(This August 31 story is refiled to add dropped word founding to Ertl’s title in paragraph 13) By Allison Martell and Julie Steenhuysen TORONTO/CHICAGO (Reuters) – High-profile COVID-19 vaccines developed in Russia and China share a potential shortcoming: They... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors indicted Samsung Group’s Jay Y. Lee on Tuesday on suspicion of accounting fraud and stock price manipulation in connection with a 2015 merger, dealing a new blow to the head of one of Asia’s most valuable companies. L... More »
(Reuters) – The modified common cold viruses behind high-profile COVID-19 vaccine candidates from China’s CanSino Biologics (6185.HK) and Russia’s Gamaleya Institute have been studied for decades, but are still not widely used. The following are some details o... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korean prosecutors indicted Samsung Group leader Jay Y. Lee on charges of manipulating stock prices and breach of trust in order to cement control of the group, a prosecution official said on Tuesday. Considering the gravity of manipula... More »
(Reuters) – Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk’s neuroscience startup Neuralink on Friday unveiled a pig named Gertrude that has had a coin-sized computer chip in its brain for two months, showing off an early step toward the goal of curing human diseases with... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s vaccine specialist CanSino Biologics Inc has won a patent approval from Beijing for its COVID-19 vaccine candidate Ad5-nCOV, state media reported, citing documents from the country’s intellectual property regulator. It is the first ... More »
1/WALL STREET WATCHES WASHINGTON U.S. lawmakers negotiating a fresh dose of stimulus have reached an impasse. Trillions of dollars injected by the Federal Reserve and huge government spending increases have stemmed coronavirus-linked economic damage, fuelling ... More »
(Reuters) – Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway Inc (BRKa.N) said on Friday it has sold shares of some of the largest U.S. banks, slashing its stakes in Wells Fargo & Co (WFC.N) and JPMorgan Chase & Co (JPM.N) and exiting an investment in Goldman Sachs Group I... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Convalescent plasma lowers COVID-19 death risk Infusions o... More »
(Reuters) – As the world awaits a COVID-19 vaccine, the next big advance in battling the pandemic could come from a class of biotech therapies widely used against cancer and other disorders – antibodies designed specifically to attack this new virus. Developme... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – Business software group SAP (SAPG.DE) has been selected by Moderna (MRNA.O) to help distribute the potential COVID-19 vaccine that the U.S. pharmaceuticals company is developing, CEO Christian Klein said on Monday. “Moderna just selected SAP... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – French specialty vaccines company Valneva will participate in Britain’s COVID-19 vaccine response programme, the company said on Monday and will provide up to 100 million doses of its SARS-CoV-2 vaccine candidate to the plan. Valneva also sai... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Lonza Group said on Monday that China’s Junshi Biosciences has licensed the Swiss contract drug manufacturer’s technology to help produce a neutralizing antibody against COVID-19. Lonza said Junshi’s first neutralizing antibody against the n... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Study may explain severity of COVID-19 in high-risk groups... More »
(Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Low oxygen levels may be due to blood cell damage Damage d... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – A South Korean court on Tuesday denied an arrest warrant request for Samsung Group heir Jay Y. Lee after prosecutors accused him of accounting fraud and stock manipulation. The ruling provided temporary relief for the vice chairman of Samsung... More »
STOCKHOLM (Reuters) – Scientists in Sweden are hoping an alpaca named Tyson can help deliver a knockout blow in the fight to develop a treatment or vaccine against the novel coronavirus that has killed nearly 400,000 people worldwide. After immunizing Tyson, a... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of some of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Statins may help protect frail older people from ... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. Men’s blood contains more of enzyme that helps coronaviru... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. New coronavirus antibody test highly accurate A new antib... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – The following is a brief roundup of the latest scientific studies on the novel coronavirus and efforts to find treatments and vaccines for COVID-19, the illness caused by the virus. New coronavirus is adapting to different populations A ge... More »
