Mar 9, 2021 10:30am
Johnson & Johnson is one of several companies working around the clock to scale up vaccine supply. (Kunal Mahto/iStock/Getty Images Plus/Getty Images)
Johnson & Johnson execs have assured investors and officials that the company is comfortable hitting its vaccine delivery targets. But with its U.S. rollout underway, the pharma giant has run into some supply problems in Europe, Reuters reports.
J&J’s shot isn’t yet authorized in Europe, but the company has been gearing up to supply a promised 55 million doses during the second quarter and now it s hitting some snags, an official involved in supply talks told the news service. The shot is expected to win an EU authorization in the coming days, Reuters reports, and vaccinations in the bloc could start next month.
Mar 9, 2021 12:12pm
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals Zokinvy, recently approved by the FDA for ultrarare rapid-aging diseases that affect an estimated 600 children worldwide, is the most expensive drug in U.S. pharmacies in 2021, according to GoodRx.(Jacoblund)
Eiger BioPharmaceuticals in November snagged FDA clearance for Zokinvy for ultra-rare rapid-aging diseases that affect an estimated 600 people worldwide. Orphan drugs that treat small patient populations typically come with high prices, but Zokinvy’s sticker price now beats them all in U.S. pharmacies.
At an estimated monthly price of $86,000, or more than $1 million a year, Zokinvy’s now the most expensive pharmacy drug in the U.S. as of February, according to a list compiled by GoodRx. The ranking focuses on monthly prices and doesn’t include drugs administered by doctors.
Mar 8, 2021 10:23am
There s a ready market for viral vectors. Matica, a new CDMO and a subsidiary of South Korea-based CHA Biotech, will soon be poised to help meet the demand. (Harvard University)
A lack of global capacity to produce cell and gene therapies has been exacerbated by an even more pressing need: to develop and manufacture coronavirus vaccines.
So it appears the timing is right for Matica Biotechnology, a developer and producer of viral vectors, to put down roots in the United States.
The brand-new CDMO has teamed up with Texas A&M University and its advanced manufacturing center and started work on a 25,000 square-foot viral vector plant near the university s College Station campus.