Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
By 2030, Moderna Aims To Offer Vaccines For Cancer And Heart Disease
CNBC: Moderna Hopes To Offer New Vaccines For Cancer, Heart Disease By 2030
Moderna hopes to offer a new set of life-saving vaccines targeting cancer, heart disease and other conditions by 2030, a spokesperson for the company told CNBC on Monday. The spokesperson confirmed remarks Moderna’s chief medical officer, Dr. Paul Burton, made to the Guardian on Saturday. Burton said he’s confident those jabs will be ready by the end of the decade, adding that Moderna could possibly offer them in as little as five years. (Constantino, 4/10)
In updates on the Theranos case —
Bloomberg: Elizabeth Holmes Loses Bid To Remain Free During Appeal
Elizabeth Holmes must report to prison as scheduled later this month, a judge ruled, rejecting her request to remain free on bail as she appeals her fraud conviction. The decision Monday by US District Judge Edward Davila in San Jose, California, is likely his last in the case which he’s handled since Holmes was indicted in 2018. Davila presided over the Theranos Inc. founder’s four-month trial in 2021 and sentenced her in November to serve 11 1/4 years of incarceration for deceiving investors in her blood-testing startup. (Rosenblatt, 4/11)
In other pharmaceutical industry news —
NBC News: Shortage On 4 Cancer Drugs Creates Dire Scenarios For Patients
Robert Landfair, 76, was diagnosed with Stage 4 prostate cancer in 2018. After several unsuccessful rounds of chemotherapy, his doctor, Alan Tan of Rush University Medical Center in Chicago, recommended that he switch to Pluvicto, a new medication for advanced prostate cancer. But the drug’s manufacturer, Novartis, has had supply problems. Landfair is now on a waitlist for the medication, which isn’t expected to be widely available for several more months. (Lovelace Jr. and Kopf, 4/11)
AP: Vaping Company Juul Settles West Virginia Lawsuit For $7.9M
Vaping company Juul Labs will pay West Virginia $7.9 million to settle a lawsuit alleging the company marketed products to underage users, Attorney General Patrick Morrisey announced Monday. The lawsuit accuses Juul of engaging in unfair or deceptive practices in the design, manufacturing, marketing and sale of e-cigarettes in violation of the state’s Consumer Credit and Protection Act. (Raby, 4/10)
The Washington Post: Black Man Awaiting Kidney Transplant Alleges Racial Bias
An African American man is seeking millions of dollars in damages and a better position on the kidney transplant waiting list in a lawsuit that claims an algorithm used in determining priority for organs is biased against Black people. Anthony Randall last week sued an affiliate of the Cedars-Sinai hospital in Los Angeles, where he is listed as a transplant patient, and the United Network for Organ Sharing, the nonprofit organization that operates the U.S. transplant system. (Bernstein, 4/10)
