CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth Forced To Sell Pharmacies If Drafted Bill Passes
The bill, drafted by a bipartisan coalition of lawmakers, would force prescription drug middlemen to sell off all pharmacies they own. Other news stories cover once-a-year HIV prevention shots, gene therapy to reverse heart failure, and more.
Bloomberg:
Lawmakers Plan Bill Forcing CVS, Cigna, UnitedHealth To Sell Pharmacies
A bipartisan coalition of US lawmakers has drafted legislation that would force prescription drug middlemen to divest pharmacies they own. Some of the largest US health-care companies own pharmacy benefit management units that negotiate drug prices for employers and other customers. If enacted, the policy would compel CVS Health Corp., Cigna Group and UnitedHealth Group Inc. to shed drug-dispensing operations that have become profit centers for the vertically integrated conglomerates. (Tozzi, 12/11)
In other pharma and tech news —
Stat:
Gilead To Test Once-A-Year HIV Prevention Shot
Gilead said Tuesday that it will soon begin Phase 3 testing for a drug it believes could prevent HIV infection with just a single shot every year. Such a medicine, if proven effective, would be the closest thing to a vaccine the HIV field has produced in four decades of research. The company plans to begin the trial next year, with an eye toward regulatory filings in late 2027. (Mast, 12/11)
Modern Healthcare:
Labcorp Completes Acquisition Of Ballad Health Lab Assets
Labcorp has completed its acquisition of select non-hospital lab assets from Ballad Health, the independent laboratory company said Wednesday. A purchase price was not immediately available. Johnson City, Tennessee-based Ballad Health will retain operations of its inpatient and emergency department laboratory services, as well as lab services for hospital-based practices, according to a news release. (DeSilva, 12/11)
ProPublica:
FDA Hasn’t Inspected This Drug Factory After 7 Recalls, 1 Potentially Deadly
The drug potassium chloride has been on the market for decades, widely prescribed to help the nerves and muscles — including the heart — function properly in patients with low potassium. Too much of it, however, can kill you. At high doses, it is so effective at stopping the heart that some states have used injections of it for executions. So the danger was obvious in May, when Indian drugmaker Glenmark Pharmaceuticals recalled nearly 47 million capsules for a dire flaw: The extended-release medication wasn’t dissolving properly, a defect that could lead to a perilous spike in potassium. (Callahan, Cenziper and Rose, 12/12)
Fox News:
Gene Therapy Reverses Heart Failure In Large Animal Model
Heart failure has historically been irreversible, but the outcome of a new study suggests that could someday change. At the University of Utah, scientists used a new gene therapy that was shown to reverse the effects of heart failure in a large animal study. In the study, pigs with heart failure were found to have low levels of cardiac bridging integrator 1 (cBIN1), a critical heart protein. (Rudy, 12/11)
