About COVID-19
Britain explores mixed COVID vaccine shots as variants threaten: “British researchers are to explore mixing doses of the Pfizer and AstraZeneca COVID-19 vaccines in a world first trial aimed at finding new ways to swiftly reduce coronavirus infections as new mutated variants emerge.”
U.S. FDA gearing up for rapid review of potential COVID-19 booster shots: “The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is planning a rapid review process for quick turnaround of new COVID-19 booster shots if variants of the coronavirus emerge against which the vaccines do not provide protection, the agency’s top official said on Thursday.
Dr. Janet Woodcock, acting commissioner of the FDA, said that if new variants of the coronavirus emerge that require booster shots or changes to vaccines, the agency will not require the type of large trials that were required for emergency use authorization or approval.”
About healthcare systems
Catholic health giants join 'equity pledge,' commit to fighting systemic racism: “Catholic health systems around the U.S.—including giants like CommonSpirit and Ascension—committed to address systemic racism by taking concrete steps to reduce health disparities, it was announced Thursday.
More than 20 health system members of the Catholic Health Association (CHA) joined the Confronting Racism by Achieving Health Equity commitment so far, officials said.”
About diagnostics
23andMe going public at $3.5B via merger with Branson's blank check company: “23andMe is merging with VG Acquisition Corp., a special purpose acquisition company founded by billionaire Richard Branson, to go public.
The deal values the consumer genetic testing company at $3.5 billion, including debt.
The deal is expected to close in the second calendar quarter of 2021.”
Roche's COVID-19 diagnostics boosted 2020 sales despite other testing losses: “Roche’s diagnostics division saw its sales grow 14% over the full year of 2020—totaling over 13.8 billion Swiss francs, or about $15.3 billion—with demand for COVID-19 testing more than outweighing its losses due to clinic lockdowns and deferred health screenings.
The company launched 15 different tests for COVID-19 over the past year, including both rapid, point-of-care solutions and high-throughput, centralized laboratory diagnostics across each type of test, including antigen-, antibody- and molecular-based methods. Other tests worked to gauge the potential severity of a person’s immune response to the virus.”
About healthcare IT
Letter to the Editor: New phones, old problem? Interference with cardiovascular implantable electronic devices by phones containing magnets: “In a patient with a Medtronic Inc. Cobalt Cardiac Resynchronisation Therapy-Defibrillator (CRT-D) device (Minneapolis, MN, USA), therapies were suspended when the iPhone 12 was brought within close proximity of the generator, which was a consistent observation throughout the testing procedure. These findings raise possible safety concerns around MagSafe technology and cardiovascular implantable electronic devices (CIED). It is unknown whether this interference is a consistent observation across device types and manufacturers of CIED, or whether this is unique to the iPhone 12.”
Watch for further media stories about this finding.
Google expands into health tracking using smartphone cameras to monitor heart, respiratory rates: “Google Health, the tech giant’s health and wellness division, has added new features to its Google Fit app that enables users to take their pulse just by using their smart phone's camera…
The new features will be available in the Google Fit app for Pixel phones in the next month, with plans to expand to more Android devices, the company said…”
Read the article to understand how the technology works.
About pharma
Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson balk at shareholders' push for COVID-19 vaccine pricing info: “Two major players in the pandemic fight, Pfizer and Johnson & Johnson, are urging the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) to forestall shareholder resolutions that would require them to disclose how they set prices on their COVID-19 vaccines.
Several not-for-profit groups are pushing the two companies—along with fellow pharmas Eli Lilly, Gilead, Merck & Co. and Regeneron—for information on their drug and vaccine pricing decisions, citing the federal money all have received, either for supplies, R&D or manufacturing scale-up. Or all three.”
Coronavirus latest: Gilead’s Covid drug [Remdesivir] delivers $2bn boost to quarterly revenue – as it happened: The headline speaks for itself.
BioNTech fund pays €600m dividend on back of vaccine success: “One of the early backers of Germany’s BioNTech will pay a dividend of €600m to its own investors after selling most of its stake in the developer of the Covid-19 vaccine for a 4,500 per cent net return. Munich-based venture capital fund MIG is making the payout after initially investing just over €13m in BioNTech, the start-up founded by Ugur Sahin and Ozlem Tureci in 2008.”
Bristol Myers Secures COVID-19 Antibody Through Rockefeller University Pact: “The antibody is a combination of two drugs that together block the SARS-CoV-2 spike protein to neutralize the virus, and preclinical data indicate it could be an effective treatment against the virus’ multiple variants…
Financial details of the agreement were not disclosed but Rockefeller will receive royalty payments on any future sales.”
Walmart Loses Bid To Short-Circuit Feds' Opioid Suit: “A Texas federal judge on Thursday axed Walmart Inc. 's lawsuit seeking a declaration that its prescription opioid sales are lawful, ruling that the retail giant hadn't identified a Justice Department action that has adversely affected it and therefore can't preemptively sue the government.”
Walmart’s move was to preempt federal lawsuits for its role in the opioid crisis.
About health insurance
Cigna execs say COVID-19 costs outstripped savings from lower utilization at end of 2020: “Chief Financial Officer Brian Evanko told investors on the company's earnings call Thursday that the ratio between COVID costs and decreases in care utilization evolved over the course of the year. In the second quarter, for instance, savings from care deferrals significantly offset costs related to the pandemic.
In Q3, by contrast, COVID costs were largely on par with savings related to lower utilization, Evanko said. By the end of the fourth quarter, however, costs related to COVID-19 were higher than money saved in care deferrals, he said.”
About the public’s health
Vaccines Saved 37 Million Lives, Mostly Children, Over Past Two Decades: “Vaccinations are also projected to prevent a total of 69 million deaths between 2000 and 2030, researchers say.
Their modeling study also shows that vaccination against the 10 diseases -- including measles, rotavirus, HPV and hepatitis B -- means that people born in 2019 will have a 72% lower risk of death from those diseases over their lifetime.”
High levels of toxic heavy metals found in some baby food: U.S. report: “The [House Oversight subcommittee] panel examined products made by Nurture Inc, Hain Celestial Group Inc, Beech-Nut Nutrition and Gerber, a unit of Nestle, it said, adding that it was ‘greatly concerned’ that Walmart Inc, Campbell Soup Co and Sprout Organic Foods refused to cooperate with the investigation. The U.S. baby food market was worth an estimated $8 billion in 2020, according to Euromonitor.
The report said internal company standards ‘permit dangerously high levels of toxic heavy metals, and documents revealed that the manufacturers have often sold foods that exceeded those levels.’
The report urged U.S. regulators to set maximum levels of toxic heavy metals permitted in baby foods and require manufacturers to test finished products for heavy metals, not just ingredients, while baby food companies said they were working to reducing levels of metals that occur naturally in food products.”
28 Black medical pioneers to know: In honor of Black History Month, this list is a great historical read, in addition to celebrating individual accomplishments.