- This Week in Managed Care: March 27, 2020 (ajmc.com)
Matthew Gavidia, welcome to This Week in Managed Care
- Biogen parts ways with employee who hid coronavirus symptoms and lied her way back to China (fiercepharma.com)
A Biogen employee who allegedly concealed her coronavirus symptoms on a flight back to China may face criminal charges. But first, the biotech has decided it wants nothing to do with the rogue staffer...“She is no longer an employee of Biogen,” a company spokesperson told FiercePharma...According to Biogen, the former employee, a woman surnamed Li, ignored health experts’ guidance and “made the personal decision to travel to China without informing the company.”...Li told local authorities she attended the ill-fated Biogen management meeting at the Marriott Long Wharf hotel in Boston on Feb. 26 and Feb. 27, which as of Thursday has been linked to 97 COVID-19 cases in Massachusetts and multiple cases in other states. But the people at Biogen said Li did not attend the meeting because it wasn't an event for her...READ MORE
- Two generic drugs being tested in U.S. in race to find coronavirus treatments (reuters.com)
U.S. researchers, following the lead of scientists in other countries, have launched studies to see whether widely-available, low-cost generic drugs can be used to help treat the illness caused by the new coronavirus...But a 1,500-person trial, led by the University of Minnesota, began this week to see whether malaria treatment hydroxychloroquine can prevent or reduce the severity of COVID-19. Two other trials are studying the blood pressure drug losartan as a possible treatment for the disease...READ MORE
- This Week in Managed Care: March 13, 2020 (ajmc.com)
Christina Mattina, welcome to This Week in Managed Care from the Managed Markets News Network
- AMA, APhA, ASHP Issue Joint Statement on Use of Medications to Treat COVID-19 (drugtopics.com)Joint Statement of the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacistson Inappropriate Ordering, Prescribing or Dispensing of Medications to Treat COVID-19 (ashp.org)
In a joint statement, the American Medical Association, American Pharmacists Association, and American Society of Health-System Pharmacists have communicated concerns regarding the inappropriate ordering, prescribing, or dispensing of treatments for COVID-19...The AMA, APhA, and ASHP collectively applaud the selflessness of health care professionals during the COVID-19 crisis, and alternatively caution against providers “prophylactically prescribing medications currently identified as potential treatments for COVID-19 for themselves, their families, or their colleagues,” noting that “some pharmacies and hospitals have been purchasing excessive amounts of these medications in anticipation of potentially using them for COVID-19 prevention and treatment.”...“In a time of national pandemic, now is not the time for states to issue conflicting guidance, however well-intentioned, that could lead to unintended consequences,”...READ MORE
- Novartis, Mylan and Teva to supply tens of millions of chloroquine tablets to fight COVID-19 (fiercepharma.com)
As efforts to discover new COVID-19 medicines roll on, President Donald Trump and others this week focused attention on the decades-old malaria drug chloroquine. Bayer got things rolling with an initial donation of the drug, and now Novartis, Mylan and Teva are taking steps to deliver tens of millions of tablets...Chloroquine and hydroxychloroquine, a more tolerable formulation, are not approved to treat COVID-19. Still, U.S. authorities and others are exploring their potential following encouraging preliminary results...In response, Novartis has pledged a global donation of up to 130 million hydroxychloroquine tablets, pending regulatory approvals for COVID-19. Mylan is ramping up production at its West Virginia Facility with enough supplies to make 50 million tablets. Teva is donating 16 million tablets to hospitals around the U.S...READ MORE
- How are pharma supply chains reacting to COVID-19? Without info, it’s hard to tell: analyst (fiercepharma.com)
The novel coronavirus is putting pharma's complicated global supply chain under strain, no question. What's up in the air is just how supplies could be affected––and unfortunately, analysts just can't be sure...Why? Lack of transparency, for one thing. A dearth of information is making it hard on pharma watchers who'd like to diagnose the growing impact COVID-19 has had on individual companies' struggles...READ MORE
- AbbVie, Allergan megamerger set for May close (pharmatimes.com)
AbbVie has released an update on its pending acquisition of Allergan, announcing that the companies have entered into a consent decree agreement with staff of the US Federal Trade Commission regarding the deal...AbbVie claimed that the primary aim of the merger is to achieve a "diversified product portfolio [that] meets our strategic goal to reduce reliance on Humira", as Humira – AbbVie’s blockbuster and also the world’s best-selling drug – gradually loses its patenting around the world, starting in Europe last year...READ MORE
- Drug Shortage Concerns Are Top of Mind Amid COVID-19 Outbreak (pharmacytimes.com)
As the novel coronavirus crisis continues, one key issue for pharmacists, other health care professionals, and patients is the potential for drug shortages in the United States...There is growing concern because although reserves exist, China experienced a drop-off in drug production during the height of its COVID-19 outbreak, though that is leveling off. And India, another big supplier, has also said that it will keep some of the medications it makes on reserve...“We are now starting to see spot shortages for a few different products, in part due to disease progression around the world, especially across Europe, which is a large producer of drugs,”... the FDA has announced a drug shortage caused by the COVID-19 outbreak but has not identified the drug or the country where it is made, in an effort to prevent hoarding and panic...READ MORE
- How much does U.S. rely on China for drugs? FDA simply doesn’t know (fiercepharma.com)
As the spread of COVID-19 threatens to disrupt pharma supply chains and create drug shortages, the Trump administration is reportedly looking for ways to reduce U.S. dependence on APIs and drugs from China. So, how dependent is the U.S. on China for its drugs? The fact is, the FDA doesn’t know...“The FDA doesn’t know whether Chinese facilities are actually producing APIs, how much they are producing, or where the APIs they are producing are being distributed worldwide, including in the United States,...Similarly, we do not have information that would enable us to assess the resilience of the U.S. manufacturing base, should it be tested by China’s withdrawal from supplying the U.S. market.”...READ MORE