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That didn't take long. About a month and a half after Merck & Co. scored a legal win in the insurance case tied to the 2017 "NotPetya" cyberattack, the case is in appeals—again...The case, Merck & Co., Inc. v. Ace American Insurance Company, is heading to the New Jersey Supreme Court...This development follows a lower court's ruling in May rejecting the insurers' argument that the “hostile/warlike action” exclusion clause should apply in this case. In making that ruling, the New Jersey appellate court said the exclusion shouldn’t be applied to a cyberattack on a non-military company—even if it originated from a government or sovereign power...After the 2017 cyberattack, tens of thousands of computers in Merck's global network were infected, leading to a significant disruption in the pharma company's business...READ MORE

As pharma supply chain problems drag on, a shortage of key cancer drugs has afflicted a large number of treatment centers and many patients. Now, a leading treatment center group is putting more statistics behind the shortage...Late last month, the National Comprehensive Cancer Network Best Practices Committee conducted a survey (PDF) of 27 member centers across the U.S. The group found that nearly all treatment centers, or 93%, reported a carboplatin shortage. In addition, 70% of the centers reported a cisplatin shortage...READ MORE

California lawmakers have fast-tracked legislation to loan out $150 million to hospitals across the state struggling to stay open with promises to provide further support when finalizing the state’s budget next month...The bill, passed Thursday in California’s senate and assembly, AB-112, would establish a Distressed Hospital Loan Program through Jan. 1, 2032. The program would provide interest-free loans to nonprofit and public hospitals “in significant financial distress,” as well as to “governmental entities representing a closed hospital to prevent the closure or facilitate the reopening of a closed hospital.”...If passed by Gov. Gavin Newsom, who has signaled his support, the bill instructs the state Department of Health Care Services and the state Department of Public Health to develop a methodology for handing out the loans “that shall consider factors” such as whether the hospital is small, rural, a critical access hospital or treating a disproportionate share of Medicaid patients, among other factors. Facilities will be excluded from consideration if they’re part of a system with more than two hospitals, investor-owned hospitals and free-standing inpatient psychiatric hospitals...READ MORE

In my most recent video webinar, I explored how the rapid expansion of patient-paid prescriptions—via cash-pay pharmacies and discount card vendors—is transforming the prescription market...Below, I follow the dollar when a patient uses a discount card to pay for a generic drug prescription...As you’ll see, a discount card can save money for consumers by leveraging several quirks of U.S. retail pharmacy pricing. Such cards also enable novel profit streams for both pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) and the card vendors themselves...READ MORE

Is AstraZeneca planning to peel off its China business? By CEO Pascal Soriot’s response to that question, it may only a contingency plan...A Financial Times report last month suggested that AstraZeneca has drafted plans to spin its China operations—the largest of any foreign pharma by sales—into a separately listed company to protect the group against rising geopolitical tensions...quarterly earnings press call came on Friday, Soriot took a chance to clear the air...So on this specific rumor, we’d only say that we are satisfied with the way we are structured in China today...AstraZeneca...2023 revenue guidance for China. It now expects the unit’s revenue to increase by low-to-mid single-digit percentages...AstraZeneca has seen many years of commercial success in China. Lately, though, ruthless price cuts led to a major slowdown, culminating in a sales decline in 2022...READ MORE

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration is loosening restrictions to allow the Chinese company Qilu Pharmaceuticals to import cisplatin, a cancer medicine currently in short supply...The emergency move to import Qilu’s cisplatin, which is not FDA-approved, comes as U.S. hospitals ration chemotherapy drugs that can dramatically improve a patient’s prognosis. An FDA official told The China Project that the agency is exploring continued importation of cisplatin and temporary importation of another cancer drug, carboplatin, but, when asked, wouldn’t provide details on plans for further temporary importation from China. This is the first time the U.S. has allowed for temporary importation of cisplatin, the FDA official said...READ MORE

As a long-awaited advisory committee meeting on Perrigo’s over-the-counter birth control prospect Opill nears, the FDA says many big questions remain. Chief among them: Will people use the drug as intended in the real world?...Ahead of this week’s joint expert panel meeting, the FDA released briefing documents posing two main questions for its expert committees: First, just how likely are consumers to use Opill “in an effective and safe manner,” relying solely on the nonprescription prospect’s label and without help from a healthcare professional?...Second, will consumers who shouldn’t use the product avoid the temptation?...READ MORE

Retail pharmacy giant Walgreens inked another partnership to recruit participants for research as it continues to build out its clinical trials business...The company signed a deal with biotech startup Freenome to advance clinical trials of its blood-based tests for the early detection of cancer...It marks the sixth contract that Walgreens has publicly disclosed for its year-old clinical trials business unit. The pharmacy chain launched the unit back in June 2022 as the company's healthcare ambitions continue to grow...While Walgreens continues to grow the business, rival CVS Health announced in May it was winding down its clinical trials arm just two years after its launch. The company will fully exit clinical trials by the end of 2024...READ MORE

As GSK's July court date nears for a key Zantac trial in California, the company can wipe its hands of at least one Canadian class action suit...The company said in a Friday statement that it “welcomes the decision” of the British Columbia Supreme Court to dismiss a proposed class action suit on behalf of Canadian Zantac users...A Vancouver man filed the lawsuit in 2020, alleging that his use of the heartburn med from 2018 to 2019 caused him to develop cancer. His complaint named more than a dozen companies as defendants, including Sandoz Canada and GSK...But the court dismissed the case due to “the uncontroverted evidence that neither ranitidine nor NDMA are reliably associated with increased cancer risk,” GSK said in its statement...READ MORE

CVS reported first quarter financial results premarket Wednesday fresh off closing some of its biggest acquisitions since its $70 billion megamerger with insurer Aetna in 2018...The retail health giant tied up its $10.6 billion acquisition of value-based medical group Oak Street Health...and completed its $7.8 billion acquisition of home care provider Signify Health in March. The acquisitions are meant to advance CVS’ value-based strategy in primary care and home health...READ MORE