Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Future Of AstraZeneca Not In Vaccines, CEO Says
Reuters: Exclusive: AstraZeneca May Not Stay In Vaccines, But CEO Has No COVID Regrets
AstraZeneca ay not stay in the vaccine business in the long run, its CEO told Reuters on Tuesday, showing how quickly fortunes have changed for the drugmaker that produced one of the first COVID-19 shots but has since lost out to rivals. Production delays, probes by regulators following rare cases of severe side effects, and concerns about its relatively short shelf life compared with other shots have stymied adoption of the company's COVID-19 vaccine. (Donnellan and Grover, 8/23)
Reuters: AstraZeneca's Soriot Warns New U.S. Drug Price Law Will Hurt Innovation
AstraZeneca's Chief Executive Pascal Soriot warned on Tuesday new U.S. legislation capping drug prices would reduce the ability of companies to recoup their investment on developing new drugs and hurt innovation. In a Reuters Newsmaker interview, he said the British drugmaker's top-selling cancer therapy Tagrisso as well as its potential blockbuster Enhertu would likely be negatively affected by the new law in the coming years. (Donnellan and Grover, 8/23)
In other pharmaceutical industry news —
Axios: Task Force Reaffirms Guidance For Statin Use
The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force reaffirmed guidance that doctors prescribe statins to prevent cardiovascular events like heart attacks and stroke. (Dreher, 8/23)
CIDRAP: Countries Face Shortages Of Drugs, Some For Life-Threatening Conditions
The United States is far from alone in experiencing shortages of essential drugs. In fact, countries around the world have seen a spate of recent medicine shortages to treat conditions such as HIV and diabetes, which clinicians say could threaten patient health. (Van Beusekom, 8/18)
Stat: Major Indian Generic Drugmaker Closes A U.S. Facility After Years Of Manufacturing Problems
After a decade of manufacturing problems, a U.S. federal court ordered a unit of Wockhardt, one of the largest makers of generic drugs, to refrain from making allegedly adulterated medicines at a facility in Illinois. However, the U.S. subsidiary, Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals, recently decided to discontinue operations at the site, according to court documents. (Silverman, 8/22)
CIDRAP: UNICEF To Buy Malaria Vaccine; Valneva Starts Chikungunya Vax Approval
In developments regarding vaccine against mosquito-borne diseases, UNICEF this week announced a contract with GSK worth up to $170 million to produce malaria vaccine, and Valneva announced that it has started the rolling submission process for its candidate vaccine that targets chikungunya. (8/19)
Bloomberg: Are Synthetic Hallucinogens Illegal? DEA Delay On Psychedelics Creates Limbo
The US Drug Enforcement Agency had planned a public hearing for Monday on its bid to categorize five hallucinogenic compounds as Schedule 1 drugs — an imprimatur reserved for substances with a high potential for abuse and no recognized medical use, such as LSD and heroin. Instead, it withdrew its bid to do so late last month, sending the substances back to the Department of Health and Human Services for review. (Kary, 8/22)
CIDRAP: WHO Releases First Ebola Therapy Guidance
The World Health Organization (WHO) today issued its first guideline for Ebola therapeutics, which has a strong recommendation for using two monoclonal antibodies, mAb114 (Ebanga) and REGN-EB3 (Inmazeb). In a statement, the WHO said clinical trials on the two drugs were conducted during outbreaks in the Democratic Republic of the Congo. It said the medication guidance complements earlier clinical advice on supportive care, which consists of fluid replacement and symptom treatment, and is known to significantly improve survival. (8/19)
The Boston Globe: Boston-Based Prescription Video Game Company To Raise $163m In Nasdaq Debut
Akili Interactive, a Boston startup that made the first prescription video game treatment authorized by the Food and Drug Administration, is going public after merging with a special purpose acquisition company, or SPAC, raising less money than initially anticipated. (Cross, 8/19)
Also —
FiercePharma: Pharma Ad Spending Up Just 1% This Year
The pharma industry spent just 1% more on all product ads for the first half of this year compared to the same period in 2021, while prescription drug ad spending actually fell. That’s according to new figures out by the Standard Media Index, which found that for the first six months of 2022, the pharma industry spent $5.5 billion on all ads for its products, most of which was on its drug products. (Adams, 8/22)
FiercePharma: See How The FDA's Revamped Hiring Efforts Are Going
Amid pandemic-fueled delays to the FDA’s manufacturing inspection work, staffing issues have emerged as another sticking point for the regulator. While the agency seems to have made good progress on hiring in the past 12 months—even picking up a few lessons courtesy of COVID-19—there’s still much work to be done, especially when it comes to agents overseas. (Kansteiner, 8/22)
