Johnson & Johnson Chief Scientific Officer Paul Stoffels, M.D., is to retire at the end of the year, ending a nine-year stint at the top of the rejuvenated R&D unit and creating more turnover at the top of the Big Pharma.

The study evaluated the safety and immunogenicity of a 100µg dose of a Covid-19 booster given along with the influenza vaccine.

Recent findings in The New England Journal of Medicine showed that AstraZeneca’s two-dose COVID-19 vaccine was 74% effective against symptomatic disease.

Boehringer Ingelheim has agreed to buy US biotech Abexxa Biologics, its second acquisition in the cancer immunotherapy area in the space of a year.

Novartis’ breast cancer drug Kisqali already has two clinical wins under its belt showing a survival benefit over traditional treatment. Now, the company hopes a third, first-of-its-kind victory in newly diagnosed patients could give it a better shot at challenging Pfizer’s market-leading Ibrance.

Drugmaker AstraZeneca said that its COVID-19 antibodies’ cocktail has helped cut the risk of severe disease or deaths in a late-stage study.

Hard on the heels of impressive new data for Enhertu as a second-line therapy for breast cancer, AstraZeneca and Daichi Sankyo have claimed FDA breakthrough status for the drug that should shorten its review time.

There will be a return to normal life within a year, Pfizer CEO and Chairman Albert Bourla said on Sunday, adding that it’s likely annual Covid vaccination shots will be necessary.

In the increasingly crowded market for immunotherapy in newly diagnosed non-small cell lung cancer, Regeneron and Sanofi hope to expand Libtayo into a broader population with a chemo combo regimen. And now, they’ve turned up competitive data that could pressure entrenched players Merck & Co. and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Joël de Beer made it just a few months into his PhD program at ETH Zurich before he dropped out to join the hunt for the holy grail of gene therapy — a non-viral delivery mechanism.