COVID Antiviral Paxlovid Provides “No Significant Benefit” to Vaccinated Seniors
Paxlovid, the antiviral drug that became the go-to treatment for SARS-CoV-2 infections during the pandemic, did not reduce hospitalizations or death in older adults who had gotten COVID-19 shots, according to a new study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA) last month. Researchers who tested the COVID treatment Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir-ritonavir) on […]
Pfizer Settles Anti-Kickback Violation Claims for Nearly $60 Million
Pfizer, Inc., on behalf of its wholly owned subsidiary Biohaven Pharmaceuticals, Inc. has paid almost $60 million dollars to settle claims that the pharmaceutical giant engaged in a kickback scheme from 2020 through 2022. Biohaven was charged with knowingly causing false claims to be submitted to Medicare and other health care programs, as well as […]
DHHS Secretary RFK, Jr. and USDA Secretary Both Say “No” to Bird Flu Vaccine for Chickens
Opinion | Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr announced on Mar. 4, 2025 that the avian influenza (“bird flu”) vaccine should not be given to chickens in the U.S. based on emerging evidence that injecting poultry with avian influenza virus (AIV) vaccine could lead to mutations accelerating evolution of the animal […]
FDA Official Leaves Agency Through the “Revolving Door” and Returns to Pfizer
On Feb. 24,2025, Pfizer, Inc. announced that FDA official Patrizia Cavazzoni, MD will rejoin the pharmaceutical company, which makes and sells federally recommended vaccines and drugs, as Pfizer’s Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President. Most recently, Dr. Cavazzoni served as Director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the U.S. Food […]
FDA Approves GSK’s 5-in-1 Meningococcal Vaccine
On Feb. 14, 2025, British pharmaceutical and biotechnology company GSK plc announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved its 5-in-1 meningococcal vaccine PENMENVY for licensure and use in individuals aged 10 through 25 years. The vaccine targets five major serogroups of the bacterium Neisseria meningitidis (A, B, C, W, and Y), which […]
FDA Clears Investigational New Drug Application for Inhaled COVID Biologic
Biotech company Ocugen, Inc. has announced that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has cleared their Investigational New Drug (IND) application for a novel inhaled vaccine against SARS-CoV-2. The biologic uses novel chimpanzee adenovirus-vectored (ChAd36) technology. The approval will allow the company to initiate Phase I clinical trials for the inhaled vaccine, OCU500. The […]