Oh, Oh, Oh Ozempic
The song ‘Magic’ has been plundered for Novo’s rollout of Ozempic in the US.
Hello and welcome to The Vitals.
This week, Musk meets his match, you’d never believe Ozempic wasn’t so, the weirdos are convening, and more.
Have a lovely weekend,
Will.
Saving lives?
They may be saving patient lives, but are drugs killing the planet? The UK government thinks they might be, and has told drug companies to reduce their output for the sake of its drive for Net Zero. How to broach this problem will remain a tricky question, despite all the work of big pharma to address it. It’s hard not to see it as a self-fuelling spiral of death and decay: as the environment gets worse, we need more drugs to deal with the consequences, which means we make more drugs, which means the environment deteriorates, and on and on until the world, literally, ends.
Waiting for weirdos
Picture an event made up of the misfits in normal pharma conferences–those that are quietly murmuring and rolling their eyes during another tedious vendor presentation—and you’ll be picturing something like the entire audience at Pharmageddon. It’s an event that wastes no time on the status quo. After all, ambitious change doesn’t come from following the rules; it’s the weirdo’s, the mavericks and the freaks that make history. If that’s you, you’ll want to join the movement. Learn more here.
The long goodnight
Philips has been forced to curb its production of sleep apnea machines by US authorities. The order has been a long time coming: Philips has recalled almost five million of the devices, which can deteriorate into particulates over time causing breathing difficulties, since 2021. Despite this, the company is still refusing to accept responsibility for manufacturing oversights. In the chaos, confusion and bluster that characterises the US legal system, patients may be waiting longer for results.
Oh, Oh, Oh Ozempic
The song ‘Magic’ has been plundered for Novo’s rollout of Ozempic in the US. We all know the extraordinary money-making capacity of the drug for Novo, but David Paton, singer and co-writer of the ad’s new jingle, benefitted more than most in the form of a $1 million cheque to re-record his 70s hit. It’s likely a wise move that Novo decided to dispense with a few lines from the original hook: “Oh, Oh, Oh, Ozempic, you knoooow, never believe it’s not soooo” may have fallen foul of promotional regulations.
The vendor spender agenda
Are you the kind of person who loves the idea of sifting through other people’s bank statements? If you are, you’re probably not proud of it, but I’m here to give you a chance to have a good old ogle at pharma’s without the social repercussions. This upcoming webinar will reveal all about where pharma is spending this year and not, a must-attend for those who are looking to lead pharma innovation. Learn more and sign up here.
WHO’s Sarah?
The WHO has updated its AI bot. Many patients became acquainted with S.a.r.a.h. during the pandemic when she had a better clue than anyone else about the Covid virus. Since then she’s been swatting up on lots of other diseases and is theoretically set up to tell you whether that throaty cough is just a common cold or portends a long and difficult death. She will also provide you with healthy lifestyle advice if you ask nicely, and will let you know about possible adverse drug reactions. Sounds great…but is she any good?
Bionic billions
Billionaires love competing with each other (I mean, you can’t really call yourself a modern tech guru without a worthy space program). It was probably only a matter of time until the rest of the crew wanted a piece of the pie after Elon got Neuralink up and running. New venture Synchron Inc counts Messrs Bezos and Gates as investors. So far, Musk has successfully planted a chip in one brain; Synchron aims to do it in dozens of them in a large-scale clinical trial. What will be first? Bionics of martians? The dreams of 80’s sci-fi nerds are coming true at last.