Many analysts, lobbyists and industry executives have been saying for months that healthcare reform would probably end up being a net positive for the drug companies. Read More
GlaxoSmithKline is one of the handful of drug companies on the front lines of the fight against the flu. In fact, it is the only company that has products on both sides. GSK makes a vaccine and an antiviral. In the third quarter, GSK today reported that it sold nearly $300 million worth of the inhalable flu-fighter Relenza. That’s a more than 10-fold increase from a year ago. And CEO Andrew Witty reportedly forecast around $1.6 billion worth of flu shot sales in the fourth quarter. Read More
In case you weren't aware, tomorrow is "World Osteoporosis Day" or WOD, for short, as the International Osteoporosis Foundation hilariously refers to it, but biotech Amgen won't be celebrating the occasion. Read More
This Friday the CDC is expected to start giving weekly updates on where and how much H1N1 vaccine has been shipped. I'm curious what the demand will truly turn out to be. Some people are growing concerned about the increasing number of pediatric deaths from H1N1 and may rush to get their kids and themselves vaccinated. Others are afraid of or paranoid about the vaccine. Read More
Yesterday and today thousands of kids and healthcare workers around the country started getting AstraZeneca's H1N1 FluMist, the vaccine that's sprayed into the nose. The first shots from Novartis and Sanofi-Aventis may be available later this week. GlaxoSmithKline and Baxter are still waiting for the FDA to approve their vaccines. Read More
The CDC announced today that healthcare workers in Tennessee and Indiana would be amongst the first to get swine flu vaccinations. The outbreak of the H1N1 swine flu virus has sadly killed over 3,900 peope per a report by the World Health Organization (WHO) on September 25th. At the same time the race to battle the pandemic has propped up the shares of biotech companies that promise solutions. Read More