Equitable Access To Covid Drugs Is Improving
Read about the biggest pharmaceutical developments and pricing stories from the past week in KHN's Prescription Drug Watch roundup.
CIDRAP:
Racial Disparities In COVID Drug Prescribing Persistent But Lessening
The drugs included the oral antiviral drugs nirmatrelvir/ritonavir (Paxlovid) and molnupiravir (Lagevrio), the intravenous antiviral remdesivir (Veklury), and the monoclonal antibody bebtelovimab. (Van Beusekom, 10/28)
San Diego Union-Tribune:
The COVID Boomerang. Study Finds Symptoms Recur More Often In Those Who Took Drug To Ease Illness
You’ve been free of COVID-19 symptoms for two days. Then the coughing, fatigue and headaches return. Join the growing number of people experiencing what’s being called COVID rebound. (Sisson, 10/31)
Also —
FiercePharma:
Scarcity Of Ingredients Will Amplify Drug Shortages, Expert Says
Last year, vials of the decades-old chemotherapy drug fludarabine could be purchased for a wholesale price of around $110. Not so much anymore. (Dunleavy, 11/1)
Reuters:
U.S. FDA Classifies Recall Of Teleflex's Respiratory Filters As Most Serious
U.S. health regulators on Tuesday classified the recall of Teleflex Inc's Iso-Gard filter S, a medical device to protect patients from potential airborne contaminants, as most serious, saying its use could lead to injuries or death. (11/1)
CBS News:
How An Experimental Treatment Beat A Little Girl's Cancer
Emily Whitehead has a secret weapon: "My T-cells, part of my immune system, were trained to fight and kill my cancer. "She was only six when she became the first child ever to receive genetically-modified T cells. The experimental treatment cured her leukemia, and the success of her case has allowed all kinds of cellular therapies to be developed. "Kind of made me feel like a superhero or something," she laughed. (10/30)
NBC News:
Novel Leukemia Therapy Aims To Treat Sick Kids Before Time Runs Out
A decade ago, CAR T cell therapy changed the world of cancer treatment, offering a personalized approach to patients with blood cancers like leukemia. But getting that specialized treatment to patients is costly and time consuming. It can take up to two months to harvest a patient's T cells and reprogram them into cancer-fighters — a nonstarter for many young patients with aggressive cancer. (Edwards, 10/30)
ScienceDaily:
Popular Pharmaceutical Target In Cells May Prove Even More Useful
Researchers have identified a new signaling process involving G protein-coupled receptors (GPCRs), a cellular target already exploited by hundreds of diverse drugs. The discovery opens the possibility of new therapies, including for multiple forms of cancer. (University of California - San Diego, 10/26)
ScienceDaily:
Neoadjuvant Immunotherapy With Relatlimab And Nivolumab Is Safe And Effective In Stage III Melanoma
Giving the combination of immune checkpoint inhibitors relatlimab and nivolumab to patients with stage III melanoma before surgery was safe and completely cleared all viable tumor in 57% of patients in a Phase II study, researchers report. (University of Texas M.D. Anderson Cancer Center, 10/26)
