Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Possible Mass Exodus Brewing At Gilead As Another Top Official Announces Departure
Stat: As Gilead Plans A C-Suite Succession, Departures Continue
Now that the top Gilead Sciences (GILD) executives are leaving, will a full-blown exodus occur at the biotech? The thought arises after the company announced on Wednesday that Dr. Andrew Cheng, the chief medical officer and a 19-year Gilead veteran, is suddenly departing. His resignation follows by just three weeks the unexpected news that chief executive John Milligan will leave at the end of the year, after just two years in that role, and that chairman John Martin will follow suit. (Silverman, 8/15)
Bloomberg: Gilead Executive Exodus Speeds Up As Pressure For New Hit Grows
The departing executives sculpted Gilead into the company it is today. Under Martin, in 2012 Gilead paid $11.2 billion for Pharmasset Inc., a bet that was much-criticized at the time but paid off when hepatitis C treatment Sovaldi became the fastest-selling new medicine in history. “It’s a pretty long line of departures of the old guard,” said Brian Skorney, an analyst at Robert W. Baird & Co. who has a neutral rating on Gilead shares. “These are all Gilead lifers, so it is striking to see them all leaving. I would argue that team has pretty much been the most successful management in biotech over the long term. I don’t think the turnover is too encouraging.” (Brown, 8/15)
Reuters: Pfizer Bets On Biotech Flu Vaccine In $425 Million BioNTech Alliance
Pfizer has agreed to pay German biotech firm BioNTech up to $425 million (£334.33 million) in an alliance to develop more effective influenza jabs, the latest among several major pharma companies to bank on a promising new genetic approach. Privately-held BioNTech will receive $120 million upfront plus up to $305 million depending on certain development achievements as well as tiered royalties on futures sales in the double-digit percentage range, the two companies said in a statement on Thursday. (Burger, 8/16)
Stat: A Women’s Health Firm Sought Backing For A Much-Needed Drug. Men Didn’t Get It
The startup’s pitch seems compelling, even commonsensical: About 500,000 women in the U.S. need surgery every year for precancerous cervical lesions caused by the human papillomavirus. The surgery can lead to devastating reproductive consequences. Antiva Biosciences, a 6-year-old drug maker, is working on a first-in-class treatment that, if successful, could make that surgery unnecessary. But when it comes to making that case to investors and doctors — particularly the men who dominate those professions — it has often been an uphill battle. Male OB-GYNs have questioned the need for a drug, saying they think surgery is adequate; male VCs have been skeptical, too. (Robbins, 8/16)
NPR: Improved CAR-T Therapy For Cancer Now In Human Tests
Aaron Reid is lying in a hospital bed at the National Institutes of Health when doctors arrive to make sure he's ready for his experimental treatment. "How's your night? Any issues?" asks Dr. Katherine Barnett, a pediatric oncologist, as they begin to examine Reid. Reid, 20, of Lucedale, Miss., has been fighting leukemia ever since he was nine years old. He's been through chemotherapy and radiation twice, a bone marrow transplant and two other treatments. (Stein, 8/16)
