Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'Cash Cow': Details On Sackler Profits, Role In Opioid Marketing Released
Stat: Purdue Documents Detail Sackler Family Role In Opioid Marketing
Members of the Sackler family, which controlled Purdue Pharma, used sales of the controversial OxyContin painkiller to “stretch” financial targets and pressured company executives to grow its market share for opioids by targeting high-volume prescribers and pushing higher-strength doses, according to documents released by a Congressional committee. (Silverman, 10/27)
In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —
Stat: Advocates Urge Vertex To Widen Global Access To Cystic Fibrosis Drugs
Families and advocacy groups from dozens of countries around the world are urging Vertex Pharmaceuticals (VRTX) to take several steps to widen global access to its cystic fibrosis medicines and avoid “fatal inequality.” In an open letter, they suggested providing the drugs at affordable prices, offering the medicines on a so-called compassionate use basis where the drugs are not yet available, or issuing licenses to generic makers in countries where the company does not plan to supply the treatments any time soon. (Silverman, 10/27)
Modern Healthcare: Da Vinci Robotics Maker Launches $100M VC Fund
Intuitive, the parent company of robotics manufacturer Intuitive Surgical, on Tuesday launched a $100 million venture-capital fund to invest in startups working on minimally invasive surgery. Sunnyvale, Calif.-based Intuitive Surgical is best known for its da Vinci system, a surgical system often credited with popularizing robotic surgery in the early 2000s. (Cohen, 10/27)
Stat: Exact Sciences Acquires Liquid Biopsy Company Thrive For $2.15 Billion
Exact Sciences announced Tuesday it had acquired Thrive Earlier Detection, a liquid biopsy company that launched last year with technology from Johns Hopkins University, for $2.15 billion. The acquisition is yet another boon for the liquid biopsy industry, which has matured in the last five years from “the long-sought holy grail of oncology” to a concept with concrete data behind it. (Sheridan, 10/27)
Stat: Recruitment And Retention: Silent Crises In Clinical Trials
The pharmaceutical industry is racing in unprecedented ways to develop therapies to treat Covid-19 and vaccines to prevent it. But outside of Covid-19, pharma has been slow to adopt technology that can speed new therapies of all types. (Thoelke, 10/28)
