Vaccines
As sales of its COVID vaccine plummet, Novavax is looking ahead toward other novel vaccines, brought to market with the help of the company’s pharma partners—something it opted not to do as the pandemic swept the globe in 2020.
Analysts at Jefferies see Makary as a positive for the rare disease space, given his support for accelerated approvals and openness to “customizing regulatory pathways for rare diseases.”
The vaccine space has been battered by strong headwinds in recent weeks, including high-level disruptions to FDA and CDC advisory committee meetings.
Merck’s Keytruda holds on to the top spot while AbbVie’s Humira—once the world’s top-selling drug—continues to cede its market share to biosimilar competitors.
The back-to-back high-level disruptions in vaccine policy under Robert F. Kennedy Jr. comes as the U.S. records its first death from measles since 2015.
The postponed ACIP meeting comes barely a week after Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. was confirmed as Secretary of Health and Human Services, despite controversy regarding his anti-vaccine history.
Recently appointed HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. in 2018 helped bring several cases against vaccine maker Merck, alleging injury linked to its HPV shot Gardasil.
The approvals come as Robert F. Kennedy Jr.—who has been critical of vaccines—takes leadership of the Department of Health and Human Services.
In its fourth-quarter earnings report, Moderna’s revenue was down substantially from 2023. Separately, media reports reveal anticipated cuts to the company’s digital team.
Without providing specific data, Sanofi on Thursday announced that the experimental vaccine did not significantly prevent invasive E. coli disease versus placebo.
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