Although the American Academy of Pediatrics has been releasing guidances on vaccines for decades, the 2026 immunization schedule it issued Jan. 26 is creating some buzz given the U.S. CDC’s newly abbreviated childhood schedule that removed several routine recommendations.
Shionogi & Co. Ltd. and Fosun Pharmaceutical (Group) Co. Ltd. were involved in separate divestment transactions this week, with Shionogi buying out Pfizer Inc.’s stake in Viiv Healthcare Ltd. to lift its holding to 21.7%.
A trio of European cancer vaccine specialists have filed progress reports, with advances in technology and targeting, fresh infusions of cash, and off-the-shelf products moving into the clinic. Six years on from its formation, Ervimmune closed a series A at €17 million (US$19.9 million) to drive forward clinical development of lead program Ervac-01. Accession Therapeutics Ltd. raised a further £30.5 million (US$40.4 million) from its existing investors, following dosing of four patients with Trocept-01. And Infinitopes Ltd. added $15.4 million to its seed round, as it finalizes preparations for a phase I/IIa trial of the lead product ITOP-1.
The New York attorney general’s office has filed suit against the former CEO of Emergent Biosolutions Inc., alleging insider trading, while at the same time announcing a settlement with the company, which agreed to pay $900,000 in penalties for approving the illegal trading plan. The lawsuit stems from reports of vaccine contamination at the company’s manufacturing plant during the height of the COVID pandemic.
U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy has once again expanded the CDC’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), this time adding two more ob-gyns to the membership list. As a result, the ACIP, which can have up to 19 members, now numbers 13, three of whom are ob-gyns.
The chaos Health and Human Services Secretary Robert Kennedy has injected into the U.S. vaccine market could have long-term consequences as vaccine makers reevaluate business decisions and pipelines.
With the stroke of a pen and no input from the CDC’s Advisory Committee for Immunization Practices, acting CDC Director Jim O’Neill cut the number of vaccines the agency routinely recommends for children to 11 on Jan. 5, down from 17 in 2024.
If the 2025 U.S. life sciences regulatory scene were to be summed up in one word, it would have to be uncertainty. Two words might be more definitive – chaotic uncertainty.
Reporting sales of its hepatitis B vaccine Heplisav-B pretty much in line with consensus and a phase I/II shingles prospect moving along, Dynavax Technologies Corp. scored a takeover deal with Sanofi SA, which is paying $15.50 per share in cash for a total equity value of about $2.2 billion. The amount is a 39% premium to Dynavax’s closing share price yesterday, Dec. 23.
Driven by a deeply antiscientific political agenda, the current U.S. government is not just sabotaging some of the most groundbreaking technology that has been developed in the past decades. It is also destroying the country’s past successes, such as measles elimination and the reduction of hepatitis B infections in infants to near zero.
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