Author: Peter

Tobacco and e-cigarette companies have been accused of using the COVID-19 crisis to advertise e-cigarettes on social media and “undermine minimum age purchase restrictions” that protect minors...The not-for-profit activist group Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids analysed the marketing tactics of big tobacco, e-cigarette and vaping companies in 28 countries, including the UK...It found that on social media, the two largest tobacco companies – Philip Morris International and British American Tobacco – had appropriated ‘Stay at home’ hashtags used by governments and health authorities to market heated cigarette products, such as Glo and iQOS, and e-cigarettes, including Vype...READ MORE

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has issued a 60-page document that provides detailed suggestions for different phases of reopening workplaces, schools and restaurants, after an earlier draft was rejected by the White House for being too prescriptive...The document, which expands on several tools the agency released last week to guide specific types of organizations, was posted on the CDC website over the weekend without fanfare. The guidelines are similar to ones included in the draft, though they pertain to fewer types of businesses and are less restrictive...READ MORE

When retired Navy Chief Petty Officer Richard Gray and his wife, Sheila, were able to go to the Nellis Air Force Base pharmacy, they picked up their prescriptions with full coverage and no copayment...But now their only option is off base, and the 16 medications they take between them cost upward of $2,000 a month out of pocket at Walgreens...Under the base’s public health emergency called on April 3 and renewed May 4 in response to the coronavirus outbreak, only uniformed members and their dependents and essential civilian contract employees are allowed on base, including the pharmacy...The Nellis pharmacy was placed off limits for retirees on April 10, leaving thousands of local military widows and retirees, many of them living on fixed incomes, locked out of the no-cost medication to which they are entitled. Now they are subject to copays that can quickly add up to hundreds of dollars...READ MORE

U.S. President Donald Trump’s administration awarded a contract worth up to $812 million for a new U.S. company to manufacture drugs and drug ingredients to fight COVID-19 on American soil, aiming to end dependence on other countries...The administration has been looking to build up the ability to produce drugs and their raw materials in the United States after the global pandemic exposed the industry’s dependence on China and India for its supply chain...The U.S Department of Health and Human Services said it had awarded a four-year, $354 million contract to privately-held Phlow Corp to make COVID-19 drugs, other essential drugs and their ingredients. The contract - which is for generic drugs, not more complicated products like vaccines - can be extended to a total of $812 million over 10 years...READ MORE

The World Health Organization’s head said on Tuesday he would keep leading the global fight against the coronavirus pandemic, after U.S. President Donald Trump threatened to cut off funding and quit the body...WHO Director-General Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus defended the agency’s role after the United States again withheld full support for a resolution on the pandemic...Washington allowed the resolution calling for a review into the global response to the pandemic to pass by consensus, but said it objected to language about reproductive health rights and permission for poor countries to waive patent rules...WHO officials running the meeting clapped and cheered after the resolution was passed without a vote hours after Trump tweeted his threat to pull the United States out of the body...It calls for a review into the WHO-led global response, something the United States has demanded...READ MORE

Gilead Sciences’ initial donation of remdesivir will be exhausted by early summer. The biotech will start charging for the drug in COVID-19 after that, and it might not be just a year or two of revenue flow...The company will pivot to a commercial plan after the donated supply of 1.5 million doses runs out around June or early July...The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review recently found remdesivir would be cost-effective at $28,670...But the U.S. drug cost watchdog argued that $50,000/QALY should be applied to remdesivir during a public health emergency. After that calculation, ICER pegged a reasonable price at $4,460...READ MORE

The chief scientist brought on to lead the Trump administration’s vaccine efforts has spent the last several days trying to disentangle pieces of his stock portfolio and his intricate ties to big pharmaceutical interests, as critics point to the potential for significant conflicts of interest...Moncef Slaoui, is a venture capitalist and a former longtime executive at GlaxoSmithKline. Most recently, he sat on the board of Moderna...He resigned when President Trump named him last Thursday to the new post as chief adviser for Operation Warp Speed, the federal drive for coronavirus vaccines and treatments...In agreeing to accept the position, Dr. Slaoui did not come on board as a government employee. Instead, he is on a contract, receiving $1 for his service. That leaves him exempt from federal disclosure rules that would require him to list his outside positions, stock holdings and other potential conflicts. And the contract position is not subject to the same conflict-of-interest laws and regulations that executive branch employees must follow...READ MORE

The COVID-19 pandemic is reshaping the global supply chain, and the Trump administration has a message for established generics drugmakers: Bring your manufacturing on shore, or we will find new companies that do...two recent contracts the U.S. government signed to bring drug manufacturing to American soil. But will companies follow?...The HHS’ Biomedical Advanced Research and Development Authority just inked a $354 million four-year deal with a company called Phlow to make generic medicine and active pharmaceutical ingredients in Virginia. The Department of Defense awarded a $138 million grant to ApiJect to expand U.S. production capability for prefilled syringes, following a $450 million deal the company won from the HHS...Both deals fall in the injectables category and involve significant investments to upgrade facilities and purchase future products. They both tap relatively new companies, which appear to be using innovative manufacturing technologies...Where does that leave traditional generic players such as Teva, Novartis’ Sandoz and Mylan? They may choose to join in...READ MORE

Johnson & Johnson says it's pulling its talc-based powders from the U.S. and Canadian markets. But the move comes as the drugmaker faces thousands of personal injury lawsuits over the product's safety—and as demand has fallen due to years of publicity about the legal fight...In response to the COVID-19 pandemic, J&J stopped shipping certain products—including its iconic baby powder—back in March to allow its factories to make high-demand medicines and to allow workers to spread out for social distancing reasons, the company said in a statement...Now, it's permanently discontinuing about 100 products, including its talc-based powders...READ MORE

WuXi Biologics has angled for years to expand its manufacturing base out of China and into promising hubs in Europe and the U.S. Now, nearly two years after its plans were first announced, WuXi has secured a deal to build a new facility in Massachusetts in the biotech hotbed of the greater Boston area...WuXi clinched a deal with the Worcester Business Development Corporation to build its first U.S. biologics facility at a 46-acre master-planned manufacturing hub dubbed The Reactory..."We stand ready and able to help our global partners advance their innovative and life-saving ideas," Chen said. "Together, I am confident that we have much to contribute to the biologics industry and patients worldwide."...READ MORE