The pharmaceutical industry has found itself in a place few could have imagined at the start of the year – fulfilling the role of scientist hero, trying to end a global pandemic. The industry now hopes that if it is indeed successful at helping to end the global health crisis caused by COVID-19 through the development of treatments and vaccines, it will offset some of the bad press that has built over decades.
Can Pharma Rebuild Its Reputation? COVID-19 Means A Big Responsibility, And Opportunity
The global health crisis has presented a chance for the industry to improve its reputation by highlighting the value of its R&D engines. Pharma execs and observers talk to Scrip about why they are optimistic about industry’s chance to regain public trust.

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Kostaive is the first self-amplifying mRNA COVID-19 vaccine to receive approval from the European Commission and could provide serious competition to Pfizer/BioNTech's Comirnaty and Moderna's Spikevax.
A week after a downbeat forecast at J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, the US mRNA specialist has pocketed another sizeable sum from the US Department of Health and Human Services to accelerate development of an H5N1 mRNA pandemic influenza vaccine.
Pfizer’s and Moderna’s quarterly pandemic-related product sales could not mask other weaknesses while GSK’s quarter was marred by unimpressive non-pandemic vaccines sales.
Japanese distributor Meiji Seika Pharma is considering possible legal action against what it views as online slander around COVID-19 vaccine Kostaive, which received its global-first approval in Japan last year and has now been launched for regular vaccination in the country.
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Strong sales growth for the German group’s SGLT2 inhibitor in 2024
After a more than three-year hiatus, China's Hengrui has signalled its return to multiregional Phase III trials as it looks to globalize its innovative pipeline. Meanwhile, a number of other Chinese players have announced plans to kick off Phase III trials this year and beyond.
The latest in a long line of restructuring measures will see Sumitomo Pharma making a stepped sale of its pharma operations in Asia to major Japanese trading house Marubeni.