Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is, despite the gray skies hovering over the Pharmalot campus. We are doing our best to maintain sunny spirits, though, because we recall a bit of insight from the Morning Mayor, who taught us that “Every new day should be unwrapped like a precious gift.” To celebrate the notion, we are brewing still more cups of stimulation and inviting you to join us. Our choice today is blueberry cobbler. Remember, a prescription is not required. So no need to mess with rebates. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest. Hope you have a meaningful and productive day and, of course, do stay in touch. …
Gilead Sciences’ chief medical officer will leave the company early next year as the drugmaker struggles to find new areas of growth beyond its core portfolio of HIV medicines, STAT writes. Merdad Parsey, who joined Gilead in 2019, will stay in his post until the first quarter of next year as the company looks for a successor. Gilead has faced multiple setbacks in its attempt to move away from its stronghold in virology and into other areas like cancer. Shares of the company are down about 12% this year, but they rose on Wednesday following the announcement, indicating investors hope that a new research chief could spur a turnaround in Gilead’s development efforts.
Europe’s second-highest court criticized the European Commission for a lack of transparency over Covid-19 vaccine contracts four years ago, Reuters writes. Some European lawmakers are highly critical of the EC’s handling of contracts, and in particular, for not disclosing texts between EC head Ursula von der Leyen and the Pfizer chief executive officer Albert Bourla about one contract. The EC says she did not keep the messages. Some European Parliament lawmakers sought access to the documents to understand the terms, but the EC provided only partial access and redacted some documents in order to protect commercial interests and the decision-making process.
