Featured Articles
Read our latest stories on the people and scientific innovations making a difference in patients’ lives.
Science & Innovation
Mathematical Sandbox: How Quantitative Systems Pharmacology Steers Safer, Faster Drug Development
Fear and anxiety swirled when Dr. Cynthia J. Musante’s husband contracted COVID-19. He faced a greater risk of coming down with a severe case since he was already unwell. But all their worries vanished in just 24 hours. Dr. Musante recalls that her husband soon started to feel better after being prescribed an investigational oral treatment for those with COVID-19. “It felt like a miracle,” he said. “I had felt so horrible.” As relief settled in, Dr. Musante felt something else...
Science & Innovation
From Math to Medicine: What Are Mathematical Models and How Do They Predict Pharmacology?
It sounds strange, but predicting how medications impact diseases and the body is a lot like forecasting the weather. To understand why, imagine opening a weather app on your smartphone to check the forecast for the upcoming weekend. You see that it’ll be sunny, 72 degrees, with a slight breeze—perfect weather. But how did scientists predict those precise physical conditions so far in the future? The answer: mathematical models. Scientists across disciplines use mathematical models to...
Science & Innovation
The Challenges of Defining, Understanding, and Addressing Long COVID
Years have passed since COVID-19 was declared a global pandemic. And though some immunity (acquired by vaccination or through a combination of vaccination and prior infection) allows people to reincorporate some of the lifestyle and activities that they used to enjoy, the virus continues to significantly impact patients, health systems, and economies around the world. In addition to the devastating effects that acute infection can have on those at high risk for severe illness, so-called long...
Science & Innovation
In Pursuit of a Lyme Disease Vaccine: Why We Need It and What It Has the Potential to Do
While preventative measures, including applying insect repellent and checking for ticks1, are recommended to help with personal protection, there’s limited evidence that they’re having an impact on reducing the annual number of cases of Lyme disease, according to Raphael Simon, PhD, Senior Director of Vaccine Research and Development at Pfizer. Lyme disease is the most common vector-borne illness in the United States.2 And yet, the actual cases are vastly underreported. The U.S. Centers for...
Science & Innovation
What Does mRNA Mean for the Flu Vaccine?
Throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, messenger RNA, or mRNA, has been in the spotlight for the critical role it’s playing in the first-ever approved mRNA vaccine.1 But in fact, Pfizer and BioNTech had entered into a worldwide collaboration agreement in 2018 to work on an mRNA vaccine for a different virus. “Pfizer's first partnership with BioNTech was to look at ways to develop a more effective flu vaccine,” says John McLaughlin, who is Vice President, COVID-19/Flu Vaccines & Antivirals Lead...
Science & Innovation
The Science Behind Migraine and Headaches
If you've never had a migraine attack, it’s hard to imagine how a headache can knock someone out of commission. Perhaps you've even referred to a headache as “having a migraine.” But if you're among the one billion people worldwide who lives with migraine, you fully understand how debilitating an attack can be.1 The pain, nausea, and sensitivity to light and sound can make it impossible to work or care for your family. No wonder migraine is the second leading cause of disability.2 Understa...
Science & Innovation
The Next Frontier of Vaccine Innovation
Edward Jenner changed the world when he used cowpox virus to inoculate a young boy against smallpox.1 Less than 200 years later, smallpox was eradicated from the Earth.2 Dozens of vaccines have since been created, leading to dramatic improvements in public health as well as a marked decline in deaths due to diseases such as measles, pertussis (whooping cough), and tetanus. Imagine what Jenner would say if he knew that at least two vaccines now help prevent cancers!3 Or that the world’s...
Science & Innovation
Making the COVID-19 Oral Treatment: How 2,000+ Pfizer Team Members Made It Happen
As the potential threat of COVID-19 became clear by early 2020, teams across Pfizer sprang into action. Together, they worked to better understand the novel virus. Hospitals were filling, and no one was sure how best to treat the people who were sick. While some infected people seemed to recover quickly, others were dying. “We had started to think about how best we might be able to help address the pandemic,” recalls Annaliesa Anderson, who is Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific...
Science & Innovation
What Are Biosimilars and How Do They Expand Treatment Options for Patients?
If you’ve experienced sticker shock in the pharmacy and considered not filling a prescription because of the cost, you’re not alone. Recent data shows that almost 13 million Americans delayed filling a prescription or didn’t fill it at all because of the cost.1 In an era of rising drug prices, getting lower-cost medicines in the hands of more people who need them is critical not only for the pharmaceutical industry, but also, and most importantly, for patients. Biosimilars make cutting-edge...
Science & Innovation
Can You Inherit Rheumatoid Arthritis? Genetic vs Hereditary
Inflammation that leads to pain, swelling, stiffness, fatigue, and loss of joint function, are a fact of life for more than one million people in the United States who live with rheumatoid arthritis (RA).1 The chronic autoimmune disease causes the immune system to attack the healthy tissues surrounding the joints; it mainly affects the wrists, hands and knees (and often attacks numerous joints at once).2Is rheumatoid arthritis genetic? In addition to risk factors such as age, sex, smoking and...
Science & Innovation
Biologics vs. Biosimilars: Understanding the Difference
Maybe you’ve heard of biologics and biosimilars. You might even be taking biological or biosimilar medicines to treat cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, ulcerative colitis, psoriasis, or other health conditions. Still, maybe you have questions about what the differences and similarities are or how these drugs are developed. Biologics revolutionized the prevention, treatment, and outlook of many serious diseases. Now, biosimilar advancements in these drugs are helping to provide expanded access to...
Science & Innovation
Cancer Biomarkers: Paving the Way for Better Lung Cancer Treatment
Receiving a lung cancer diagnosis may inspire a lot of questions: Will my cancer spread? What are the best treatment options for my type of lung cancer? How well do treatments work? There are no one-size-fits-all answers to questions about lung cancer—and that can be a good thing. Scientific advances have led to the practice of “precision medicine” or treatments tailored to patients based on the genes and proteins found in their tumor. In cancer treatment, it involves looking at changes in...
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