Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Feds Press Pause On $765M Kodak Loan To Make Drug Ingredients
CNN: Kodak's $765 Million Loan On Hold After Insider Trading Allegations
Kodak stock plunged 30% Monday after a $765 million loan from the US government to help make drug ingredients was put on hold, as regulators are reportedly looking into allegations of insider trading. The stock was temporarily halted after plunging as much as 43% earlier in the day. (Valinsky, 8/10)
Stat: Critics Push For Overhaul On Transparency Into Indian Drug Approvals
As Indian regulators endorse controversial treatments for Covid-19, a group of high-profile physicians and activists is urging the government to bolster transparency surrounding all drug approvals, the release of clinical trial data, and licenses issued for pharmaceutical manufacturing. Critics have long complained that Indian government oversight of its pharmaceutical industry is lax, but the issue has intensified in recent weeks over approvals for certain medicines to combat the new coronavirus. (Silverman, 8/10)
Stat: Medical School Association Backed A Dark-Money, Anti-Pharma Group
The dark-money group Citizens for Truth in Drug Pricing, which has run several major anti-pharma campaigns on conservative radio shows, received significant funding from the Association of American Medical Colleges, according to a recent review of federal tax documents. AAMC, the nonprofit organization that administers the MCAT exam and lobbies on behalf of medical schools and teaching hospitals, gave the group $500,000 in 2018, according to a disclosure form. (Facher, 8/11)
WBUR: Opioid Scandal Haunts Drug Companies As They Respond To Pandemic
As drug firms race to position themselves as key players in the coronavirus fight, the industry faces a renewed wave of civil lawsuits stemming from its role in the nation's deadly opioid epidemic. Thousands of cases that ground to a halt because of the COVID-19 pandemic are moving forward again as local, state and federal courts reopen around the United States. (Mann, 8/10)
Also —
The New York Times: Stephen Hahn, F.D.A. Chief, Is Caught Between Scientists And The President
As the coronavirus surged across the Sunbelt, President Trump told a crowd gathered at the White House on July 4 that 99 percent of virus cases are “totally harmless.” The next morning on CNN, the host Dana Bash asked Dr. Stephen Hahn, the commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration and one of the nation’s most powerful health officials: “Is the president wrong?” (Kaplan, 8/10)
Stat: Seres Announces Positive Late-Stage Results For Its Microbe-Based Drug
Four years after a devastating clinical trial failure, Seres Therapeutics seems to have found success. The company announced positive results Monday for its late-stage clinical trial of a microbe-based treatment for C. difficile. About 11% of patients who got Seres’ drug, a pill made with bacteria, still had a C. difficile recurrence; about 41% of people who did not get the drug saw their infection recur. (Sheridan, 8/10)
