Chris Spivey

Chris Spivey is the editorial director of BioPharm International.

Articles by Chris Spivey

This Behind the Headlines news roundup panel discussion on recent news items includes updates regarding sickle cell therapies (e.g,, Pfizer’s withdrawal of Oxbryta and Vertex’s choosing of Lonza as the commercial manufacturer of Casgevy); Emergent BioSolutions $400 million BARDA contract for an mpox vaccine; and the first in a generation novel schizophrenia drug, Cobenfy (xanomeline and trospium chloride). The panel also examines investment revival with ARCH Ventures $3 billion biotech fund raise and the $3.6 billion for Flagship Pioneering. Rounding things out is a discussion on COVID-19-associated childhood myopia and patent thickets artificially keep the price of drugs high.

This premiere episode of Sexy Science in Pharmaceuticals features Professor Jonathan Pokorski, UC San Diego Jacobs School of Engineering, and Dr. James DiNunzio, Senior Principal Scientist at Merck & Co., Inc. in Rahway, NJ, discussing the benefits of hot-melt extrusion.

The discussion covers the challenges of optimizing mRNA therapies, including the diverse behaviors of mRNA in biological systems, as well as the opportunities presented by emerging mRNA technologies like circular and self-amplifying RNAs, and the role of regulators in ensuring quality control of these novel products.