Author: IQ TIMES MEDIA
The former chief executive of a biopharmaceutical company used insider information about contamination in a COVID-19 vaccine to make more than $10 million in trades, the New York Attorney General’s office alleged Thursday in a new lawsuit against the executive, Robert Kramer. Kramer was the CEO of Emergent BioSolutions, a government contractor hired to mass produce coronavirus vaccine doses, 400 million of which had to be destroyed in 2021 because of contamination at Emergent’s plant in Baltimore. Before the contamination issues were made public, Kramer sold his company shares and received $10.1 million, according to the attorney general’s lawsuit, which seeks…
Airlines could have weight loss drug manufacturers to thank for savings if passengers become lighter, allowing carriers to spend less money on fuel. As GLP-1 medications for weight loss become accessible to more Americans, they are expected to have a slimming down effect on society. The implication for airlines is lower fuel consumption and therefore cost savings, a recent analysis from Jefferies Research Services shows. Fuel costs are directly related to the weight of planes, including passengers, their luggage and other essential cargo. A heavier plane requires more fuel, while a lighter aircraft uses less. Airlines have always taken steps…
Jan 20 (Reuters) – Bristol Myers Squibb said on Tuesday it had signed an agreement with Microsoft to use the tech company’s AI-enabled radiology platform to help speed up early detection of lung cancer. The collaboration will deploy U.S. Food and Drug Administration-cleared radiology AI algorithms through Microsoft’s Precision Imaging Network, which analyzes X-ray and CT images to help identify lung disease and is used by hospitals in the United States, the companies said. Bristol Myers said the tools could help clinicians spot hard-to-detect lung nodules and identify some patients at earlier stages of disease. The drugmaker said a key…
Jan 22 (Reuters) – Janux Therapeutics said on Thursday it has entered a collaboration with Bristol Myers Squibb to develop a new cancer treatment, sending its shares up more than 12% in premarket trading. The therapy is intended to treat “solid tumors” – meaning cancers that form masses in organs such as the lung, breast, colon or pancreas, Janux said, and it will target a tumor marker found across several types of cancers. Janux may get up to $50 million in upfront and near-term milestone payments under the agreement, and could earn additional payments totaling about $800 million tied to…
Jan 22 (Reuters) – Moderna does not plan to invest in new late-stage vaccine trials because of growing opposition to immunizations from U.S. officials, CEO Stephane Bancel said in an interview with Bloomberg TV on Thursday. Shares of the vaccine maker jumped 10.16% in morning trading. “You cannot make a return on investment if you don’t have access to the U.S. market,” Bancel told Bloomberg TV on the sidelines of the World Economic Forum in Davos. Bancel said regulatory delays and little support from the authorities make the market size “much smaller.” Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy…
Jan 25 (Reuters) – Merck is no longer in discussions to buy cancer drug developer Revolution Medicines, the Wall Street Journal reported on Sunday. The talks cooled after the two could not come to an agreement on price, the Journal said, citing people familiar with the matter. The newspaper said it was possible talks could restart or another suitor for Revolution could emerge. Reuters could not immediately verify the report. Merck and Revolution Medicines did not immediately respond to Reuters requests for comment outside regular business hours. The Financial Times reported this month that Merck was in talks to buy…
By Courtney Rozen WASHINGTON, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Meta Platforms, TikTok and YouTube will face courtroom scrutiny this week over allegations that their platforms are fueling a youth mental health crisis, as the national debate about kids’ screen time enters a new phase. The bellwether trial in California Superior Court, Los Angeles County involves a 19-year-old woman from California, identified as K.G.M., who says she became addicted to the companies’ platforms at a young age because of their attention-grabbing design, according to court filings. She alleges the apps fueled her depression and suicidal thoughts and is seeking to hold the…
By Maggie Fick and Michael Erman SAN FRANCISCO, Jan 26 (Reuters) – Artificial intelligence has yet to deliver on the most challenging aspect of drug development — finding new molecules that lead to major medical advances — but it is already streamlining less glamorous parts of the process, industry executives say. AI is helping find participants and sites for clinical trials and drafting documents for regulators, shaving weeks off these labor-intensive processes, seven large drugmakers and six smaller biotech companies said at the recent JP Morgan Healthcare Conference. It can take a decade and $2 billion to bring a new…
SHANGHAI, Jan 27 (Reuters) – China’s medicine regulator has ordered a halt to the import, sale and usage of a drug used to treat dementia associated with Alzheimer’s disease made by India’s Sun Pharmaceutical Industries, according to an announcement posted on Monday. The National Medical Products Administration said a recent remote inspection found shortcomings in the company’s production processes, including in the prevention of contamination and the quality management department’s fulfillment of duties. The body banned the sale of Sun Pharma’s rivastigmine hydrogen tartrate capsules. A spokesperson for Sun Pharma, India’s largest drugmaker by revenue, did not immediately respond to…
Jan 27 (Reuters) – UnitedHealth on Tuesday forecast 2026 adjusted profit slightly above analysts’ estimates, in a sign that medical cost-control measures under CEO Stephen Hemsley were beginning to reap results. Hemsley, who returned as CEO in May to restore investor and consumer trust in the healthcare behemoth, has been working to steer the company out of a difficult period that included the murder of a top executive, a surge in medical costs, a federal probe, and Americans’ anger at insurance industry practices. The company has been aiming for a return to growth in 2026, but expects a challenging recovery…