About Covid-19
Where Did Covid Come From? “In the four years since the SARS-CoV-2 virus was unleashed on the world, data have steadily accumulated supporting the hypothesis that it emerged from a laboratory. The latest information, released last month, makes a formidable case that the virus is the product of laboratory synthesis, not of nature.”
Comment: Excellent review of the evidence.
CDC eases isolation guidance for Covid and other respiratory illnesses “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention is “sunsetting” its advice that people sick with Covid-19 isolate themselves for five days. The agency published new guidance Friday for Covid and other respiratory illnesses, suggesting people who are sick should stay at home until they are fever-free for 24 hours and their symptoms have been improving for the same period of time.
The new guidance recommends that in the five days that follow, recovering people should take measures such as masking and keeping a physical distance from others to try to reduce the risk that they will spread their illness.”
About health insurance/insurers
With Medical Debt Burdening Millions, a Financial Regulator Steps In to Help “In the past two years, the CFPB has penalized medical debt collectors, issued stern warnings to health care providers and lenders that target patients, and published reams of reports on how the health care system is undermining the financial security of Americans.
In its most ambitious move to date, the agency is developing rules to bar medical debt from consumer credit reports, a sweeping change that could make it easier for Americans burdened by medical debt to rent a home, buy a car, even get a job. Those rules are expected to be unveiled later this year.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Cleveland Clinic back in the black “Cleveland Clinic posted an operating income of $64.3 million in 2023 after posting a $211.3 million loss in 2022, according to its financial report released Feb. 29.
The health system had a 0.4% operating margin for the year ended Dec. 31 after posting a -1.6% margin in 2022, according to the report.”
Tenet's hospital selling spree “Dallas-based Tenet Healthcare has started 2024 with a flurry of hospital sales. The for-profit system announced Feb. 1 it completed its $2.4 billion sale of three South Carolina hospitals to Winston-Salem, N.C.-based Novant Health. Also that day, Tenet announced it reached a definitive agreement to sell four Southern California hospitals and associated outpatient locations to Orange, Calif.-based UCI Health for $975 million. That deal is expected to close in the spring.”
About pharma
US judge rules against AstraZeneca in Medicare price talks challenge “AstraZeneca's attempt to stop Medicare from negotiating prices on its diabetes treatment Farxiga (dapagliflozin) was shut down in US federal court on Friday when a judge upheld a law mandating certain drugmakers to take part in price-capping negotiations with Medicare.”
CVS and Walgreens Will Begin Selling Abortion Pills This Month “The two largest pharmacy chains in the United States will start dispensing the abortion pill mifepristone this month, a step that could make access easier for some patients.
Officials at CVS and Walgreens said in interviews on Friday that they had received certification to dispense mifepristone under guidelines that the Food and Drug Administration issued last year. The chains plan to make the medication available in stores in a handful of states at first. They will not be providing the medication by mail.
Both chains said they would gradually expand to all other states where abortion was legal and where pharmacies were legally able to dispense abortion pills — about half of the states.”
AbbVie and OSE Immunotherapeutics Announce Partnership to Develop a Novel Monoclonal Antibody for the Treatment of Chronic Inflammation “AbbVie Inc. and OSE Immunotherapeutics SA, a clinical-stage immunotherapy company, today announced a strategic partnership to develop OSE-230, a monoclonal antibody designed to resolve chronic and severe inflammation, currently in the pre-clinical development stage.
OSE-230 is a first-in-class monoclonal antibody designed to activate ChemR23, a G-Protein Coupled Receptor (GPCR) target. Activation of ChemR23 may offer a novel mechanism for the resolution of chronic inflammation, modulating functions of both macrophages and neutrophils…
Under the terms of the agreement, AbbVie will receive an exclusive global license to develop, manufacture and commercialize OSE-230. OSE Immunotherapeutics will receive a $48 million upfront payment and will be eligible to receive up to an additional $665 million in clinical development, regulatory and commercial milestones. In addition, OSE Immunotherapeutics will be eligible to receive potential tiered royalties on global net sales of OSE-230.”
Sandoz settles for $265M in US generic drug price fixing fallout “Sandoz will pay $265 million to settle certain claims against the company alleging both product-specific and industry-wide conspiracies to fix generic drug prices in the US. The drugmaker said Thursday that the agreement, which contains no admission of wrongdoing, resolves all claims of the direct purchaser class plaintiffs against it and its Fougera Pharmaceuticals unit.”
