Author: Peter

China will provide COVID-19 vaccines free of charge once they become available to general public, government authorities said...an official with China’s National Health Commission, told reporters that while manufacturing and transport of vaccines does have costs, the government will still be able to provide vaccines for free to individuals...“Our people don’t have to pay a single cent for the vaccine,”...READ MORE

Pharma companies have inked a series of federal settlements over payments to charity organizations, which the federal government argues are a “conduit” to boosting drug sales. Now, after an opioid investigation, two Senators want all those charity payments disclosed publicly...And they have just the mechanism for it. Sens. Chuck Grassley and Ron Wyden have called for an expansion of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Open Payments database. That database now includes payments from pharma companies to doctors and other medical providers, but the senators propose adding payments to tax-exempt groups, too...READ MORE

With COVID-19 vaccine launches gaining steam—and an unprecedented level of media coverage zeroed in—pharma companies of all stripes should brace not only for a wave of adverse event reports, experts say, but for lawsuits that could follow...With tens of millions of Americans set to be vaccinated, including many people at high risk of severe COVID-19, it's not just vaccine makers who need to actively look out for potential adverse events or drug interactions, lawyers with Sidley Austin said...All pharma companies—not just those involved in COVID-19 vaccine deliveries—can expect “a significant increase in volume of reports over the coming months,” Torrey Cope, a partner in the firm's Food, Drug and Medical Device Regulatory practice, said in an interview...READ MORE

Pharma's routine January price hikes are here once again—and not even a global pandemic seems to be slowing the number of increases...Amid ongoing scrutiny from politicians and the public, though, the level of many of the price hikes seems muted compared with previous years...drug companies large and small had raised prices on nearly 600 medicines by an average of 4.2%, GoodRx reports...READ MORE

AbbVie raised the list prices of many of its drugs on Jan. 1, while Biogen hiked the price tag of its old multiple sclerosis treatment Tysabri, part of broad, sector-wide increases typically taken at the start of a new year. The hikes could feature in calls for drug pricing legislation as a new Congress and new administration begin work...About 70 drugmakers raised prices to open 2021, averaging around 3.3%, lower than the average boost of 5.8% at the beginning of 2020...The effect on prices seen by consumers is likely to be more limited, however, since insurers negotiate discounts off list prices...READ MORE

Nevada launched an updated COVID-19 data dashboard...providing the public with more local data about the impact of the coronavirus...The dashboard contains county-level data about testing, cases, hospitalizations and deaths. For the first time, the data on the page can be downloaded...The Nevada Department of Health and Human Services compiles and updates the data daily. It can be accessed at nvhealthresponse.nv.gov...READ MORE

The FDA warns against changing the dosing levels and schedules of COVID-19 vaccines by Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech...Amid concerns over limited COVID-19 vaccine supplies, some have proposed tweaking the shots’ dosing to immunize more people. One suggestion came from none other than U.S. vaccine czar Moncef Slaoui, Ph.D...Any changes to currently authorized vaccine dosing regimens pose a “significant risk of placing public health at risk” and undermine “the historic vaccination efforts to protect the population from COVID-19,” FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn, M.D., and Peter Marks, M.D., Ph.D., head of the agency’s biologics department, said in a statement...READ MORE

In order to deliver COVID-19 vaccine to more people more quickly, the Trump administration intends to expedite rollout of its immunization partnership with pharmacies. The logic behind the concept is that getting vaccinated at a local pharmacy will be more accessible and efficient for many Americans than going to a hospital...READ MORE

A new temporary clinic in Southern Nevada began administering COVID-19 antibody treatment on Friday, bringing new hope to lessen the severity of the virus and reduce the strain on local hospitals...Sunrise Hospital and Medical Center opened a Monoclonal Antibody Clinic with the support of the National Disaster Medical System and the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services. The clinic is expected to operate for four to six weeks but can be extended to match the community’s need...This is the third antibody infusion clinic in the country, with others opened in El Centro, California and Tucson, Arizona within the past two weeks...READ MORE

Several drug companies last year rolled out new rules on 340B-discounted medicines delivered through contract pharmacies, but the HHS Office of the General Counsel last week issued an advisory opinion stating the discounts must be offered regardless of where patients actually collect their meds...The opinion follows a months-long dispute between drug companies and 340B groups over the new restrictions. Drug companies have argued the 340B program has grown beyond its original intent and that contract pharmacies don't always pass discounts to patients. Some companies have started collecting de-identified claims data to ensure the program is working as intended, and others have prohibited discounts through contract pharmacies...READ MORE