(Nasdaq:SGEN) has announced that its CEO Clay Siegall has resigned following a domestic abuse arrest in April. Police charged Siegall with fourth-degree misdemeanor assault. He maintains his innocence. The company has named its lead independent director Felix Baker to assume the role of chair of the board of directors. Seagen Chief Medical Officer Dr. Roger…
Aptar CSP Technologies launches Activ-Blister for oral slide dose drugs in EMEA
Material science specialist Aptar CSP Technologies (Auburn, Alabama) has opened a new manufacturing site in Europe that can produce its Activ-Blister technologies for oral slide dose drugs. Three companies were involved in opening the facility, including Aptar CSP, pharma packaging equipment firm Uhlmann and Ivers-Lee, a contract manufacturer. Uhlmann provided a blister machine validated to package…
How Target Value Delivery can help keep pharma construction projects on track
New plant construction in the pharmaceutical industry frequently exceeds the allocated budget and runs over the expected time, contributing to the industry’s challenge to increase drug output over the past decade. Consulting firm Turner & Townsend estimates that some 70% of pharma construction projects miss their original budget by about 15%. Though the pandemic’s impact on…
Moderna’s new CFO leaves after former employer discloses investigation
Moderna (Nasdaq:MRNA) CFO Jorge Gomez is gone from his new job effective immediately, the COVID-19 vaccine maker said today. Cambridge, Massachusetts–based Moderna said the departure comes after Gomez’s former employer, Dentsply Sirona (Nasdaq:XRAY), announced an “ongoing internal investigation into certain matters, including financial reporting,” Moderna said in a news release. Moderna did not say whether…
Teva and Allergan reportedly agree to pay $5B billion to settle opioid allegations
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. (NYSE:TEVA) and AbbVie unit Allergan Plc (NYSE:ABBV) could pay more than $5 billion in total to settle some 3,500 opioid lawsuits, according to Bloomberg. While the two companies are willing to settle the suits in the consolidated case, the deal has not been finalized. The consolidated case is titled In Re National…
Emergent hid quality problems from FDA, House report concludes
A new congressional report concluded that Emergent BioSolutions (NYSE:EBS) attempted to hide evidence related to quality problems before informing the FDA that 15 million COVID-19 vaccines were contaminated. Prepared for Rep. Carolyn Maloney (D-NY) and James E. Clyburn (D-SC), the report from the House and the Select Subcommittee on the Coronavirus Crisis scrutinizes the quality controls in…
Pfizer to shell out $11.6B for migraine drugmaker Biohaven
Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) today announced that it has entered into an agreement to acquire Biohaven Pharmaceutical Holding Company Ltd. (NYSE:BHVN), which is best known for Nurtec ODT (rimegepant), a dual-acting migraine therapy. Pfizer will pay $148.50 per share in cash to acquire Biohaven, totaling approximately $11.6 billion. Nurtec generated $462 million in revenue in 2021. Pfizer…
How low code platforms can transform the COTS product development in pharma
The world of application development is changing, and it’s changing fast. Traditionally, embarking on the app development journey meant hiring a team of developers to write every single line of code or settling for limitations imposed by commercial off-the-shelf (COTS) products. However, today more and more pharma companies are opting for a faster, easier and…
Novartis temporarily halts production of two radioligand therapy medicines
Novartis (NYSE:NVS) announced that it had voluntarily stopped the production at radioligand therapy plants in Ivrea, Italy and Millburn, New Jersey, over possible quality concerns. In a statement, the company explained it had made the decision “out of an abundance of caution due to potential quality issues identified in its manufacturing processes.” As a result,…
Bausch + Lomb makes its stock market debut
After Bausch Health (NYSE:BHC) spun out its eye care unit Bausch + Lomb Corp. (NYSE/TSX:BLCO), its stock dipped 4.3% to $16.04 while BLCO shares increased 8.11% to $20.00 from a starting price of $18.00 per share. The $18 price tag was short of Wall Street’s expectations. The initial public offering was one of the first…