(Reuters) – Vir Biotechnology Inc and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals Inc plan to begin human testing of their COVID-19 drug candidate by the end of the year, as drugmakers across the globe scramble to find therapies for the highly-infectious virus. The are currently ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Healthcare and clinical diagnostics company Novacyt has signed a supply contract with the UK’s Department of Health & Social Care (DHSC) for its product aimed at testing for the presence of the coronavirus, the company said on Monday. Under t... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) on Friday reported 865,585 cases of the novel coronavirus, an increase of 37,144 from its previous count, and said the number of deaths had risen by 2,437 to 48,816. The CDC reported its tal... More »
BERLIN (Reuters) – ResearchGate, a social network site for scientists and researchers, has launched a new forum to facilitate collaboration between COVID-19 experts on research into beating the flu-like disease caused by the novel coronavirus. The site here de... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Healthcare companies Sanofi and Regeneron announced on Friday more encouraging results for their Dupixent product used to treat severe atopic dermatitis, often commonly known as eczema. The companies said that Dupixent Phase 3 data showed a s... More »
TOKYO (Reuters) – Japanese biopharmaceutical firm Anges Inc said on Tuesday that it and Osaka University had completed development of a DNA vaccine against the new coronavirus and that it would begin testing it in animals soon. Shares of Anges surged as much a... More »
(Reuters) – Gilead Sciences Inc’s experimental drug remdesivir, seen as one of the more promising potential treatments for the coronavirus, on Monday received the orphan drug designation from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. The announcement comes days a... More »
(Reuters) – Drugstore chain CVS Health Corp said on Monday it was hiring 50,000 employees across the United States to assist patients and customers with the coronavirus outbreak. The new hires would fill in roles ranging from store associates to home delivery ... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – U.S. Treasury Secretary Steven Mnuchin on Thursday urged Congress to move quickly to pass a $1 trillion economic relief measure by early next week, saying he expects bipartisan support for the bill to get cash payments to Americans durin... More »
(Reuters) – Drugs used for treating arthritis are being tested as treatments for COVID-19, the disease caused by a new coronavirus, as researchers rush to find ways of helping patients and slowing the number of infections. Sanofi and Regeneron Pharmaceuticals ... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Franco-British biotech company Novacyt says it can offer a coronavirus test that is faster than rival methods by focusing on a narrow sequence of DNA coding, as it fights stiff competition to turn the outbreak into a business opportunity. In ... More »
SHANGHAI/HONG KONG (Reuters) – Investors erased $420 billion from China’s benchmark stock index on Monday, sold the yuan and dumped commodities as fears about the spreading coronavirus and its economic impact drove selling on the first day of trade in China si... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – ObsEva struck a pact with China’s Yuyuan BioScience Technology to develop and commercialize the fertility drug nolasiban, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday as it seeks to inject new life into a medicine that had flopped a trial. In November... More »
SEOUL (Reuters) – South Korea’s Samsung Group, whose leader faces trials over a bribery scandal involving former president Park Geun-hye, has appointed external experts to a new oversight panel to stamp out criminal conduct, the chief of the committee said on ... More »
(Reuters Health) – Many people worry about inheriting health problems from their parents, but a new approach to analyzing genetic contributions to disease risk suggests that for most diseases, commercial DNA tests are not the best way to assess the odds. For t... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China’s agriculture ministry said on Monday it plans to issue biosafety certificates to a domestically grown, genetically modified (GM) soybean crop and two corn crops, in a move toward commercializing GM grain production in the world’s top... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Roche (ROG.S) entered into a $1.15 billion licensing agreement with Sarepta Therapeutics (SRPT.O) to obtain the right to launch and commercialize Sarepta’s investigational gene therapy for Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) outside the United... More »
(Reuters) – Bristol-Myers Squibb Co on Friday said it won a $752 million jury verdict against Gilead Sciences Inc in a U.S. patent dispute relating to technology for treating cancer. A jury in Los Angeles awarded the damages after finding that Yescarta, a trea... More »
(Reuters) – Shares of Sarepta Therapeutics Inc (SRPT.O) soared 31% on Friday after U.S. regulators shocked Wall Street by approving the company’s treatment for a muscle-wasting disorder less than four months after rejecting the drug over safety concerns. The F... More »
(Reuters) – U.S. health regulators on Friday approved expanding the heart benefit claims Amarin Corp can make in promoting its drug Vascepa to include reducing the risk of heart attacks and strokes in high-risk patients, opening a multibillion-dollar market op... More »
PARIS (Reuters) – Sanofi (SASY.PA) said on Monday it had agreed to buy California-headquartered biotechnology firm Synthorx in a cash deal worth about $2.5 billion aimed at beefing up the French drugmaker’s pipeline of drugs for cancer and auto-immune disorder... More »
