COVID-19: Positive news on Affinity Biosciences antibodies

Pfizer and its German-based partner BioNTech SE have announced positive preliminary data from an early trial of the most advanced of the four COVID-19 vaccine candidates they are developing.

According to Sanofi Genzyme Australia and New Zealand general manager, Fiona Clark, “We are passionate about ensuring these treatments become available to people living with haemophilia. The announcement reflects our continued commitment to helping improve the lives of all Australians living with rare blood disorders.”

New data from market intelligence firm IQVIA suggests a dramatic decline in the number people initiated on cancer treatment during the COVID-19 pandemic.

“We refer to our new organisational design as a system rather than a structure, as a system is a group of interconnected parts that form a unified whole,” said Roche Australia managing director Stuart Knight.

An FDA official has told a US Senate hearing the regulator will only approve COVID-19 vaccines that are 50 per cent more effective than placebo.

The creation of a major new generics company is one step closer after 99.6 per cent of Mylan shareholders approved its merger with Pfizer's Upjohn.

“This is welcome news as it means some of those Australian infants and children at a higher risk of contracting this rare but potentially devastating disease can now access free MenB immunisation,” said GSK Australia Vaccines medical director Dr Bishoy Rizkalla.

Pharmaceutical companies are not charities. They use shareholder funds to invest in R&D with the goal of developing what need to be commercially viable products. This is a basic principle that some seem not to understand, or conveniently choose not to understand.

Gilead chairman and CEO, Daniel O’Day, said the pricing of remdesivir took into account the company's "full scope" of responsibility, balancing the need to ensure access while being able to continue investing in its development.

The prospects for one reform that was scheduled for full implementation today - with a single year impact of over $2 billion - remain unclear.

Health minister Greg Hunt has announced the listing of a new diabetes medicine, a new form of a lung cancer therapy, and the extension of emergency dispersing measures in response to the COVID-19 pandemic.