Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Shingles Vaccine Lifts Glaxo's Third-Quarter Earnings Forecast
Demand for Shingrix, which is aimed at people age 50 and over, has outpaced Glaxo鈥檚 expectations since it launched the vaccine late last year. The company says it now expects sales of 拢700 million to 拢750 million ($893 million to $957 million) this year, up from previous guidance of 拢600 million to 拢650 million. The vaccine protects against shingles, a disease that leads to a painful rash and that is caused by the reactivation of the chicken pox virus in people whose immune systems have weakened with age. Shingrix got a boost when the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention last year gave the vaccine favored status over a rival, Merck & Co鈥檚 Zostavax. The CDC also recommended that adults who had previously received Zostavax should still receive Shingrix. (Roland, 10/31)
GlaxoSmithKline鈥檚 third-quarter earnings were lifted by demand for its new shingles vaccine on Wednesday, but the British drugs firm鈥檚 shares slipped despite an improved outlook as analysts focused on some drugs missing forecasts. (Sandle, 10/31)
In other pharmaceutical and biotech news聽鈥�
Sanofi lifted its 2018 profit target for the second time this year after robust sales of its vaccines and rare diseases division, Genzyme, helped it beat third-quarter profit expectations. (Blamont, 10/31)
Tango Therapeutics Inc. has cut its first major business deal since debuting last year, a collaboration with the big California drug maker Gilead Sciences Inc. that will pay the Cambridge biotech $50 million up front. Tango, a privately held firm developing a new generation of targeted cancer therapies using the latest advances in DNA sequencing, will work with Gilead to identify new immunotherapy targets. (Saltzman, 10/31)
Biotech IPOs are on track for a near-record year, with a crop of offerings that are younger, more highly valued鈥攁nd some say riskier鈥攖han any in recent memory. Driven by swift advances in medical science and an accommodative Food and Drug Administration that is increasingly willing to accelerate approval of innovative drugs, biotechnology companies are tapping the public markets at very early stages of development鈥攕ome even before they have a drug in a clinical trial. (Walker, 10/31)