- Retail scripts of vaccines, acute drugs decline sharply amid COVID-19 pandemic (fiercepharma.com)
Prescriptions for vaccines are suffering materially during the COVID-19 pandemic...It’s understandable that retail prescriptions of drugs have declined since COVID-19 hit the U.S., as patients refrain from visiting physicians. But still, some drugs are suffering terribly, while others appear to be holding steady...total prescriptions for drugs for acute use have plummeted by 28% since February...vaccines saw the most decline, probably because people stopped going to public spaces to address a disease they don’t even have...the autoimmune market, HIV and anticoagulants have so far experienced no impact...READ MORE
- A key ingredient that compound pharmacies need for hydroxychloroquine skyrockets in price (statnews.com)
As global demand intensifies for an old malaria drug that some believe can combat Covid-19, a distributor that supplies the key active pharmaceutical ingredient to compound pharmacies in the U.S. has raised prices by huge amounts over the past week...Spectrum Chemical boosted the wholesale price for a 100-gram container of hydroxychloroquine sulfate by about 350%, to approximately $1,160, while a 1,000-gram container jumped 230% to $5,932. And the price for a 5,000 gram container roughly tripled to almost $30,000...Spectrum explained the sudden clamor for the drug has made it more difficult to obtain the active ingredient, sometimes causing its own suppliers to ship partially filled orders or cancel them outright...READ MORE
- Mylan prepares hydroxychloroquine giveaways after production ramp-up (fiercepharma.com)
Mylan is one of a group of drugmakers that have joined the global effort to supply doses of generic hydroxychloroquine, an antimalarial touted as a possible COVID-19 therapy, to ongoing clinical trials. Now, after ramping up production, Mylan is ready to dole out its stockpile faster than expected...After announcing last month it would restart production of hydroxychloroquine to meet global demand, Mylan plans to donate millions of doses of the drug "ahead of schedule,"...Mylan will give away 10 million hydroxychloroquine tablets to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services to supplement investigational trials for COVID-19 and bolster the FDA's emergency use program...READ MORE
- FDA’s Hahn: No sign China has affected U.S. drug supply during coronavirus pandemic (fiercepharma.com)
With pharmaceutical supply chains under immense pressure due to the novel coronavirus, China's role as a global ingredient producer has come under scrutiny. Despite fears the East Asian nation could shut off the tap for U.S. drugs, the FDA said it hasn't yet noticed major signs for concern...The FDA hasn't seen a shortage of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) sourced from China due to the ongoing novel coronavirus outbreak but is "closely monitoring the situation," FDA Commissioner Stephen Hahn told Fox News...Hahn highlighted reported spot shortages of certain drugs due to increased demand but said China's API tap is still running, despite escalating rhetoric between the Chinese and U.S. governments. Hahn highlighted the Trump administration's push to develop "advanced" manufacturing stateside to help drive greater redundancy in the supply chain...READ MORE
- The top 10 drugs by sales increase in 2020 (fiercepharma.com)
Some drugmakers work for years to take one of their meds from launch to blockbuster status––a journey defined by competition, the market, branding and a dash of luck. But even for pharma's biggest whales, growth-minded executives have a question: What have you done for me lately?...we here at FiercePharma have compiled a list of top 10 drugs by estimated sales increase in 2020––a group comprising some of the most successful launches in recent years, with a few surprises thrown in as well...READ MORE
1. Keytruda
2. Biktarvy
3. Revlimid
4. Eliquis
5. Ozempic
6. Dupixent
7. Tagrisso
8. Imbruvica
9. Ocrevus
10. Stelara - This Week in Managed Care: April 10, 2020 (ajmc.com)
This week, the top managed care news includes a report on how CDC lacks data to tell the full story on disparities in the COVID-19 pandemic, Medicare Advantage gets a pay bump amid COVID-19 rule changes, and the nation’s top infectious disease expert speaks with the editor-in-chief of JAMA.
- Data shows Southern Nevada hospitals using higher percentage of beds, ventilators than rural, northern counterparts (thenevadaindependent.com)
Hospitals in Nevada are still not near their maximum capacity as the number of confirmed cases of the novel coronavirus grow, though Southern Nevada hospitals appear to be experiencing the most strain so far, according to a Nevada Hospital Association report shared with government officials...The data...shows that Southern Nevada hospitals have a higher percentage of occupied beds, occupied ICU beds and ventilators in use than their counterparts in northern and rural Nevada. In Southern Nevada, 65 percent of hospital beds are occupied, 79 percent of ICU beds are occupied and 56 percent of ventilators are in use, compared to 57 percent occupied beds, 43 percent occupied ICU beds and 30 percent of ventilators in use in Washoe County...READ MORE
- Why supply chains are a critical force in a global pandemic (pharmamanufacturing.com)
As we’ve seen with COVID-19, the response speed of supply chains is critical in helping slow down and even prevent the total number of casualties in a global health emergency. The sooner solutions can be assembled — whether it is a hospital being built or getting PPE into the hands of medical teams — the sooner people can be treated and the less spread that occurs...A model simulation cited in Nature shows that, “…if China had implemented its control measures a week earlier, it could have prevented 67 percent of all cases in the country. Implementing the measures three weeks earlier...would have cut the number of infections to 5 percent of the total.” Similarly, Italian officials estimate that if they had acted 10 days sooner, they could have avoided tens of thousands of fatalities. Supply chains play an important role in implementing response measures and building out a local healthcare system’s capacity...READ MORE
- Which pharma companies are the most innovative? Roche, AstraZeneca top the list (fiercepharma.com)
The continued prosperity of a biopharma company is dependent on its ability to keep churning out breakthrough new drugs and turning them into commercial successes backed by a growing body of clinical evidence. Which shops are doing best on those terms?...IDEA Pharma has ranked AstraZeneca at the top of the pharma invention scale—awarding it "best pipeline" honors—and crowned Roche king in the land of innovation...READ MORE
- State working to fix Nevada’s coronavirus test supply shortage (reviewjournal.com)
Nevada’s northern and southern labs are out of coronavirus testing swabs, but officials expect to get more kits this week, including rapid-result test kits, Gov. Steve Sisolak said Monday...At a coronavirus briefing, Sisolak said the state has received 4,000 test swabs from the federal government and 3,000 reagent liquid kits that are used to test the samples...Sisolak said that while federal officials provided test components, “we did not get complete kits.”...State health workers continue to struggle to find enough kits to fill growing patient demands, and some clinics have shut down temporarily in Las Vegas as they wait for new supplies...READ MORE