Newsletter Signup - Under Article / In Page"*" indicates required fields In the heat of the COVID-19 crisis, a wave of vaccine companies stepped into the spotlight with unprecedented speed and visibility. Riding a surge of public and private funding, they raced to develop vaccines and therapeutics that could curb a once-in-a-century global emergency. While pharma giants like AstraZeneca and Johnson Johnson also played prominent roles, much of the momentum and risk was carried by smaller biotech players suddenly thrown onto the global stage. For a brief moment, it seemed like these companies might reshape the pharmaceutical landscape for good.Fast forward to 2025, and the picture is far more complex.Some, like Moderna and BioNTech, used the momentum to build expansive pipelines beyond COVID-19, branching into cancer, flu, RSV, and other diseases. Others, however, are now scaling down, pivoting, or fading from view entirely. Just this month, companies including GeoVax, CastleVax, and Vaxart revealed they were told to halt their government-backed work on next-generation COVID vaccines under the Biden-era Project NextGen, casting doubt on the long-term strategic value of these initiatives

The drug, which is used to treat lung cancer, melanoma and certain other cancers, has historically been given by intravenous infusion, but Merck is gearing up to launch an injectable version that would be easier on patients.

Merck invests $1B in new US drug factory.