(Reuters) – Nearly half of lymphoma patients treated with Gilead Sciences Inc’s Yescarta were alive at least three years after a one-time infusion of the CAR-T cell therapy, according to data presented on Saturday. Out of 101 patients teated with Yescarta for ... More »
(Reuters) – Bristol-Myers Squibb Co on Saturday said that an experimental cancer therapy it acquired as part of its $74 billion deal for Celgene Corp produced positive results in a clinical trial. The company said it will apply for U.S. approval for the treatm... More »
(Reuters) – Bristol-Myers Squibb Co and bluebird bio Inc said on Friday their experimental therapy for a type of multiple myeloma met the main goal in a mid-stage study. The study evaluated the efficacy and safety of the therapy, Ide-cel, in patients who had r... More »
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German biotech company Morphosys’ tafasitamab, the group’s most advanced drug which is currently being tested, has sales potential of significantly more than $1 billion a year, its finance chief said in remarks to a magazine. “Analysts es... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NOVN.S) is betting on heart drug prospect inclisiran in a $9.7 billion takeover of The Medicines Co (MDCO.O) as it challenges cardiovascular medicines from Amgen Inc (AMGN.O), Sanofi (SASY.PA) and Regeneron Pharmace... More »
(The Nov 16 story corrects to clarify in second graph that patients will be infused by a healthcare provider.) By John Miller and Carl O’Donnell (Reuters) – Novartis AG on Friday won U.S. approval for its experimental sickle cell disease drug, Adakveo, making ... More »
(Reuters) – China-based drugmaker BeiGene Ltd on Friday priced its drug, Brukinsa, to treat a rare form of lymphoma at $12,935 for a 30-day supply. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved the drug, giving a boost to the company’s strategy of... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Roche’s bid to rival Biogen and Novartis in treating spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) got a lift on Monday when the Swiss drugmaker said its drug risdiplam improved motor function of patients in a key study. Roche, which plans to seek approval ... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – It’s nice work if you can get it. The average annual compensation for non-executive directors at S&P 500 companies rose 2 percent to $304,856 last year, topping $300,000 for the first time and 43 percent higher than it was 10 years ago, acco... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – China has granted conditional approval to its first self-developed treatment for Alzheimer’s disease, a move that may point to revived opportunities in a therapeutic area where drugmakers have burned billions of dollars without yielding a v... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Roche’s Tecentriq immunotherapy mixed with the older cancer drug Avastin lifted both overall survival and progression-free survival in people with liver cancer that cannot be surgically removed, the Swiss drugmaker said on Monday. The compan... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc’s treatment for a second rare blood disorder, the company said. The treatment, Ultomiris, has already been approved in the United States, Japan and the European Un... More »
BARCELONA (Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline and AstraZeneca both reported trial results that will likely make their competing drugs available to a wider group of ovarian cancer patients, possibly helping GSK catch its rival in a highly contested drug class. The two ... More »
(Reuters) – An experimental Amgen Inc drug that targets a specific genetic mutation shrank tumors in just one of 12 patients with advanced colorectal cancer who were given the highest dose in a small, early-stage trial, the company said on Saturday. The cancer... More »
(Reuters) – A U.S. Food and Drug Administration advisory panel on Friday recommended approving the first therapy for peanut allergies, which affect over 1.6 million children in the United States, despite raising concerns about the risk of severe allergic react... More »
(Reuters) – Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Tuesday France’s Sanofi SA will pay the drugmaker $260 million for the termination of their partnership to develop diabetes drug Zynquista. Shares of Lexicon jumped 37.8% to $2.37 in after hours trading. Under th... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Xeris Pharmaceuticals Inc’s glucagon therapy that aims to treat severely low sugar levels in diabetes patients, the drugmaker said on Tuesday. The condition, called hypoglycemia, can cause acute co... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. patent office will review patents on Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc’s blood disorder treatment Soliris, after Amgen Inc challenged them, court filings showed on Friday. The move deals a blow to Alexion’s efforts to ward off competition for it... More »
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration said on Monday that it will move ahead with a long-delayed expansion of its marijuana research program, in a sign that the Trump administration’s hostility to the drug may be waning as a growing n... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Celgene Corp’s Inrebic to treat certain rare forms of bone marrow cancer called myelofibrosis, making it the second approved drug to treat the disease. Inrebic belongs to a class of drugs kno... More »
