Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Gilead Accuses CDC In Lawsuit Of 'Secretly' Obtaining Patents During Collaboration On HIV-Prevention Drug
Stat: Gilead Sues U.S., Claiming It 'Secretly' Obtained Patents On HIV Research That Led To Truvada
Gilead Sciences has accused the U.S. government of breaching several contracts and “secretly” obtaining patents stemming from research that led to the ground-breaking Truvada HIV-prevention pill. In a lawsuit filed late Friday, the drug maker claimed the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention violated the terms of a 15-year-old collaboration by failing to notify the company of patents that were later sought and awarded on the research. (Silverman, 4/26)
Stat: Sanofi MS Drug Reduced Brain Lesions In Preliminary Study
An experimental multiple sclerosis pill the drug giant Sanofi has touted as one of its big research hopes reduced the number of lesions in a 130-patient study. The drug, known as SAR442168, works by inhibiting a cellular signal called Bruton’s tyrosine kinase (BTK), which is also the target of the best-selling cancer drug Imbruvica. Unlike other BTK inhibitors, the Sanofi drug can get through the so-called blood-brain barrier into the brain, making it potentially useful in MS. (Herper, 4/23)
Stat: Custom Cell Therapy Shrinks Lung Tumors In Advanced Cancer Cases
Tumors shrank in one quarter of patients with advanced lung cancer who received a bespoke cell therapy made by doctors at H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Fla. In two patients, the researchers found, lung tumors disappeared completely. Though the study was small, the results are impressive because the patients had tumors in their lungs that were not responding to Opdivo, one of the checkpoint-inhibitor immunotherapies that are now standard of care. That makes these patients particularly difficult to treat effectively. (Feuerstein, 4/27)
