Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, having returned from an extended jaunt in a faraway land to meet with interesting people who are thinking big thoughts. Of course, a cup of stimulation is in order as we get organized and review our to-do list. Our choice today is the ever-seasonal pumpkin spice, for those tracking this sort of thing. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest we have assembled as you collect your own thoughts. As always, we hope your day is productive and meaningful. And please do keep in touch. We treasure your postcards and telegrams revealing secret doings and intriguing plans. …
A Delaware federal court refused to throw out patent infringement claims brought by Arbutus Biopharma and Genevant Sciences against Moderna over its sale of Covid-19 vaccine doses to the U.S. government, Bloomberg News writes. Genevant and Arbutus sued Moderna in February, seeking royalties from Moderna’s sale of its Covid-19 vaccine. The companies allege Moderna’s vaccine uses their technology for a drug-delivery system without permission. Citing a law designed to protect government suppliers, Moderna argued patent claims related to the sale of vaccine doses to the U.S. government should have been brought against the government, not the drugmaker.
Pfizer and BioNTech have started an early-stage study to evaluate a combination vaccine targeting Covid-19 and influenza, Reuters notes. The single-dose vaccine candidate is a combination of Pfizer’s mRNA-based flu shot and the Omicron-tailored Covid-19 booster shot developed by both companies. The early-stage study, which is being sponsored by BioNTech, aims to evaluate safety, tolerability, and immunogenicity, or the ability to generate an immune response. The trial is being conducted in the U.S. and the companies aim to enroll 180 volunteers between the ages of 18 and 64. The first participant in the study was dosed earlier this week.
Plans for a $400 million investment by Eli Lilly in a new manufacturing plant in Limerick, Ireland, have been put on hold following an objection by a local landowner over concerns of flooding of his lands by contaminated water, The Irish Examiner reports. Lilly announced earlier this year that the creation of its proposed manufacturing campus would create 300 permanent jobs once operational as well as 500 jobs during the construction phase. However, a landowner from Mungret claims water from the Loughmore canal and stream, which enters the Barnakyle River through his lands, has not been maintained by the local authority as contained in an agreement with local landowners.
Novo Nordisk plans to boost manufacturing capacity for future obesity-drug launches and worry less about marketing and advertising after a bungled market introduction of its Wegovy injection last year, Reuters tells us. The company is in a drawn-out production revamp after a contractor filling Wegovy injection pens ran into problems late last year. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently cited Catalent, a leading contract manufacturing organization for the pharmaceutical industry, with quality-control issues at a facility in Belgium that helps Novo Nordisk produce its weight-loss drug, which has been in short supply.
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