BRUSSELS (Reuters) – As the Oct. 31 deadline for Britain to leave the European Union approaches, health professionals are warning that shortages of some medicines could worsen in Europe in the event of a no-deal Brexit. Britain’s food and drink lobby warned la... More »
(Reuters) – A U.S. judge on Friday upheld two patents relating to Amgen Inc’s blockbuster rheumatoid arthritis drug Enbrel, denying a challenge by Novartis AG, which is seeking to launch a copycat version. The decision was a relief to investors concerned about... More »
BOSTON (Reuters) – Hedge fund Hoplite Capital is returning money to outside clients after a period of sluggish returns, the firm’s founder, John Lykouretzos, told investors in a letter on Wednesday. “I have decided to close the Hoplite managed funds and return... More »
(Reuters) – French drugmaker Sanofi SA said on Friday it had terminated its partnership with Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc to develop and manufacture a drug for use with insulin in patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes. Lexicon shares fell nearly 40% in exten... More »
(Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline said on Monday a late-stage study testing its initial maintenance therapy, Zejula, in patients with ovarian cancer who have undergone platinum-based chemotherapy showed positive results. Zejula, which belongs to a promising class of... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – A truce in the trade war between the United States and China that pushed large-cap stocks to new record highs Monday does not appear to be enough to buoy the shares of small U.S. companies that are struggling under the weight of higher tar... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Patent and Trademark Office on Monday said it would review whether Harvard University and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology can claim rights to a gene-editing technology known as CRISPR, adding fuel to a rivalry between those insti... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. drug regulator on Friday approved Palatin Technologies and Amag Pharmaceuticals’ drug to restore sexual desire in premenopausal women, the latest attempt to come up with a therapy that some have dubbed as “female Viagra”. The therapy, Vyle... More »
(Reuters) – Pfizer Inc said on Monday it would buy Array Biopharma Inc for $10.64 billion in cash, a deal it hopes will help make it a leader in colon cancer and build up its pipeline of oncology drugs. The largest U.S. drugmaker agreed to pay a hefty premium ... More »
(Reuters) – VBI Vaccines Inc said on Monday a late-stage study was unsuccessful in showing two doses of its hepatitis B vaccine were as effective as three doses of an older vaccine from GlaxoSmithKline, sending its shares plunging 66%. The study tested VBI’s S... More »
ZURICH (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Roche’s $4.3 billion takeover of U.S. gene therapy specialist Spark Therapeutics has been pushed back again, possibly beyond the first half, as regulators continue to scrutinize the deal for its effect on competition. Roche s... More »
ZURICH/NEW YORK, (Reuters) – Swiss drugmaker Novartis on Friday won U.S. approval for its gene therapy Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy (SMA), the leading genetic cause of death in infants, and priced the one-time treatment at a record $2.125 million. The... More »
NEW YORK (Reuters) – When Malachi Anderson was diagnosed with a rare and often deadly disease called spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) as an infant nearly four years ago, his parents Tina and Torence had a decision to make. In years past, many of the babies born w... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – British livestock genetics firm Genus agreed on Thursday to license its know-how on virus-resistant pigs to Beijing Capital Agribusiness Co Ltd, which will seek regulatory approval for the pigs in the world’s biggest pork market. Genus has ... More »
INDIANAPOLIS (Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co has pulled ahead in a three-way race with Amgen Inc and Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd in attracting new patients to a new class of migraine drugs, and seeks to build on that advantage by stressing that its therapy... More »
BUENOS AIRES (Reuters) – Amid a swirling economic crisis and protests over budget cuts for research in Argentina, one scientist has found a novel way to fundraise: winning money on a television game show. Marina Simian, a biologist for Argentina’s National Sci... More »
(Reuters) – Yale University scientists have succeeded in restoring basic cellular activity in pigs’ brains hours after their deaths in a finding that may one day lead to advances in treating human stroke and brain injuries, researchers reported on Wednesday. T... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve a drug developed by Sanofi SA and Lexicon Pharmaceuticals Inc intended for use with insulin in patients with type 1 diabetes, the companies said on Friday. The decision comes about two month... More »
