- Alnylam sues Pfizer and Moderna claiming infringement on its delivery technology for COVID shots (fiercepharma.com)
Less than three weeks after two companies sued Moderna, claiming the vaccine maker infringed on their patents in developing its COVID-19 shot, Alnylam has done the same, suing Moderna and Pfizer in separate lawsuits...In...federal court, Alnylam filed claims against the two COVID-19 vaccine producers alleging that more than a decade ago it invented the delivery technology employed by both shots...Alnylam says its Patent No. 11,246,933 covers “a breakthrough class of cationic biodegradable lipids used to form lipid nanoparticles that carry and safely deliver” mRNA-based vaccines...Alnylam is not attempting to halt production of the vaccines, it is seeking damages for the “defendants’ wrongful acts in an amount to be determined at trial” and royalties...READ MORE
- Indy Explains: How Nevada’s new prescription drug savings program works (thenevadaindependent.com)ArrayRx (arrayrxsolutions.com)
Nevadans will soon be able to save big on prescription drugs after the state joined a coalition that negotiates lower drug costs, according to the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services...Last month, Gov. Steve Sisolak announced that Nevada will join Oregon and Washington in the Northwest Prescription Drug Consortium, a partnership that allows residents to use drug discount cards to purchase prescription drugs at lower costs. The consortium rebranded to ArrayRx in 2021...It is expected that the drug discount card program could cut the cost of generic drugs by 80 percent and by up to 20 percent on name-brand drugs...READ MORE
- Supermarkets Again Dash Past CVS and Walgreens in 2022’s Part D Pharmacy Networks (drugchannels.net)
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services has recently released its 2022 data on enrollment in Medicare Part D prescription drug plans. Our exclusive analysis of these numbers finds that for 2022, an astounding 99% of seniors are enrolled in the wonderland of PDPs with preferred pharmacy networks...For the second year, the big supermarket chains—Albertsons, Kroger, and Publix—outpaced the big three drugstore chains and Walmart...
READ MORE - After raking in billions with its COVID shot, Moderna faces patent infringement suit related to vaccine delivery tech (fiercepharma.com)
Last last year, Moderna lost a legal bid to invalidate two Arbutus Biopharma patents tied to the delivery of its COVID-19 vaccine. At the time, it wasn’t so much a question of whether Arbutus would sue the messenger RNA vaccine giant for infringement, but when. Now...Arbutus and Roivant’s Genevant Sciences on Monday filed a lawsuit against Moderna in the U.S. District Court for the District of Delaware. In their suit, the companies seek damages for infringement on six patents they claim Moderna infringed with the production and sale of its COVID-19 vaccine...The patents relate to nucleic acid-lipid particles and lipid vesicles, plus compositions and methods for their use...READ MORE
- Prisoners overcharged for supplies behind bars, NDOC audit reveals (reviewjournal.com)State of Nevada Governor's Finance Office Division of Internal Audits (budget.nv.gov)
A new internal state audit raps the Department of Corrections for overcharging prisoners on supplies and medical co-pays, high overtime costs in the director’s office during the pandemic, and lax oversight on how it assigns state-owned vehicles to staff...Citing an outstanding $10 million debt owed by released prisoners for charges such as court fees and medical costs, the auditors recommended setting “a reasonable medical co-pay” for inmates. The department now charges $8, more than twice the national average of $3.47, auditors found. In its audit response, the department said it would propose dropping the copay to $2...READ MORE
- House panel presses DOJ, Treasury to review drugmakers’ opioid settlement tax breaks (thehill.com)
The House Oversight and Reform Committee...on Monday pressed the departments of Justice and the Treasury to look into the tax deductions of four U.S. drug companies that agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement last month to end opioid-related lawsuits...In a letter to Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen and U.S. Attorney General Merrick Garland, the panel said it had found four companies that agreed to the $26 billion settlement — Cardinal Health, McKesson Corporation, AmerisourceBergen, and Johnson & Johnson — are possibly trying to "put taxpayers on the hook for billions of dollars in settlement costs."..."We request that you determine whether these tax maneuvers comply with the law, and we urge you to do everything in your power to ensure transparency and accountability for the companies and executives that fueled our country’s deadly opioid crisis," wrote the committee...Read More</strong>
- Nevada emphasizes therapeutics as new COVID-19 cases plummet (apnews.com)
As Nevada’s COVID-19 case rates plummet to their lowest levels since last summer, state health officials are turning more attention to therapeutic treatments for those who can’t get vaccinated or are most at risk of severe illness or death...It’s the latest step in the evolution of a nearly two-year effort to combat the virus after the omicron variant pushed caseloads to new highs in January, said Julia Peek, deputy administrator for Nevada’s Division of Public and Behavioral Health. It comes as governments across the country lift restrictions and move away from emergency measures...READ MORE
- Ex-biotech executives sentenced for Genentech trade theft (apnews.com)
Two co-founders of a Taiwan biotechnology company were sentenced Tuesday for plotting to steal trade secrets from Genentech in a $101 million scheme...Racho Jordanov, former CEO of JHL Biotech Inc., and former chief operating officer Rose Lin were sentenced in San Francisco federal court to a year and a day each in federal prison...They pleaded guilty last year to conspiracy to commit trade secret theft and wire fraud...JHL Biotech, now known as Eden Biologics, Inc., is a biopharmaceutical startup based in Taiwan. According to plea agreements, between 2011 and 2019, Jordanov used confidential Genentech information from ex-Genentech workers he hired to speed up and reduce costs for producing generic versions of products made by the South San Francisco-based company...READ MORE
- Sacklers to pay $6 billion to settle Purdue opioid lawsuits (reuters.com)
The Sackler family owners of Purdue Pharma LP reached a deal with a group of attorneys general to pay up to $6 billion in cash to resolve widespread litigation alleging that they fueled the U.S. opioid epidemic, bringing the OxyContin maker closer to exiting bankruptcy...The attorneys general for eight states and the District of Columbia, who had blocked a previous settlement that included a $4.3 billion cash payment, announced the deal after weeks of mediation with the Sacklers...The family agreed to pay at least $5.5 billion in cash, which will be used for abating a crisis that has led to nearly 500,000 U.S. opioid overdose deaths over two decades...READ MORE
- Healthcare’s pandemic-era wage growth lagged other U.S. industries, study finds (fiercehealthcare.com)
Those working in the healthcare sector saw smaller average wage increases during the first 15 months of the pandemic compared to workers across other industries, according to a recent analysis of U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics data...Average wages in healthcare rose 5% from 2019 to 2020 while all industries’ average wages rose 6.7% during the same time...The difference was broader when looking at the first six months of 2021, when healthcare and all industries’ average wage increases were 1.5% and 6.9%, respectively...READ MORE