Top of the morning to you. And a fine one it is. Lots of sunshine and clear blue skies are once again enveloping the Pharmalot campus, where the official mascots are happily snoozing in their respective corners after bounding about the grounds in search of creatures to annoy. As for us, we are as busy as ever hunting and gathering items of interest. We trust you have your own hectic agendas. So join us as we hoist the ever-present cup of stimulation — our choice today is glazed doughnut — and attack the fast-growing to-do list. Have a grand day, everyone, and do stay in touch. …
Following a high-profile pressure campaign, the company that makes a crucial tuberculosis test has agreed to sell its product at cost to an international organization that works with poor countries to eradicate infectious diseases. But the move was met with mixed reactions by advocates who say prices should drop for still other tests, STAT reports. Danaher will now sell its GeneXpert test cartridge for $7.97 each to the Global Fund to Fight AIDS, TB and Malaria, as well as to some less-developed countries. Cepheid, which is controlled by Danaher, currently sells test cartridges for $9.98 each. Lab technicians can analyze the cartridges in a speedy machine that is also sold by the company.
Pfizer and BioNTech have until the end of the month to give Moderna key information on what it learned and when about critical details of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine formulation that helped rein in the coronavirus pandemic, Bloomberg Law reports. The court order to turn over the information is the latest development in Moderna’s patent infringement suit against Pfizer and its partner, which have countersued. Moderna accuses them of infringing three patents covering its revolutionary mRNA vaccine technology used to create the Covid-19 vaccine. Both sides claim to have developed the technology.