(Reuters) – Endo International Plc said on Friday the U.S. health regulator has decided not to include blood pressure treatment vasopressin in its list of drugs that can be used in compounding, in a boost to the drugmaker that makes the only FDA-approved versi... More »
(Reuters) – Drug developer UniQure NV said on Friday its gene therapy to treat hemophilia B increased the levels of a protein that helps in blood clotting after 12 weeks in a small study. The company’s shares rose 5.5 percent in light premarket trading. The up... More »
(Reuters) – Shares of U.S. gene therapy companies sank on Thursday after drugs developed by two small firms failed to show promise in separate clinical trials, underscoring the challenges in an emerging, lucrative field of biotech. Experimental treatments deve... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – Police in China’s eastern province of Jiangsu have begun an investigation after at least 145 children received expired polio vaccines, the Global Times said on Monday, a new blow to a sector hit by a series of scandals last year. Residents... More »
(Reuters) – Eli Lilly and Co remains in the hunt for cancer drugs even after announcing an $8 billion purchase of Loxo Oncology this week, but it plans to remain on the sidelines when it comes to two of the hottest areas of drug development. Lilly Chief Execut... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Stemline Therapeutics Inc’s Elzonris for the treatment of a rare blood disease in adults and children aged two years and above. This is the first approved treatment for the condition, blastic... More »
(Reuters) – The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved on Friday Alexion Pharmaceuticals Inc’s rare blood disorder drug Ultomiris, an early backing that also solidifies the company’s dominant market position. The company’s flagship drug, Soliris, was the l... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Juice is a one-foot tall canine wonder who has starred in dozens of Chinese film and television productions. As he gets older and his illustrious career peaks, his Beijing-based master has one wish for the mutt – to live on. Maybe forever. ... More »
(Reuters) – Drugmaker Gilead Sciences Inc on Monday named Roche Holding AG’s Daniel O’Day as its new chief executive, tapping an industry veteran to fill a management vacuum. O’Day, now head of Roche’s pharmaceuticals business, joined the company in 1987 and h... More »
LONDON (Reuters) – GlaxoSmithKline has agreed to buy U.S. cancer specialist Tesaro for $5.1 billion, a costly investment to rebuild the pharmaceuticals business by new Chief Executive Emma Walmsley that unnerved investors. GSK has lagged rivals in recent years... More »
(Reuters) – Israel-based RedHill Biopharma Ltd said on Monday its combination antibiotic met the main goal of a late-stage study testing the drug in patients with a type of bacterial infection that affects the stomach and small intestine. The drug, Talicia, er... More »
OSLO (Reuters) – Norway’s Ultimovacs plans to raise around 700 million Norwegian crowns ($82 million) in an initial public offering in early 2019 to help fund the development of its immunotherapy cancer drug. “Our main investors are positive and will take a si... More »
(Reuters) – Netherlands-based biopharmaceutical company argenx SE said it signed a deal with Cilag GmbH International, an affiliate of Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies unit, to develop its Cusatuzumab drug in certain types of cancer. The de... More »
(Reuters) – Insys Therapeutics Inc said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration declined to approve its opioid painkiller, citing potential safety concerns. Insys shares slid nearly 9 percent to $6.62 on Friday, hitting their lowest level in more than ... More »
SHANGHAI (Reuters) – A vaccine scandal in China, which has prompted angry reactions from citizens fed up with safety scares, is sending ripples across the local drug market and threatening Chinese ambitions to play a larger role in the global pharmaceutical ar... More »
BEIJING (Reuters) – Chinese police are investigating vaccine maker Changsheng Bio-technology Co Ltd after the firm was found to have faked documents related to a rabies vaccine, the official Xinhua news agency reported on Monday. The report said the police had... More »
(Reuters) – Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc said on Friday the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved its treatment for a type of leukemia, the first targeted drug for patients with a specific genetic mutation. The company plans to launch the drug, Tibsovo, in t... More »
JERUSALEM (Reuters) – Israeli pharmaceuticals company PainReform has received approval from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) to begin late-stage clinical studies for a pain relief drug that is a departure from opiate-based narcotics, it said on Tues... More »
(Reuters) – CTI Biopharma Corp said on Monday its treatment for a type of blood cancer did not meet the main goal of a late-stage trial, sending its shares down 17 percent. The drug, Pixuvri, did not show improvement in the length of time patients survived wit... More »
(Reuters) – Japanese drugmaker Eisai Co and Biogen Inc said that the final analysis of a mid-stage trial of their Alzheimer’s drug showed positive results for patients who received the highest dose. The news sent Eisai’s shares up as much as 14.6 percent in Fr... More »
