Brian Buntz

GSK plc (LSE/NYSE: GSK) has demerged from its consumer healthcare division to create the publicly-traded company Haleon Group. Haleon is now one of the world’s largest consumer healthcare companies, while GSK will focus on growing its prescription drug and vaccine businesses.  The company announced the “Haleon” name in February.   In hindsight, GSK would have fared…

FDA has sent warning letters to four companies for illegally marketing honey-based products with unlisted active drug ingredients found in the erectile dysfunction drugs Cialis (tadalafil) and Viagra (sildenafil). The agency said it confirmed the presence of contaminants in the products through laboratory testing. The agency sent the warning letters to the following companies: Thirstyrun…

Liquid-handling instrument firm Mettler-Toledo Rainin, LLC has expanded its presence in the Interchange Business Park in Vacaville, California, a biomanufacturing hub 35 miles southeast of Sacramento. “We are excited to expand our manufacturing operations in Vacaville,” said Werner Maas, Rainin general manager, in a news release. “The high cost and scarcity of real estate in the central…

Automation company Comau has introduced the ruggedized Racer-5 Sensitive Environments (Racer-5 SE) robot for use in the pharmaceutical, health and beauty, food and beverage and electronics industries. The robot is designed to support the demands of cleanrooms and other sensitive environments with significant controls against contamination. The Racer-5 can be used in grade 6 ISO…

LabOps intelligence platform developer Elemental Machines is vying to boost enrollment in the Freezer Challenge, an annual competition intended to reduce the environmental impact of lab refrigerators, freezers and cold rooms.  Organized by the nonprofit My Green Lab and the International Institute for Sustainable Laboratories (I2SL), the Freezer Challenge attracts thousands of scientists internationally with a…

Novavax (Nasdaq:NVAX) announced that its protein-based NVX-CoV2373 COVID-19 vaccine could be the first of its type to be available in the U.S., assuming it wins backing from the FDA and CDC. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) and the Department of Defense (DOD) have secured 3.2 million doses of Novavax’s COVID-19 vaccine.…

Pfizer Inc. (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech SE (Nasdaq: BNTX) have filed paperwork with the European Medicines Agency (EMA) requesting permission to use the Comirnaty COVID-19 vaccine in children aged 6 months to 5 years old. As in the U.S., the companies are attempting to win authorization for a 3-µg dose vaccine administered as a three-dose series.…

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has said it would make available an additional 144,000 doses of the Jynneos vaccine doses available to states and jurisdictions. Bavarian Nordic A/S (OMX:BAVA) is the manufacturer of the vaccine. Jynneos won FDA approval for both smallpox and monkeypox in 2019. There have been approximately 700…

Touchlight, a British biotech focused on enzymatic DNA production, has announced signing a non-exclusive patent license agreement with Pfizer. The worldwide deal will give Pfizer rights to Touchlight’s enzymatic doggybone DNA (dbDNA) patent portfolio for use in manufacture and commercialization of mRNA-based vaccines, therapeutics and gene therapies. dbDNA is a synthetic DNA vector and enzymatic…

Executives from Merck & Co. (NYSE:MRK) and Seagen (Nasdaq:SGEN) are reportedly considering a $40 billion acquisition deal. Readington, New Jersey–based Merck has offered to spend about $200 per share for Seagen, according to The Wall Street Journal. Executives from the company aim to finalize the deal before Merck announces its Q2 earnings on July 28, according…