Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Drug Cost Bill Faces Unpredictable Ride; Long Covid Drug Shows Promise
Politico: Dems Ready To Gamble Their Domestic Agenda On Sinema
Senate Democrats will probably start a climactic series of votes on their party-line energy, tax and health care bill this week with very little public indication of where Sen. Kyrsten Sinema stands. They’re willing to risk it. While all of Washington waits on the Arizona Democrat, her previous treatment of high-profile issues shows she’s unlikely to make any statement about how she sees the deal written by Sen. Joe Manchin (D-W.Va.) and Majority Leader Chuck Schumer — at least until it’s on the floor. If the past is prologue, she’ll also be a wild card on amendments that Republicans may offer in a bid to alter the bill on the Senate floor during votes later this week. (Everett, 8/2)
Axios: Democrats' Backdoor Crackdown On Pharma "Gaming"
Democrats' drug pricing plan could end drugmakers' practice of taking out overlapping patents around one drug — a strategy which fends off competitors but that the industry argues incentivizes innovation after a drug is approved. (Owens, 8/3)
And in developments from the pharmaceutical industry —
Reuters: Axcella Long COVID Treatment Helps Some Patients In Small Trial
One of the first trials aimed at tackling long COVID helped some patients recover from lingering physical and mental fatigue, although the drug developed by Axcella Health Inc (AXLA.O) failed on the small study's main goal of restoring the normal function of mitochondria - the energy factories of cells. (Steenhuysen, 8/2)
CIDRAP: Sotrovimab Linked To Treatment-Resistant SARS-CoV-2 Omicron Mutations
More than half of high-risk SARS-CoV-2 Omicron inpatients or outpatients given the monoclonal antibody sotrovimab rapidly developed viral spike-protein mutations linked to treatment resistance, according to a study from the Netherlands published yesterday in JAMA. (8/2)
CIDRAP: Less Methadone, More Buprenorphine Distributed Amid COVID In US
A study published yesterday in JAMA Network Open details US utilization of the two most effective medications used to treat opioid use disorder (OUD) in the first year of the COVID-19 pandemic, finding that quantities of methadone dwindled as buprenorphine doses expanded. (Van Beusekom, 7/27)
Stat: AbbVie's 'Patent Thickets' For Humira Don't Thwart Competition, Court Rules
In a significant victory for AbbVie, a U.S. appeals court panel declined to revive a lawsuit that accused the company of using a so-called patent thicket to forestall competition for its Humira medication, a franchise product that generates billions of dollars in sales each year. (Silverman, 8/2)
Bloomberg: Teva Is Facing Adderall Supply Disruptions As Demand For ADHD Drug Soars
Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd., the biggest seller of Adderall in the US, has been experiencing “supply disruptions” of the popular ADHD drug at a time when demand is at all-time highs, a spokesperson for the company said. (Swetlitz, 8/2)
