Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
7 Companies Awarded Nearly $250M To Develop Faster Testing Models
NPR: NIH Funds New Coronavirus Test Technologies To Make Testing Cheaper, Faster
Americans continue to wait in long lines to get tested for the coronavirus. Many then face frustration and anxiety waiting days — sometimes even weeks — to get their results. Could technology finally solve the testing woes that have hobbled the nation's ability to fight the pandemic? The National Institutes of Health hopes so. On Friday, the NIH announced the first seven winners of a competition to produce next-generation coronavirus tests to help battle the spread of COVID-19. Together, they will receive $248.7 million to further develop their tests and hopefully make them available by the fall. (Stein, 7/31)
Stat: Ginkgo, Mammoth Among Winners Of NIH’s ‘Shark Tank’ For Covid-19 Tests
The National Institutes of Health selected Ginkgo Bioworks, Mammoth Biosciences, Quidel, and four other companies to receive nearly $250 million to develop new Covid-19 diagnostic tests through its Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics program, the agency announced Friday. Three of the tests are intended to be processed at pharmacies or doctor’s offices; four are tests meant to be run in clinical labs. The money is coming from a $1.5 billion pot allocated to the NIH in April through the same law that created the Paycheck Protection Program. (Sheridan, 7/31)
Also —
The Telegraph: Antibody Tests Do Not Pick Up People Who Had Mild Coronavirus, Oxford Study Suggests
Antibody tests may be missing large numbers of people who contracted Covid-19 because they don't work for people who had a mild infection, new research from Oxford University suggests. A study of more than 9,000 healthcare workers suggested significant numbers of people were getting 'negative' test results, despite probably having had the virus. The work has major implications for government health policy, and scientists said it might also mean reviewing where the threshold between negative and positive results lies. (Rigby, 8/1)
Stat: A Tiny Texas Company Is Running Most U.S. Drive-Thru Covid-19 Testing
On March 13, President Trump stood next to the CEOs of LabCorp, Quest Diagnostics, Walgreens, and Walmart in the Rose Garden, declared a national emergency, and promised the government would work with pharmacies and retailers to create drive-thru testing sites to help get the coronavirus pandemic under control. Four months later, more than 700 federally backed drive-thru sites are collecting thousands of tests per day. The government has spent nearly $230 million to pay for the tests run at those sites, which it calls Community-Based Testing Sites. But it’s not LabCorp or Quest running the majority of those sites — instead, it’s a tiny Texas company whose CEO was not in the Rose Garden that day. (Sheridan, 8/3)
AP: Latino Leaders Urge Better Promotion Of Free Virus Tests
When some 45,000 coronavirus test kits went unused during a 12-day testing blitz in Phoenix’s hardest-hit Latino neighborhoods, it was clear Arizona health officials failed to adequately spread the word to a community that’s often distrustful of government. On the last day of testing in a state that’s a national COVID-19 hot spot, just four vehicles lined up on a sweltering morning while a half-dozen uniformed members of the Arizona National Guard milled outside large white tents at a huge desert park in Phoenix. (Snow, 8/1)
Boston Globe: Massachusetts Disease-Tracking System Is Deficient, Experts Say
One worrisome cluster of COVID-19 cases was traced to an employee at Baystate Medical Center in Springfield who traveled outside Massachusetts to a hot spot area and to hospital staff who were lax wearing masks in a break room. Another was discovered among lifeguards in Falmouth. These recent clusters have fueled concerns among public health specialists about the ability of the state government to quickly spot and contain outbreaks of the virus before they get out of control. (Lazar, 8/2)
