Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Amazon Is Trying To Shoulder Its Way Into The Pharmacy Business–But That Might Not Be As Easy As It Expects
Stat: As Amazon Moves Into The Pharmacy Business, Licensing Efforts Gain Scrutiny
As Amazon attempts to muscle its way into the health care market, one requirement for this octopus of a company is to obtain various licenses in states around the U.S. in order to market devices and medicines. But over the past year, a series of gaffes underscore the scrutiny Amazon faces as it looks to disrupt a crucial market that company executives have targeted as a key growth area. The most recent instance involves PillPack, which mails prescriptions to people who take multiple medicines and which Amazon recently acquired for $1 billion. Earlier this year, PillPack sought a pharmacy license in New Mexico, but an initial attempt was denied on Nov. 2 due to incomplete information, according to an official with the New Mexico Board of Pharmacy. (Silverman, 11/30)
Stat: BIO CEO Greenwood Talks Drug Pricing Politics After The Midterms
BIO CEO Jim Greenwood won’t admit last month’s midterm elections spell trouble for the drug industry. Despite Democrats taking control of the House of Representatives, floating splashy legislation and openly threatening to investigate drug companies, Greenwood says that come January, he’s going to march into Democrat’s offices and unapologetically sing the praises of the drug industry. (Florko, 12/3)
Stat: Unbowed By Critics, Gilead's Cancer Chief Pushes Ahead With Growth Plans
Gilead Sciences has spent years and billions of dollars to build out its oncology business, most notably by acquiring the cancer cell therapy developer Kite Pharma for $12 billion in 2017. But all that investment, which now includes the approved CAR-T treatment called Yescarta, has yet to deliver commercially. Yescarta sales are growing each quarter (now totaling $175 million year to date), but the product barely makes a dent in Gilead’s overall income statement. By acquiring Kite, Gilead became a leader in cell therapy but it has no presence in the larger and more lucrative immuno-oncology market where Merck, Roche, and Bristol-Myers Squibb dominate. (Feuerstein, 12/2)
Stat: Benefit Of Blood Disease Drug From Acceleron And Celgene Debated By Experts
The benefit for patients treated by an experimental blood disease drug from Acceleron Pharma and licensed to Celgene was further clarified and debated by experts Saturday at a press conference during the American Society of Hematology annual meeting. The Acceleron drug, called luspatercept, is widely expected to secure approval late next year based on results from two separate Phase 3 clinical trials demonstrating statistically significant reductions in the need for blood transfusions. The patients enrolled in these two studies were diagnosed with myelodysplastic syndrome, a cancer-like disease of the bone marrow, and beta-thalassemia, a rare inherited disorder that reduces the production of oxygen-carrying hemoglobin. (Feuerstein, 12/1)
Stat: Gene Therapy 'Switch' For Sickle Cell Disease Shows Encouraging Results In Pilot
The results of this gene therapy clinical trial, being reported Saturday for the first time at the American Society of Hematology annual meeting, are preliminary but encouraging. For the past six months, Johnson hasn’t required blood transfusions. He’s symptom-free. And when doctors peer into his blood, they see no evidence of the damaged, crescent-shaped red blood cells that give sickle cell disease its name. (Feuerstein, 12/1)