Pfizer aims for 8 blockbuster cancer drugs by 2030 “‘Pfizer hopes to have at least eight blockbuster cancer drugs on the market by 2030 as it looks to build on the recent $43-billion acquisition of Seagen, which doubled the size of its oncology pipeline.’ Chris Boshoff, Pfizer’s chief oncology officer, noted that its cancer portfolio is expected to be ‘a critical driver of potential long-term sustainable sales and profit growth…through the end of the decade.’
Sales of the company’s current top-selling cancer drug Ibrance, as well as revenue from Astellas-partnered Xtandi, are set to come under pressure as both products start to lose market exclusivity in 2027. To counter this, the purchase of Seagen added a number of antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), including Adcetris and Padcev, which are predicted to add a combined $3.1 billion in revenue this year.
Along with ADCs, Pfizer said that it will focus oncology development on small molecules and bispecific antibodies, including other immuno-oncology biologics, across four main cancer types. These comprise: breast cancer; genitourinary cancer, including prostate and urothelial cancers; haematology-oncology, including multiple myeloma and lymphomas; and thoracic cancers, which includes lung, and head and neck cancers.”
Biden-Harris Administration Issues Final Guidance to Help People with Medicare Prescription Drug Coverage Manage Prescription Drug Costs “Continuing the ongoing implementation of President Biden’s prescription drug pricing law, the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) released the final part one guidance for the new Medicare Prescription Payment Plan…
The Medicare Prescription Payment Plan complements the Inflation Reduction Act’s other provisions that lower prescription drug and health care costs. The pieces of the law work together to lower drug costs and make them more manageable for people in Medicare.
As of January 1, 2024, people enrolled in Medicare Part D who have very high drug costs will, for the first time, no longer have to pay cost sharing for their prescription drugs in the catastrophic phase of the program.
Starting in 2025, all individuals with Medicare Part D will have their out-of-pocket prescription drug costs capped at $2,000.
On January 1, 2024, the law also expanded eligibility for full benefits under the Low-Income Subsidy program (LIS or “Extra Help”) under Medicare Part D. Nearly 300,000 people with low and modest incomes currently enrolled in LIS are now benefiting from the program’s expansion including lowering drug costs such as no deductible, no premiums, and fixed, lowered copayments for certain medications. An additional 3 million people could benefit from the Extra Help program now who are not currently enrolled.
The law also ensures people with Medicare Part D and people with Part B who receive insulin delivered through a pump pay no more than $35 for a month’s supply of each covered insulin product.
It also provides coverage without patient cost sharing of recommended vaccines for people who have Medicare Part D.”
About the public’s health
Alabama lawmakers pass legislation to protect IVF treatment “The Alabama legislature voted Thursday to protect providers and patients doing in vitro fertilization from criminal or civil liability if embryos they create are subsequently damaged or destroyed.
The fast action by both the House and Senate on bills to shield IVF came less than two weeks after the state’s Supreme Court ruled that frozen embryos are people and that individuals could be liable for destroying them.”
Deaths from Excessive Alcohol Use — United States, 2016–2021 “Average annual number of deaths from excessive alcohol use, including partially and fully alcohol-attributable conditions, increased approximately 29% from 137,927 during 2016–2017 to 178,307 during 2020–2021, and age-standardized death rates increased from approximately 38 to 48 per 100,000 population. During this time, deaths from excessive drinking among males increased approximately 27%, from 94,362 per year to 119,606, and among females increased approximately 35%, from 43,565 per year to 58,701.
What are the implications for public health practice? Evidence-based alcohol policies (e.g., reducing the number and concentration of places selling alcohol and increasing alcohol taxes) could help reverse increasing alcohol-attributable death rates.”
More than a billion people worldwide are obese, WHO study finds “More than a billion people globally are now considered obese, a condition linked to an increased risk of numerous serious health problems, according to updated estimates from the World Health Organization and an international group of researchers.
Obesity is so prevalent it has become more common than being underweight in most nations, including many low and-middle income countries that have previously struggled with undernourishment.”
IQVIA Study Highlights the Importance of Adult Vaccination in the US “The investigators found that rates for the flu vaccine in this [Medicaid] group are nearly 8%-10% lower than the general population, with that rate increasing to 30% when compared to individuals with Medicare coverage.”