Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
4-Minute Covid Test, With PCR-Like Accuracy, Developed In China
CBS News: Chinese Scientists Say They've Developed A New, Highly Accurate COVID Test That Gives Results In 4 Minutes
Chinese scientists say they have developed a new coronavirus test that is as accurate as a PCR lab test but gives results within four minutes. ... In a peer-reviewed article published Monday in the journal Nature Biomedical Engineering, the team said their sensor — which uses microelectronics to analyze genetic material from swabs — is quick and accurate at spotting SARS-COV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19. (2/8)
In updates on covid treatments —
AP: Oklahoma AG OKs Prescribing Ivermectin, Hydroxychloroquine
Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor said Tuesday his office has found no legal basis for medical boards to discipline doctors for prescribing ivermectin or hydroxychloroquine to treat COVID-19. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved ivermectin for use by people and animals for some parasitic worms, head lice and skin conditions. However, the FDA has not approved its use to treat or prevent COVID-19 in humans. Also, no scientific studies have found the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine effective in preventing or treating COVID-19. (2/9)
AP: Anti-Vax, Pro-Ivermectin Measures Advance In Kansas Senate
Fellow Republican conservatives rallied Tuesday behind a Kansas physician-legislator who’s under investigation by the state medical board, advancing his measures to protect doctors pursuing potentially dangerous treatments for COVID-19 and to weaken childhood vaccination requirements. (Hanna, 2/8)
Stateline: Lifesaving COVID Medications Can Be Hard To Come By
In a departure from usual practice, federal and state governments are handing out the scarce therapeutic drugs that treat COVID-19, deciding where they will go and in what amounts. Typically, pharmacies or health care facilities order what they need directly from drug manufacturers. But two possibly lifesaving monoclonal antibody treatments and two antiviral oral pills have been in short supply during the omicron-fueled surge, prompting a different approach. Early in the pandemic, states competed for the limited supply of ventilators, personal protective equipment and tests in a chaotic free-for-all. To avoid a repeat, the federal government is buying millions of doses of the COVID-19 therapeutic medications and allocating those to states, which in turn distribute them to pharmacies or hospitals. (Ollove, 2/8)
Axios: Pfizer's COVID-19 Vaccine Becomes Highest-Selling Drug Ever
Pfizer registered $36.8 billion of sales in 2021 from the COVID-19 vaccine it makes with BioNTech. This vaccine is now officially the top-selling pharmaceutical product ever in a single year, by a huge margin. Humira is the next highest, with $20.7 billion reported in 2021 as the next highest in a single year. Pfizer expects the vaccine will generate $32 billion of sales this year, and the company's antiviral COVID pill, called Paxlovid, will create $22 billion of revenue. (Herman, 2/8)
In other pharmaceutical industry news —
Stat: A Mother, Shaped By Loss, Embarks On Mission To Advance Custom Drugs
For weeks, Julia Vitarello avoided the room in her home. The fairy curtains she sewed. The sheets. The quiet. But one day, she placed her desk by the window. There, she began spending long hours on a single-minded mission: advancing custom medicines — and sparing others the pain her family has endured. Four years ago, Vitarello’s daughter, Mila, was given a drug created just for her, the first time a medicine was specifically tailored to one patient’s genetic disease. The drug, called milasen, halted her rapidly progressing condition and later improved her quality of life. But the disease, already in an advanced stage, eventually resumed its assault. Mila died Feb. 11, 2021, at 10 years old. (Whitlock, 2/9)
AP: Ex-Sales Rep At Firm Linked To Meningitis Outbreak Sentenced
The former national sales director for a now-defunct Massachusetts pharmaceutical facility responsible for a deadly fungal meningitis outbreak was sentenced Tuesday in federal court in Boston in connection with conspiring to defraud the Food and Drug Administration. Prosecutors said the New England Compounding Center fraudulently presented itself as a pharmacy dispensing drugs made to physician-created prescriptions, when it actually operated as a manufacturer distributing drugs in bulk. Compounding centers mix customized medications for patients at their required strengths and dosages. (2/9)
Stat: An FDA Regulator Is Unapologetic Over About-Face On Chinese Cancer Drugs
Richard Pazdur, one of the most powerful regulators at the Food and Drug Administration, flung open the door to Chinese cancer drugs a few years back. But now, Pazdur is closing that door — a reversal that has implications for Chinese drugmakers and their U.S. partners. Writing in Lancet Oncology late last week, Pazdur described imported cancer drug data from China as a “bridge over troubled waters” before raising a host of concerns about the prospect of using them as the basis for regulatory approval. The views he expressed were a marked contrast to earlier remarks in which he seemed to embrace the idea of the FDA giving the green light to cancer drugs developed in China. (Feuerstein, 2/8)
