Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was invigorating and inspiring, because that oh-too predictable routine of online meetings, phone calls, and deadlines has returned. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So to give it a nudge in a better direction, we are firing up the coffee kettle to brew some cups of stimulation. Our choice today is a new addition to our overflowing pantry — maple bourbon. Please feel free to join us. Meanwhile, we have once again assembled a few items of interest for you. Best of luck on your journey today and, of course, do keep in touch. …
Moderna announced that, in a Phase 3 clinical trial, its combination Covid-19 and influenza vaccine generated stronger immune responses in older adults than individual vaccines targeting those viruses, STAT says. The findings, disclosed in a press release, suggest the company may be on track to bring a combination flu and Covid vaccine to the market, potentially as early as autumn 2025. A combo shot could improve uptake of both flu and Covid vaccines. U.S. health officials recommend annual flu and Covid vaccinations for everyone, but the need is seen to be especially acute for older adults, who are at higher risk from serious illness from both Covid and influenza infections.
Pfizer paused a study of an experimental gene therapy for muscular dystrophy after a child who received it died suddenly, Bloomberg News writes. The patient, a young boy, suffered a cardiac arrest after receiving Pfizer’s one-time treatment last year. The boy was part of a mid-stage study, now concluded, that enrolled children between the ages of 2 and 4, Pfizer paused administering the same gene therapy in a separate, final-stage study while it investigates the boy’s death. That study is looking at the gene therapy, called fordadistrogene movaparvovec, to treat Duchenne muscular dystrophy, a rare and fatal muscle-wasting disease that primarily affects boys.
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