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Spotlight



In this issue of GOLD, we uncover the pharmaceutical industry’s top news stories from the past couple of months. Over this period, the COVID-19 pandemic has continued to dominate affairs, with vaccine candidates racing closer to approval as multiple companies announce high efficacies. Alongside this progression, we are still seeing novel drug approvals, valuable acquisitions, and major appointments.


06 October

Merck & Co.’s R&D Chief, Roger Perlmutter, exits to join AI biotech, Insitro


13 October

UK biotechs raise over £1 billion in equity finance in record quarter


15 October

Regeneron’s Inmazeb becomes the first FDA-approved Ebola treatment


22 October

Gilead’s remdesivir is the first FDA-approved COVID-19 antiviral treatment


26 October

Bayer bolsters cell and gene therapy portfolio by acquiring AskBio in a $4 billion deal


29 October

GSK’s Zejula is approved by European Commission for advanced ovarian cancer


06 November

Merck & Co. strengthens oncology portfolio by acquiring VelosBio for $2.75 billion


09 November

Pfizer and BioNTech announce their vaccine to be more than 90% effective


11 November

Russia claim its Sputnik V vaccine to be 92% effective


13 November

Abbvie’s CCO, Carlos Alban, retires, replaced by US Commercial Operations Head, Jeffery Stewart


16 November

Moderna announce its vaccine to be 94.5% effective


23 November

AstraZeneca and Oxford University announce their vaccine to be 70.4% effective, 90% if lower first dose is used

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