Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Federal Judge Rules Cheaper Drugs Can Be Imported From Canada
Stat: Pharma Loses Battle In Bid To Block Drug Importation From Canada
In a setback to the pharmaceutical industry, a federal judge has tossed a lawsuit that sought to prevent state governments from importing medicines from Canada. The decision is likely to embolden more states to now consider the approach as they look to lower the cost of prescription drugs. (Silverman, 2/7)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Bloomberg: Curbing Pharma Pollution Is Key To Superbug Fight, Report Says
Cutting down on pollution in the pharma, agriculture and health-care sectors is key to help fight superbugs, according to a new report. Hospitals, drugmakers and animal farms release a mix of antimicrobials, metals and other chemicals in wastewater that foster the development of bacteria equipped to resist even the world’s most potent antibiotics, the United Nations Environment Program said Tuesday. (Pham, 2/7)
Reuters: CVS Health To Buy Oak Street Health For $9.5 Bln
CVS Health Corp said on Wednesday it would buy primary care provider Oak Street Health Inc for about $9.5 billion in cash as the pharmacy giant looks to foray into the urgent care business. (2/8)
KHN: The Pill Club Reaches $18.3 Million Medicaid Fraud Settlement With California
The Pill Club, an online women’s pharmacy, has reached an $18.3 million settlement with California authorities over claims it defrauded the state’s Medicaid program by prescribing birth control pills without adequate consultation and shipping tens of thousands of female condoms to customers who didn’t want them. Attorney General Rob Bonta announced the agreement Tuesday, a day after a state court unsealed a whistleblower complaint against The Pill Club, which markets convenient reproductive health services to women nationwide. The whistleblowers’ complaint alleges the Silicon Valley company also bilked private health insurers in at least 38 states, including California. (Thompson, 2/7)
The Boston Globe: FDA Sets A Decision Date For Sage’s Postpartum Depression Pill
An experimental drug that in a clinical trial helped some women quickly recover from postpartum depression could be approved by federal regulators by Aug. 6. The medicine, developed by Sage Therapeutics, is poised to become the first pill for the condition, which afflicts as many as 1 in 8 new mothers. (Cross, 2/6)
Stat: Families Seek To Override Patents On Vertex Cystic Fibrosis Drugs
In a bid to expand access to pricey cystic fibrosis treatments, a coalition of families and activists are petitioning four governments — South Africa, India, Brazil, and Ukraine — to make it possible to obtain generic versions of a medicine sold by Vertex Pharmaceuticals. And the coordinated effort underscores the growing global battle over equal access to medicines. (Silverman, 2/7)
Bloomberg: Nestlé’s $6,000 Peanut Allergy Pill Has Been A Dud
When Nestlé SA’s peanut allergy medicine first hit the market in 2020, Robert Wood, the director of pediatric allergy at Johns Hopkins Hospital in Baltimore, started preparing to offer it to the children he treats. But Covid-19 soon derailed in-person treatment, so over the next year and a half Wood and his colleagues told some 1,000 patients about the new drug instead, suggesting they consider it when the pandemic abated. (Afanasieva and Kresge, 2/8)
Stat: Complete Genomics Looks To Rival Illumina With New Sequencer
Complete Genomics, a U.S. firm affiliated with Chinese sequencing giant BGI, on Tuesday announced plans to launch a new line of sequencers it says can decode DNA in larger amounts — and at lower costs — than any instrument on the market. (Wosen, 2/7)
