conducted for CNN during Oct. 1-4, 2020, the Pennsylvania-based market research firm SSRS found that 51 percent of the 1,205 Americans surveyed said they would try to get a COVID-19 vaccine if it were widely available at a low cost, 45 percent said they would not and four percent had no opinion. Sixty […]
Story Highlights More adults in the U.S. are expressing doubts about the safety of a newly licensed COVID-19 vaccine that might become available this year. The number of poll respondents planning on getting a new coronavirus vaccine as soon as it is FDA approved has fallen from a reported high of 50 to 60 percent […]
Vaccines Europe, a pharmaceutical industry lobbying group, has issued a memo to its member companies saying it would seek liability protection from the European Union (EU) for corporations manufacturing COVID-19 vaccines. The memo, obtained by the Financial Times, expressed concern about the “inevitable risks” of rushing the development and global marketing of COVID-19 vaccines.1 2 3 […]
Novartis Pharmaceuticals Corp. of East Hanover, New Jersey has agreed to pay $678 million to settle a civil fraud lawsuit in which the U.S. government accused the company of illegally providing doctors with cash payments and other gifts for prescribing their cardiovascular and diabetes drugs between 2002 and 2011.1 Assistant Attorney General Jody Hunt of […]