The European Medicines Agency has begun a rolling review of data on Gilead’s remdesivir, positioning it to cut the time it takes to decide whether to approve the drug in COVID-19 patients.

Pfizer and partner BioNTech are right in the middle of one of the most important vaccine trials in the world right now, but that doesn’t mean the Big Pharma is taking its eyes off the inoculation ball elsewhere.

Alnylam and Vir Biotechnology have identified an anti-SARS-CoV-2 development candidate, putting them on track to start testing the inhaled RNAi treatment for COVID-19 in humans around the end of the year.

Venture capital firm Frazier Healthcare has grabbed Scott Byrd, Ian Mills, and Gordon McMurray as its new Entrepreneur-in-Residence consultants.

Eli Lilly has teamed with China’s Junshi Biosciences in the U.S., marking the company's second COVID-19 pact to develop neutralizing antibodies against the virus. It promises to be a faster approach than designing a new small-molecule drug would be, but getting from idea to an effective product may not be so simple.

Sanofi and Regeneron’s Dupixent has become a popular treatment for atopic dermatitis and asthma. Now, a research team in Japan has discovered that IL-4 and its receptor—which Dupixent inhibits—could be promising targets for treating the eye disease age-related macular degeneration.

PTC Therapeutics is adding to its rare disease pipeline with a midstage biotech buyout with a low upfront payment tied in with stock and biobucks.

Moderna is finalizing the protocol for a phase 3 trial of its COVID-19 vaccine with a view to starting the study early in the summer. The establishment of the timeline, which follows FDA clearance to run a phase 2 trial, puts Moderna on track to win approval for its mRNA vaccine mRNA-1273 next year.

Just a few months after Alexion snapped up complement inhibitor biotech Achillion, Gemini Therapeutics has nabbed one of its key R&D execs as its new chief medical officer.

Fortress Biotech has licensed a treatment for KRAS-driven cancers from Columbia University. Sticking to its blueprint, Fortress has set up a new biotech, Oncogenuity, to advance the preclinical asset and work to generate more oligonucleotides from the underlying platform.

The dietary supplement industry as a whole is enjoying booming sales as consumer stock up on products to support optimum health. But an industry strategist warns that that sales bump is likely to be ephemeral, and brands that are not strategizing vigorously now may be caught out in the near future.

Researchers working with a group of postmenopausal women found that a technology using casein to encapsulate calcium nanoparticles reduced GI issues compared with more conventional calcium carbonate or calcium citrate supplements.

The results provide priceless information on ancestry and predispositions to various illnesses.

Consumers are turning to dietary supplements in record numbers, but the industry must deliver on the results the products are promising if the industry is to convert them to long term customers, says Steve Mister.

I saw the Breakthrough Prizes announced this weekend and was excited to learn about the interesting scientists on the list, including Jennifer Doudna who many of us in life science recognize for her CRISPR/Cas9 work. I’ll start out saying that I am glad to see a group of such influential people (Sergey Brin and Anne Wojcicki, Mark

Alternative title: Pitching a VC on Disruption of Blood Testing You may have seen some recent editorials about the necessary frequency of blood tests for healthy individuals, many of them prompted by a series of tweets from Mark Cuban: Although there are certainly potential dangers in expecting any and all test results to be immediately

The tech giant announces it is extending its previous work-from-home plans for most of its staff and will begin reopening offices this summer.

The Census Bureau says it plans to continue its relaunch of limited 2020 census operations on May 13, when the next round of workers is set to resume hand-delivering paper forms in rural communities.

And as summer nears, the question must be asked: Is it risky from a COVID-19 standpoint to go in a swimming pool?

Marc Lipsitch, a professor of epidemiology at the Harvard School of Public Health, answers questions about access to testing for COVID-19, false-negative results and the challenges of mass testing.

By Monday at least 31 states will be open or partially open. This as President Trump pushed for the country to get back to work despite public health experts warning that it's too soon.

Call them victory anthems. Every time a patient with COVID-19 is well enough to be discharged, hospitals in New York and elsewhere play songs of celebration over the intercom. A doctor explains.

With social distancing, many people are speaking less and their voices sound raggedy. NPR's Scott Simon talks with speech pathologist Sandy Hirsch, about keeping the voice sounding as it should.

