The week in pharma: action, reaction and insight – week to May 6, 2022

By Barbara Obstoj-Cardwell. Editor

Last week US pharma giant Pfizer had a rare disappointment in its development of COVID-19 vaccines and treatments, with the release of Phase II/III data for its antiviral Paxlovid as a prophylactic therapy. Along with its first-quarter financial results last Tuesday, Biogen announced that it is shutting down most of the commercial infrastructure supporting the controversially approved Alzheimer’s drug Aduhelm. UK drugmaker Advanz Pharma has reached agreement to acquire from USA-based Intercept Pharmaceuticals the majority of its subsidiaries and operations outside the USA. The US Food and Drug Administration last Thursday announced that Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Janssen’s COVID-19 vaccine should now only be used for patients who could otherwise not receive an alternative vaccine.

Paxlovid COVID-19 prophylaxis data slight disappointment for PI antiviral class