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It’s lights, camera, action for Pfizer and BioNTech vaccine scientists and executives. They're starring in “Mission Possible,” a branded content film from Pfizer and National Geographic that tracks the COVID-19 vaccine's journey to market...The movie-length product placement is a behind-the-scenes look at Comirnaty, the now-authorized coronavirus shot Pfizer developed and produced in concert with its partner BioNTech. Pfizer provided National Geographic's scientific storytellers “unprecedented access” to the vaccine's development...READ MORE

The uncertainty of coronavirus disease 2019 caused anticipatory purchasing of medications around the world, driving demand to an unprecedented high. Meanwhile, drug factories shut down in order to prevent the spread of COVID-19, the drug-supply chain was disrupted, and drug shortages resulted. In the face of these drug shortages, pharmacy personnel responded by initiating local policy changes, implementing detailed antibiotic stewardship, and enacting quantity limits for in-demand medications...READ MORE

Almost two-thirds of Americans now give the pharma industry a thumbs up. It’s a stunning reversal from just one year ago when only about one-third (32%) rated the industry positively, according to The Harris Poll surveys...In its most recent February poll, 62% rated the pharma industry as a 5, 6 or 7 on a 7-point scale, with 1 equating to “very bad” and 7 to “very good.” That’s an increase of 30 percentage points since January 2020, before the pandemic hit U.S. shores...And that's a key point: The hockey-stick upturn stems directly from pharma's proactive response to COVID-19...READ MORE

Dozens of pharmacy chains and grocery stores with pharmacy counters are slated to start offering COVID-19 vaccinations this week, creating a wealth of employment opportunities. The companies are vying with one another—offering lucrative signing bonuses, in some cases—to hire established pharmacists, pharmacy technicians, student pharmacists, nurses, and other help. CVS Health is working toward 15,000 new vaccine-related hires, Walgreens has targeted 9,000, Kroger plans to recruit nearly 1,000 health care workers, and Rite Aid is looking to fill more than 2,000 pharmacy jobs...READ MORE

Johnson & Johnson has been battling for years against lawsuits claiming its talc powders cause cancer, but now investors are getting a sense of what the litigation could cost the drug giant...In an annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission, J&J said its multibillion-dollar 2020 litigation expense is “primarily associated with talc related reserves and certain settlements” worth $3.9 billion. The company faces 25,000 lawsuits alleging the household products cause cancer...READ MORE

Health authorities in some European countries are facing resistance to AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine after side-effects led hospital staff and other front-line workers to call in sick, putting extra strain on already-stretched services...Such symptoms, as reported in clinical trials for the AstraZeneca shot, can include a high temperature or headache and are a normal sign that the body is generating an immune response. They usually fade within a day or so...But with the AstraZeneca shot the latest to be rolled out, health authorities in France have issued guidance to stagger giving the shot, two regions in Sweden paused vaccinations, and in Germany some essential workers are refusing it...READ MORE

Pfizer Inc and BioNTech SE have asked the U.S. health regulator to relax requirements for their COVID-19 vaccine to be stored at ultra-low temperatures, potentially allowing it to be kept in pharmacy freezers...Approval by the Food and Drug Administration could send a strong signal to other regulators around the world that may ease distribution of the shot in lower-income countries...The companies have submitted new temperature data to the FDA to support an update to the current label that would allow vials to be stored at -25 to -15 degrees Celsius (-13°F to 5°F) for a total of two weeks...READ MORE

Pfizer has been accused of bullying governments in Latin America over coronavirus disease 2019 vaccine negotiations, a recent investigative article revealed...The accusations involve the company’s requests that some countries establish sovereign assets as a guarantee against the costs associated with future legal suits made on behalf of citizens who experience an adverse event after the shot...The story, published in The Bureau of Investigative Journalism, states that demands made by the global pharmaceutical giant Pfizer resulted in a three-month delay in a vaccine deal for one country. In the case of Argentina and Brazil, the countries made no national deals with the company...READ MORE

Rich countries are on course to have over a billion more doses of COVID-19 vaccines than they need, leaving poorer nations scrambling for leftover supplies as the world seeks to curb the coronavirus pandemic...In an analysis of current supply deals for COVID-19 vaccines, the ONE Campaign said wealthy countries, such as the United States and Britain, should share the excess doses to “supercharge” a fully global response to the pandemic...the United States, the European Union, Britain, Australia, Canada and Japan have already secured more than 3 billion doses - over a billion more than the 2.06 billion needed to give their entire populations two doses...READ MORE

The World Health Organization has granted an emergency authorization to AstraZeneca’s coronavirus vaccine, a move that should allow the U.N. agency’s partners to ship millions of doses to countries worldwide as part of a U.N.-backed program to tame the pandemic...the WHO said it was clearing the AstraZeneca vaccines made by the Serum Institute of India and South Korea’s AstraZeneca-SKBio...“Countries with no access to vaccines to date will finally be able to start vaccinating their health workers and populations at risk,” said Dr Mariângela Simão, the WHO’s Assistant-Director General for Access to Medicines and Health Products....READ MORE