Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating because that oh-too-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and the like has returned with a vengeance. You knew this would happen, yes? To cope, we are relying, as always, on a cuppa stimulation. Our choice today is peach ginger. Please feel free to join us. Remember, no prescription is required. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits to help you along. Best of luck on your journey today and, of course, do keep in touch. …

The escalating war in the Middle East so far has not appreciably disrupted global pharmaceutical supply chains, but with no clear end in sight, the potential exists for the conflict to change the calculus for production, shipping, and, ultimately, pricing for different medicines in different countries, STAT explains. For now, the greatest impact is likely to occur in the immediate region, where only a smidgen of the world’s medicines and active pharmaceutical ingredients — 0.3% and 0.6%, respectively — are produced, according to US Pharmacopeia, an independent organization that develops standards for medicines and tracks global supplies. Nonetheless, the conflict is already disrupting key global shipping and air corridors, suggesting manufacturers — especially those in India and the European Union that are vulnerable to closures in the Strait of Hormuz — will need to find alternate transportation routes. And this raises expenses that may eventually get passed on to customers.

A vaccine reduced the risk of developing Lyme disease by more than 70%, and while the results appear to have missed a key statistical bar, Pfizer and Valneva said they would still be approaching regulators in hopes the vaccine would be approved, STAT writes. The vaccine could represent a weapon for preventing Lyme, a bacterial infection carried by ticks that is diagnosed and treated in an estimated 476,000 people in the U.S. each year, as well as 132,000 annually in Europe. Fighting Lyme has been a major focus of U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.. But the methodological issue at the center of the trial could become a source of conflict both at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration and at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, which makes vaccine recommendations. The Lyme vaccine is one of the only new vaccines likely to go before both agencies in the near future.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…