- Court backs Trump expansion of cheap health insurance plans (apnews.com)
A divided federal appeals court...upheld the Trump administration’s expansion of cheaper short-term health insurance plans, derided by critics as “junk insurance,” as an alternative to the Affordable Care Act’s costlier comprehensive insurance...The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit said in a 2-1 decision that the administration had the legal authority to increase the duration of the health plans from three to 12 months, with the option of renewing them for 36 months. The plans do not have to cover people with preexisting conditions or provide basic benefits like prescription drugs...READ MORE
- Lab that tested U.S. execution drug will no longer accept lethal injection samples (reuters.com)1st federal execution in nearly 2 decades carried out (reviewjournal.com)
DYNALABS, in St. Louis, Missouri, announced the new policy after Reuters published an investigation...that named some of the companies involved in a secret supply chain to make and test a drug ahead of the first federal executions in 17 years...DYNALABS, told Reuters they did not know the samples of the drug, pentobarbital, belonged to the Justice Department, nor that it was intended for executions...“It will be our policy going forward to require a statement from our client indicating their preparation will not be used for execution,” Michael Pruett and Russell Odegard, DYNALABS’ co-founders, said in a statement published on Friday on their website. “Clients that decline to make that declaration will not be allowed to submit their pentobarbital preparations to DYNALABS for testing.”...READ MORE
- Mylan prices its generic remdesivir in India at $64 per 100 mg vial (reuters.com)
Mylan NV said...it would launch a generic version of Gilead Sciences Inc’s COVID-19 antiviral remdesivir in India at 4,800 rupees ($64.31), about 80% below the price tag on the drug for wealthy nations...California-based Gilead has signed licensing deals with several generic drugmakers in an effort to make remdesivir available in 127 developing countries...two Indian drugmakers, Cipla Ltd and privately-held Hetero Labs Ltd, also launched generic versions of the treatment. Cipla will price its version, Cipremi, at less than 5,000 rupees, while Hetero has priced Covifor at 5,400 rupees...Gilead...priced remdesivir at $2,340 per patient for rich nations and agreed to send nearly all of its supply of the drug to the United States over the next three months...READ MORE
- Where are U.S. drugs really made? A new Senate bill aims to find out (fiercepharma.com)
The vast majority of drugs that make it to American shelves are produced abroad, sometimes in countries that lawmakers worry don't have the nation's best interests at heart. But where are exactly are those drugs produced and how reliant is the U.S. on foreign imports? A new bipartisan Senate bill aims to find out.,,"The coronavirus pandemic has made it painfully clear that we must take decisive action to rebuild our nation's medical manufacturing sector," Rubio said. "This bipartisan bill would ensure policymakers have the necessary information to address our supply chain vulnerabilities, the consequences of foreign investment in U.S. pharmaceuticals, and reduce our over-reliance on China for pharmaceuticals."...The bill would require the FTC and Treasury to produce its report one year after it passes into law...READ MORE
- Dubai Health Authority deploys robots to disinfect facilities (healthcareitnews.com)
The Dubai Health Authority has introduced eight “smart” robots to sterilise its government-run hospitals and clinics...The robots – created by...UVD Robots – are part of the emirate’s drive to use smart technology, where possible, in the disinfection process in order for it to be “thorough, efficient and less time-consuming”...“[The] UVD Robot is used as part of the regular cleaning cycle, and aims at preventing and reducing the spread of infectious diseases, vira [SIC], bacteria, and other types of harmful organic microorganisms in the environment by breaking down their DNA-structure...READ MORE
- Third drug pricing report analyzes rising costs of diabetes, asthma medication (thenevadaindependent.com)
Nearly one in five diabetes drugs and one in 20 asthma drugs experienced a significant price increase in the past year or two, with average one-year increases about 11.2 percent and 19.3 percent, respectively, according to the third annual drug pricing report released by the Nevada Department of Health and Human Services last week...The state identified 117 essential diabetes drugs and 13 essential asthma medications that had a significant price increase over the previous one or two years, meaning that their costs increased by more than the rate of medical inflation. Manufacturers attributed the price increases to a number of factors, including changes in marketplace dynamics, research and development and manufacturing cost...the findings of the report continued to be consistent with the results of the first two diabetes drug pricing reports...Here are some of the key findings of the report:...READ MORE
- Tesla teams up with CureVac to make ‘RNA microfactories’ for COVID-19 shot, Elon Musk says (fiercepharma.com)
...CureVac has reportedly snared a big partner to help build its game-changing RNA "printers" that could turn global interest back in its favor...Tesla CEO Elon Musk tweeted Thursday that the electric carmaker had signed on with CureVac to make portable molecular RNA printers—what Musk called "RNA microfactories"—to help produce doses of the German vaccine maker's COVID-19 shot candidate...CureVac has previously touted its work on portable "printers" for its mRNA-based vaccines, which would allow the company to produce shots at scale in farflung locations without the standard logistical concerns...CureVac says its mRNA vaccine candidates direct cells to make proteins or antigens against various diseases. The platform encapsulates mRNA in a shell of lipid nanoparticles to protect it for delivery. The RNA printer itself—essentially a vaccine production device—can make “more than a hundred thousand doses” in a couple of weeks, the biotech says. It could work in a hospital pharmacy to help produce personalized medicines, for instance, as well as in outbreak regions...READ MORE
- Biohaven hits social media jackpot with superceleb Khloe Kardashian as spokesperson for migraine med Nurtec ODT (fiercepharma.com)
Khloe Kardashian’s pain—or rather, her relief from pain—may be Biohaven’s gain...The social media and reality TV super star, who has more than 100 million followers, suffers from debilitating migraines dating back to the sixth grade. A few months ago, though, she tried Nurtec ODT (dissolvable CGRP inhibitor ) and found pain relief she hadn’t had before...Kardashian is now the paid spokesperson in Biohaven’s just-launched “Take Back Today” campaign...READ MORE
- South Korea seeks remdesivir to treat over 5,000 COVID patients: lawmaker (reuters.com)
South Korea has asked Gilead Sciences Inc’s to supply enough of its anti-viral drug remdesivir to treat more than 5,000 COVID-19 patients in preparation for a potential second wave of infections...remdesivir is in high demand, but there are concerns about its availability after Gilead allocated nearly all of its supply to the United States over the next three months..In a letter sent to Gilead on June 3, South Korea had requested doses for 360 patients who are in urgent need of the drug, and for enough to have ready for an additional 5,000 patients in the event of a second wave of infections...READ MORE
- Health experts slam US deal for large supply of virus drug (apnews.com)
Public health experts...criticized the U.S. for securing a large supply of the only drug licensed so far to treat COVID-19...The U.S. government announced this week that it had an agreement with Gilead Sciences to make the bulk of their production of remdesivir for the next three months available to Americans. The Department of Health and Human Services said it had secured 500,000 treatments through September...Ohid Yaqub, a senior lecturer at the University of Sussex, called the U.S. agreement “disappointing news.”...“It so clearly signals an unwillingness to cooperate with other countries and the chilling effect this has on international agreements about intellectual property rights,” Yaqub said...READ MORE