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Cannabis is illegal federally – classified as a Schedule I controlled substance – but even state law, despite cannabis being legal to use in Nevada, maintains cannabis as a Schedule I drug alongside methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine...The Nevada State Board of Pharmacy continues to list cannabis as a Schedule I substance, and that listing prompted a lawsuit this week by the ACLU of Nevada seeking to get cannabis removed from the list...“For cannabis to be classified as a Schedule I substance, the Board of Pharmacy must find that it has no accepted medical use in treatment or it cannot be safely distributed to the public,” ACLU representatives said. “However, the Nevada Constitution explicitly allows for the ‘use by a patient, upon the advice of his physician, of a plant of the genus Cannabis for the treatment or alleviation of cancer, glaucoma, acquired immunodeficiency syndrome… or other chronic or debilitating medical conditions.’”...The ACLU alleges the pharmacy board’s classification continues to waste taxpayer dollars by continuing criminal convictions against those using and possessing cannabis...READ MORE

Drugmakers...pledged to speed up the market launch of new drugs in underserved EU member states in a bid to avert stricter regulation by Brussels..European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations said in a statement...its members pledge to file for reimbursement by national health systems no later than two years after EU regulatory approval, "provided that local systems allow it"...The pledge would reduce the time patients wait for new medicines by four to five months in several countries...The lobby group warned that any new rules forcing drugmakers to bring new products to all EU countries within a certain deadline could backfire and discourage companies from bringing some products to public health systems in the region altogether...READ MORE

Attorney General Aaron Ford joined representatives from the state health department and several local governments...to announce that Nevada will soon receive its first installment of money from a pair of major opioid settlements and to highlight the urgency of using those dollars to address the opioid crisis...the state will receive $50 million from two settlements announced by the attorney general’s office earlier this year. The settlements include one with opioid manufacturer Johnson & Johnson that will bring Nevada $53.5 million and another with three of the nation’s largest drug distributors — AmerisourceBergen, Cardinal Health and McKesson — that will bring the state $231.7 million. Those funds add to the $45 million the state won last year through a settlement with consulting firm McKinsey & Company...READ MORE

The Nevada Supreme Court ruled...that the state’s public records law does not require the disclosure of drug pricing information that could violate a federal trade secrets law, affirming a lower court ruling...Weighing laws and regulations that allow businesses to keep competitive records confidential, the court’s order limits the public release of information on high insulin prices, including the cost of producing diabetes drugs, administrative expenses and profits reaped by drug companies...The dispute over drug transparency records stems from a 2017 law...The statute required diabetes drug manufacturers and other companies involved in pricing, known as pharmacy benefit managers, to disclose information about pricing for insulin...READ MORE

It was a good year to be a pharmaceutical company, especially one that came up with a product to combat COVID-19. Of the world’s top 20 pharmas ranked by 2021 revenues, 12 had at least 10% growth, including five that saw their sales boom at least 40%...No company pulled in more revenue from COVID products than Pfizer. Fueled by Comirnaty, Pfizer nearly doubled its top line.Johnson & Johnson needed a healthy 14% increase in revenue to stay comfortably in front of Pfizer and remain in the top spot, where it has resided since 2012. But that reign is in jeopardy this year, as Pfizer is projecting combined sales of $54 billion from Comirnaty and its oral COVID-19 treatment, Paxlovid...READ MORE

The specter of particulates has forced another recall—this time on Moderna’s massively successful COVID-19 vaccine Spikevax—and the latest pull isn’t contract manufacturer Rovi’s first brush with contamination, either...Moderna...said it was recalling one Spikevax lot in Europe...The batch contains 764,900 doses made by CDMO Rovi that were deployed across Norway, Poland, Portugal, Spain and Sweden between Jan. 13 and Jan. 14. Moderna yanked the shots because of a “foreign body” found in one vial of the batch made at Rovi’s site in Spain...READ MORE

With several efforts to resurrect American drug manufacturing already underway, congressional members on both sides of the aisle are setting their sights on one of the nation’s chief economic rivals...The Senate has signed off on innovation and competition legislation designed to boost American competitiveness, restore the country’s manufacturing base and curb its reliance on China for critical supplies—especially drugs and medical devices...The bill encourages the U.S., the EU and other European countries to work together on “joint strategies to diversify reliance on supply chains away from the People’s Republic of China,” and “especially” so in the medical and pharmaceutical fields...READ MORE

The econowonks at the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services recently released the latest projections for U.S. spending on healthcare. These data provide our first official look at post-pandemic U.S. healthcare spending...As you will see below, outpatient prescription drugs dispensed by retail and mail pharmacies are projected to remain a small share (8.4%) of total U.S. healthcare spending. What’s more, taxpayers—via Medicare and Medicaid—will continue to crowd out the private insurance market. One bright spot: consumers will account for an ever-smaller share of drug spending...READ MORE

Most of the defendants in Florida’s lawsuit over the opioid epidemic have settled for more than $870 million, according to the state attorney general. One remains: Walgreens Co. is not giving up...A jury has been seated in Pasco County, Florida, just north of Tampa, to hear the state’s case against Walgreens, a huge drug store chain with more than 9,000 outlets on streetcorners throughout the country. Opening statements are set for early next week...The Deerfield, Illinois-based company says it will not settle...“We are prepared for trial,” said Walgreens spokesman Fraser Engerman in an email...READ MORE

Florida has reached more than $878 million in settlements with CVS Health Corp and three drug companies to resolve claims and avert a trial next month over their roles in fueling an opioid epidemic in the third most populous U.S. state...CVS will pay $484 million, Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd will pay $194.8 million, Abbvie Inc's, Allergan unit will pay $134.2 million and Endo International Plc will pay $65 million, Florida's attorney general Ashley Moody said in a statement...Most of the money will be spent on opioid abatement. Teva will also provide $84 million of its generic Narcan nasal spray...READ MORE