Good morning! This is Jonathan Wosen, West Coast biotech and life sciences reporter, filling in for Ed Silverman while he’s away from the Pharmalot campus. There won’t be a newsletter this Thursday or Friday because of the Thanksgiving holiday. Speaking of which, if you wake up tomorrow and realize that your turkey hasn’t thawed, never fear, you can safely cook a fully or partially frozen turkey, according to the U.S. Department of Agriculture and my own experience; it just takes a little longer. With that public service announcement out of the way, here’s some news for you to peruse.
The European Patent Office has declared an mRNA patent owned by Moderna invalid, Reuters tells us. The announcement marks a win for Pfizer and BioNTech in their ongoing feud with Moderna over intellectual property at the heart of their Covid-19 vaccines. Moderna has said it disagrees with the decision and plans to file an appeal.
Longtime drug industry ally Anna Eshoo plans to retire, STAT tells us. During her 30-plus years in Congress, she earned a reputation as an advocate for pharma-friendly policies, and one of her key achievements was adding a provision to the Affordable Care Act that ensures biologics have 12 years of market exclusivity. But she did vote to support the Inflation Reduction Act, which allows Medicare to negotiate the price of certain drugs.
Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk will start rationing starter kits of its weight loss drug Ozempic in Europe due to overwhelming demand, Reuters reports. The company plans to limit the supply of starting doses of the drug to ensure that patients already on Ozempic can continue taking the injectable medicine, a strategy Novo is already using in the United States. A statement on the European Medicines Agency’s website notes the drug will likely be in short supply throughout 2024.
The FDA has sent a warning to an Indian albuterol inhaler manufacturing plant that received thousands of complaints, Endpoints notes. The manufacturer, Cipla, received 3,000 complaints between April 2020 and Dec. 2022, most of which claimed that the product didn’t spray or had less contents than it should have. The FDA said that Cipla’s response to these concerns had been inadequate and also noted that the manufacturer has previously detected pathogenic bacteria in its facility.
Evelo Biosciences, a Flagship biotech microbiome company, is calling it quits, Fierce Biotech explains. The news comes a month after Evelo announced it was searching for “strategic alternatives” after a number of its experimental drugs produced disappointing results. The company had already laid off nearly half its staff in January followed by additional cuts in the second quarter.
Sales of veterinary antibiotics in Europe have reached a record low, according to Pharmabiz. Between 2011 and 2022, sales of veterinary antibiotics decreased by 53% across 25 European countries. That drop reflects a concerted effort by the European Union to take steps that will slow the rise of drug-resistant bacteria that can cause disease in animals and people.
The biotech industry’s ongoing slump is slowing work on devastating diseases, Bloomberg explains. A slowdown in investment in the industry is causing companies to scale back drug development efforts, hire more slowly, and, in some cases, lay off workers or shut down altogether. Biotech execs worry this could lead to a slowdown in new medicines within the next few years if things don’t turn around soon.