New hires:
Ogilvy Health, a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, appointed Renata Maia as chief creative officer.
Upstream USA, a nonprofit focused on contraceptive care, named Jessica Foster as President and COO, effective April 29.
Early-stage medical device company Amplitude Vascular Systems hired Elizabeth Galle as VP of clinical affairs.
GCI Health,a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, announced that Dan Oh has been hired as group SVP and creative director.
Avalere Health appointed Effie Baoutis as president of its medical division.
Hansa Bhargava, MD, joined Healio as chief clinical strategy and innovation officer.
The Bloc, a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, named Adam Hessel as head of creative and experience.
Clinical trial design startup QuantHealth named Dr. Adam Petrich as chief medical officer and Adam Goldberger as CFO.
New Voices for Reproductive Justice unveiled Beulah Osueke as its executive director.
Michael Giordano joined Therabody as chief revenue officer while Peter Noverr steps in as chief operations officer.
Integrated investor and public relations consulting agency LaVoieHealthScience named Katie Dodge as SVP and GM of its Boston office.
Athenahealth announced David Minkin as the GM of Epocrates.
Executive elevations:
Arcellx promoted Myesha Lacy to chief investor and communications officer.
Marketing agency Meyocks elevated Kendra Kelly to operations leader.
Board appointments:
CervoMed appointed Vertex Pharmaceuticals founder Joshua Boger, PhD as chair of the board.
Verseon added Edison Liu, MD, CEO Emeritus of the Jackson Laboratory, to its scientific advisory board.
Departures:
Colgate-Palmolive chief communications officer Paula Davis has left the company.
FDA:
The FDA’s drug shortage website has identified 10, 12.5 and 15 mg doses of Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro as being in short supply through March.
The agency found quality control issues at Catalent’s manufacturing facility in Bloomington, Indiana, according to an inspection report.
Ionis Pharmaceuticals’ Eplontersen was granted Fast Track designation for treating patients with transthyretin-mediated amyloid cardiomyopathy.
Layoffs:
Clinical-stage biotech Rallybio plans to reduce its workforce by 45% and extend its cash runway into mid-2026.
Amazon said it will cut a few hundred jobs across its healthcare units.
Healthcare staffing startup Nomad Health conducted layoffs for the third time in about a year
Deals:
Novo Holdings announced a $16.5 billion acquisition of contract drug manufacturer Catalent.
Novartis announced it will buy MorphoSys for $2.9 billion in a move to expand its oncology pipeline as well as its hematology efforts.
Merck Animal Health announced a $1.3 billion deal to acquire Elanco Animal Health’s aqua business.
BioNTech agreed to invest $200 million in Autolus Therapeutics as part of a strategic collaboration.
Crowe PR announced its acquisition of creative communications agency Eckis Marketing.
Real Chemistry, a 2023 MM+M Agency 100 honoree, acquired medical marketing agency Avant Healthcare to bolster its medical communications offering.
BridgeBio Pharma licensed the exclusive Japanese rights to develop and sell an experimental dwarfism drug to Tokyo-based pharma firm Kyowa Kirin.
Bounteous and Accolite merged.
Funding rounds:
Kyverna Therapeutics upsized its proposed initial public offering and now expects to offer 14.5 million common shares at a per-share price between $20 and $21.
Scion Life Sciences launched with $310 million to support biotech companies.
Gene editing startup Metagenomi set the range for its initial public offering, eyeing net proceeds of $87 million.
Aizon closed a $20 million Series C funding round and plans to increase its staff numbers by 20% to around 100 employees.
Immix Biopharma announced the pricing of a $15 million public offering of common stock.
Pharma company Cingulate raised $7.5 million from a public offering.
Industry news:
The Medical Advertising Hall of Fame inducted longtime Ogilvy Health exec David Chapman as well as Wishboneand Calcium founder Steven Michaelson as part of its Class of 2024.
Eli Lilly reported revenues of $2.49 billion during the final segment of 2023, supported by the performance of the widely-popular GLP-1 treatments Mounjaro and Zepbound.
Johnson & Johnson’s experimental drug to treat two autoimmune disorders met the main goals in mid-stage and late-stage trials.
During Q4 2023, Amgen’s total revenues jumped 20% to $8.2 billion.
23andMe said it is considering splitting itself in two.
In its latest earnings report, Eisai said it is likely to miss its patient goal for Leqembi by the end of March 2024.
Buckingham Palace announced that King Charles has been diagnosed with cancer.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals posted better-than-expected top and bottom line results in its latest quarter.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said a listeria outbreak in 11 states has been linked to recalled dairy products.
AstraZeneca is investing $300 million in a state-of-the-art facility in Rockville, Maryland to launch cell therapy platforms.
GSK reported a trio of positive updates stemming from vaccines and oncology products.
Herbalife launched product combos to supplement nutritional needs for patients taking GLP-1s.
I-Mab Biopharma said it is carving out its assets and business operations in China into a new entity dubbed I-Mab Biopharma (Hangzhou).
Ipsen forecast lower profitability this year as it expects extra research-and-development spending.
Verrica Pharmaceuticals filed a lawsuit against Canadian drug manufacturer Dormer Laboratories for false advertising and unfair competition.
Sanofi launched a global program to support employees whose lives are impacted by cancer and certain other illnesses.
CVS Health reported quarterly revenue and adjusted earnings that topped expectations on strength in its health services business.
Doceree announced that the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office granted a patent for its Triggers feature.
Prodigy Biotech became the first company to join the Memorial Sloan Kettering Therapeutic Accelerator.
Ipsen forecast lower profitability this year as it expects extra research-and-development spending.
ViiV Healthcare announced Dovato (dolutegravir/lamivudine) is now available in a blister pack in the U.S.
Gilead Sciences’ quarterly revenues dipped 4% to $7.1 billion due to a 28% decline in sales of Veklury (remdesivir) as well as lower sales for HIV treatments.
Regenxbio’s gene therapy met its primary endpoint in a trial for Hunter Syndrome.