View our map and graphics to see where COVID-19 is hitting hardest in the U.S., which state outbreaks are growing the fastest and which are leveling off.

A map of confirmed COVID-19 cases and deaths around the world. The respiratory disease has spread rapidly across six continents and has killed thousands of people.

Yesterday’s conference sessions surfaced interesting questions and approaches regarding the post-acute sector, bundled payment, emergency medicine and anesthesia. Post-Acute Focus: With more and more focus on the need to rationalize and re-organize the post-acute sector, we have seen multiple industry leaders start to evolve their strategies.  I blogged yesterday about AccentCare’s interesting strategy in the...… Continue Reading

A large amount of wind, much discussion about the U.S healthcare, and the public getting soaked again – if you were thinking about Washington, DC and the new Congress, you’re 3,000 miles away from the action. This is the week of the annual JP Morgan Healthcare conference in San Francisco, with many thousands of healthcare...… Continue Reading

Addressing the Social Determinants of Health:  Is the healthcare industry pushing a rock up a hill?  We collectively are trying to provide healthcare with improved quality and reduced cost, but the structure of the nation’s healthcare system remains heavily siloed with the social determinants of health often falling wholly or partly outside the mandate and...… Continue Reading

Day 3 of the JPMorgan healthcare conference was one of striking contrasts between the old and the new. (And, by the way, the rain finally stopped for a day, but it will be back tomorrow to finish off the last day of the conference). The Old:  Sitting in the Community Health Systems (CHS) presentation and...… Continue Reading

Some interesting presentations on the last day of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference that concentrated on common themes – the increasing importance of ancillary business line to bolster core business revenue and of filling in holes to achieve scale and full-service offerings. Genesis Healthcare – The largest U.S. skilled nursing facility (SNF) provider, which also is...… Continue Reading

Following the European Parliament’s vote, the Council has now also agreed to the Brexit with its decision on the conclusion of the withdrawal agreement on behalf of the EU. The EU Parliamentarians sang off the UK members and celebrated that they never have to speak to Nigel Farage again. UK EU civil servants are clearing […]

After a statement on a press conference today by Stefan De keersmaecker that had many people very excited quickly, the official announcement came later in the afternoon: Here is what I think about this development. Work on a proposal ongoing The Commission announced that ‘work on a proposal to postpone the date of application’. This tells […]

When it rains guidance, it pours. The MDCG just released Guidance on temporary extraordinary measures related to medical devices Notified Body audits during COVID-19 quarantine orders and travel restrictions. The guidance takes immediate effect and is valid for the whole period of duration of the pandemic COVID-19 as declared by the World Health Organisation. It […]

With the overwhelming vote in the Parliament in favor of the Commission proposal to amend the MDR it is politically basically a done deal now that the MDR will be amended. After the vote there were people that immediately stated that the amendment was formally approved – not so. We are looking at law making […]

Los Angeles County, which continues to be the hardest hit area in California, announced 51 additional deaths linked to COVID-19 on Thursday.

Andy Serkis, who plays Gollum in the "Lord of the Rings" films, announced that he will livestream a reading of J.R.R. Tolkien's "The Hobbit" on Friday.

The U.N. triples its fundraising target for fighting the coronavirus, even as President Trump plans to freeze U.S. aid to its principal health agency.

Kings County Supervisor Doug Verboon said the outbreak at Central Valley Meat Company in Hanford accounts for nearly two-thirds of the coronavirus cases in the rural county, which has a total of 211 reported cases.

The good news: The state is far better prepared to meet this challenge than it was a decade ago. The bad news: It will need help from the feds, and a lot of it.

Newsom cited the case when asked why personal services, such as nail salons, must remain closed.

Republicans, once confident of keeping their Senate majority in the fall election, now fear Democrats have a fresh advantage as the coronavirus crisis has reshaped campaigns.

The daft showdown over coronavirus masks wouldn't matter if we didn't live in the political tinderbox that is Trump's America.

Reopening California begins -- but very slowly, cautiously and under the shadow of a second wave.

Doctors have recently identified a condition called pediatric inflammatory multi-system syndrome among children who have tested positive for antibodies against COVID-19.

The drug helped some coronavirus patients recover faster. But it's hardly everything we'd wished for.

Loyola swimming star Riley Griffis quickly read the reality of life outside the pool: 'The time away has shown it's something I need to function."