The Real Economy Blog

Adam Lohr

5 things to know this week in life sciences: Week of Dec. 21

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With approval of Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine last week for emergency use, many of us are looking forward to getting vaccinated with the hope that it will help us return to a more normal life. While looking forward, this is also a good time to reflect on the decades of work that laid the groundwork for this lightning fast vaccine development effort, as the ... READ MORE >

5 things to know this week in life sciences: Week of Dec. 14

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With the Food and Drug Administration approving the first COVID-19 vaccine for emergency use last week and another approval expected this week, the focus around the vaccine will start to shift toward public health messaging and how to convince tens of millions of people around the country to accept the vaccine and roll up their sleeves for a shot. And ... READ MORE >

5 things to know this week in life sciences: Week of Dec. 7

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COVID-19 vaccine news continues to dominate headlines as candidates from several companies move closer to obtaining emergency use authorization from the Food and Drug Administration. Also on the drug approval front, tech giant Palantir and the FDA entered into a $44 million deal for the agency to use the company’s software in its review process. Plus, we ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: Vaccine doses for the global population

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With the U.S. Food and Drug Administration set to review Pfizer and BioNTech’s COVID-19 vaccine this week for emergency use authorization and Moderna’s vaccine next week, we have passed the “if” phase of questions around the vaccine. Now, the focus turns to the “when and how” of distribution. The United States expects to have enough COVID-19 vaccines ... READ MORE >

Looking ahead: next steps for the economy after Pfizer’s promising vaccine news

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Pfizer and German biotech firm BioNTech’s Monday announcement that their COVID-19 vaccine candidate has shown to be more than 90% effective in preliminary results from an ongoing trial is a much needed win in the fight against the pandemic. It carries significant economic implications regarding the potential unlocking of close to $4 trillion in impaired ... READ MORE >

CHART OF THE DAY: The race to find a coronavirus vaccine

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Scientists have been working at a blistering pace to shorten the vaccine development cycle from years to months in order to take a coronavirus vaccine to market. With more than 190 such vaccines in development, there are several leading the pack. Two trials, by AstraZeneca and Johnson & Johnson, had been halted because participants had become sick. ... READ MORE >

The search for a safe and effective coronavirus vaccine

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Regardless of race, religion or socioeconomic status, one thing most, if not all, Americans can agree on is that we are tired of the pandemic and the economic, health and political fallout we have collectively experienced from it. And while there may be disagreement about the best way to approach the pandemic, it is generally held that a safe, effective ... READ MORE >

More promise, more problems: Cyberattacks threaten life sciences companies researching COVID-19 vaccine

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Picture this scenario: Researchers at a biotech company are working tirelessly on a potential coronavirus vaccine and planning to start a phase three clinical trial soon. This work results in more visibility for the company, and an influx of capital investment. But with that greater visibility and investment comes added risk, especially in the form of ... READ MORE >

No vaccine, no recovery: The long road back

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It is becoming quite clear that absent an accessible and widely distributed vaccine, there will be no complete economic recovery. What originally was thought to be a 15 week problem has quickly evolved into something that looks more like a 15-month challenge. The premature reopening of the U.S. economy has resulted in an intensification of the pandemic, ... READ MORE >