Biography for John Carroll
John D. Carroll is a biotech analyst with 34 years of prize-winning experience in journalism. Appointed editor of FierceBiotech in 2003, he has covered genomics, biotechnology, healthcare and other business topics for Managed Care, American Banker, Small Times, and Local Business.com, He has also contributed stories from Central America and Ireland to the Dallas Morning News and Time and wrote for the Houston Press and other leading publications. He spent six years as editor and publisher of the Dallas Business Journal, was publisher of Texas Business and early in his career was part of a Pulitzer Prize-winning team of reporters and editors at the Kansas City Star & Times. He enjoys hiking, traveling and spending time with his family. Carroll is based in Vermont and Texas and can be reached at john@fiercemarkets.com. Follow @JohnCFierce on Twitter.
Articles by John Carroll
Want a raise, pharma reps? Get into biotech sales instead
We regularly dig into compensation for top executives, but figures on the biopharma rank and file are harder to come by. So, if you've been waiting for those numbers, here's a taste: MedReps.com has run the numbers on sales people in the medical field.
Boehringer grabs option on Karolinska cardiovascular therapy
Boehringer Ingelheim has stepped in to pick up an option on a preclinical cardiovascular program under development at Stockholm-based Athera Biotechnologies, which is part of Karolinska Development's biotech portfolio.
Sarepta shares spike on upbeat results from DMD extension study
Shares of Sarepta were boosted this morning after the biotech announced that it reaped another round of promising results from a closely-watched Phase IIb study of its experimental treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
Analysis: AMA decision on obesity will boost drug R&D in a troubled field
The AMA's decision to classify obesity as a disease is a direct attempt to persuade biopharma companies to develop new therapies by making it harder for payers to decline coverage while applying pressure on the FDA to approve more drugs faster. And that could provide a serious incentive for the obesity therapies already in development while making the preclinical work in the field more attractive to Big Pharma companies--which have largely avoided the field after witnessing repeated marketing debacles for unsafe meds. Read more >>
Another drug study flops at AstraZeneca as CEO braces for bumpy turnaround
In an interview with Reuters yesterday, CEO Pascal Soriot warned that turning around AstraZeneca is going to require a lengthy rebuilding effort.
UPDATED: Bluebird IPO busts out, raises $101M as biotech offerings turn red hot
Biotech IPOs are officially back in vogue. Bluebird bio--set up to develop new gene therapies for orphan diseases--priced its IPO at $17 a share, actually above its range. The biotech raised $101 million after bumping up the number of shares it had on offer.
Booming Alexion breaks ground on $140M global HQ
Now that Alexion has established its reputation for marketing new drugs for ultra-rare diseases with the success of Soliris, the most expensive drug on the planet, the fast-growing biotech has broken ground on an 11-story facility in downtown New Haven destined to become its new headquarters.
Adamas claims success with new and improved Parkinson’s drug
Investigators say that the lead drug--ADS-5102, reformulated in a way designed to reduce the severity of side effects that plague patients--demonstrated a statistically significant improvement in levodopa-induced dyskinesia when compared with a placebo after 8 weeks of therapy.
R&D cutbacks loom at Millennium's Cambridge ops
The new president at Millennium Pharmaceuticals has been trying to maintain a careful balancing act in recent weeks, trying to reassure staffers about Takeda's commitment to the oncology subsidiary while making it clear that cuts are coming.
Analysis: Big Pharma R&D demonstrates a woeful lack of innovation
Bernard Munos, one of the sharpest critics of the drug development industry, takes Big Pharma to task once again on the innovation front after reviewing just what's been approved over the past 12 years.
