The following article originally appeared in FiercePharma and was written by Angus Liu Moderna’s mRNA COVID-19 vaccine candidate was the first U.S. shot to enter late-stage testing, but that doesn’t necessarily mean it has the brightest future of all. The high possibility of multiple emergency authorizations for coronavirus vaccines by year-end spells plenty of competition—and an outlook for Moderna that’s less rosy than expected, SVB Leerink analyst Geoffrey Porges and his team wrote in an investor note, citing R&D and vaccine experts. “[E]arlier entry of another large, established global pharma competitor
Read MoreThis article originally appeared in FiercePharma and was written by Kyle Blankenship Despite hundreds of potential therapies for COVID-19 looking to make their case, very few have crossed the finish line. One promising candidate, Regeneron’s two-antibody cocktail, has earned early plaudits—and now a pharma giant is jumping aboard to boost manufacturing in a big way. Regeneron will team up with Swiss drugmaker Roche to more than triple production of the New York biotech’s COVID-19 antibody therapy, REGN-COV2, for a planned global rollout, the partners said Wednesday. Under a seven-year licensing
Read MoreThis article originally appeared in FiercePharma and was written by Arlene Weintraub When longtime Evercore ISI pharma analyst Josh Schimmer realized that investors were struggling to place valuations on the leading COVID-19 vaccine developers, he pulled out the proverbial envelope, scribbled out some basic assumptions and issued predictions on Tuesday about just how profitable their endeavors might be. Schimmer’s numbers raised more than a few eyebrows, he reported today. The analyst predicted in a note that the total market for COVID-19 vaccines would be worth $100 billion in sales and
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