Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, because that oh-so-familiar routine of deadlines, online meetings, and phone calls has predictably returned. But what can you do? The world, such as it is, continues to spin. So time to give it a nudge in a better direction by brewing cups of stimulation. Our choice today is maple bourbon, a double shot for the needy neurons. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest to start you on your journey, which we hope is meaningful and productive. Best of luck and do keep in touch …
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned Hims & Hers, a major telehealth purveyor of widely popular obesity drugs, to stop “false or misleading” marketing, according to The New York Times. The letter was one of about 100 warning letters sent to drug advertisers last week. The agency commissioner, Marty Makary, said on Tuesday that the letters were being sent to traditional pharmaceutical companies as well as to online pharmacies. The letter to Hims & Hers warned the company to halt the use of marketing language that falsely implies that one of its products is approved by the FDA. The agency has not yet publicly released the letter. Hims & Hers has capitalized on a huge demand for weight loss drugs like Novo Nordisk’s Wegovy, offering low-cost, compounded versions. In the past few years, telemedicine companies like Hims & Hers have emerged as an aggressive new type of drug advertiser. The agency said the Hims & Hers website made claims that were “false or misleading,” making the product “misbranded.”
AstraZeneca has paused a planned $270 million investment in its Cambridge, U.K., research site, the latest drugmaker to retreat from the country, Reuters reports. The decision about the investment, which had been set to create 1,000 jobs, means none of the planned funding — originally announced in March 2024 — is currently proceeding. In January, the company scrapped plans to invest $612 million in its vaccine manufacturing plant in northern England, citing a cut in U.K. government support. The move comes after Merck last week blamed the challenging U.K. business environment for its decision to abandon a new research center in London. The news, which will deliver a blow to Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s government and its efforts to draw investment into the U.K.’s stagnant economy, was announced just days before U.S. President Trump arrives for a state visit. In July, AstraZeneca said it would spend $50 billion to expand manufacturing and research capabilities in the U.S. by 2030 — one of many announcements by pharmaceutical companies reacting to Trump’s tariff policy.
Ed Silverman
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