Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine thank you, especially since we had an extended weekend break due to a holiday on this side of the pond. Now, though, we are returning to the usual routine of online meetings, phone calls, and deadlines. This calls for — you guessed it — a cup or two of stimulation. Our choice today is butter pecan, for those tracking this sort of thing. As always, please feel free to join us. Meanwhile, we have gathered the latest menu of tidbits for you to peruse as you embark on your own journey today. We hope it is meaningful and productive. And of course, do keep in touch. We treasure your postcards and telegrams. …
Michelle McMurry-Heath, one of the most prominent faces of the drug industry in Washington, resigned as head of the Biotechnology Innovation Organization following disagreements with some board members, The Wall Street Journal reports. BIO has been roiled by internal conflict for more than a year by departures in its lobbying team, disagreements over how to handle drug pricing policy, and whether the group should take stances on social issues outside the biotech space such as voting rights. The leadership change comes as the drug industry braces for major changes to how companies do business with the U.S. government.
A Pfizer executive with a lead role in negotiating a Covid-19 vaccine bulk-supply agreement with the European Commission “categorically” ruled out that the drugmaker’s chief executive officer agreed to the contract via mobile phone text messages, Reuters tells us. “As to whether a contract negotiation such as this contract which you referred to, 1.8 billion doses, was negotiated through an SMS, I can categorically tell you that would not be the case,” Janine Small, president of international developed markets at Pfizer, told the European Parliament’s special committee on Covid-19 on Monday.
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