Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Gout Drugs As A Way To Help Heart Attack Survivors? Scientists Start Thinking Outside The Box
The Associated Press: New, Old Drugs May Offer Fresh Ways To Fight Heart Disease
Novel drugs may offer fresh ways to reduce heart risks beyond the usual medicines to lower cholesterol and blood pressure. One new study found that heart attack survivors benefited from a medicine long used to treat gout. Several experimental drugs also showed early promise for interfering with heart-harmful genes without modifying the genes themselves — in one case, with treatment just twice a year. (Marchione, 11/18)
Stat: Alkermes Buys Rodin Therapeutics, Giving It Possible Avenue For Growth
Alkermes announced Monday it would acquire Rodin Therapeutics, a Boston-based biotech developing drugs intended to change brain cells’ synapses, for up to $950 million. The deal is worth $100 million upfront, but could be worth up to $850 million more based on milestone payments. The deal gives Alkermes another potential path to growth following a handful of disappointments in its research pipeline and the 2018 refusal of the Food and Drug Administration to even consider one of its drug candidates, for treatment-resistant depression. (Sheridan, 11/18)
Stat: A Drug Maker Courted Controversy When It Shut Out A Family-Run Rival. Now Some Patients Say The Medicine Isn’t Working
Last February, Barbara Moore switched to a new medicine to combat a rare neuromuscular disease that had plagued her for nearly a quarter of a century. She had not planned to do so, but Moore had no choice: An effective treatment she had been taking all those years was forced off the market. In late 2018, Catalyst Pharmaceuticals (CPRX) was granted exclusive marketing rights to sell its new drug, called Firdapse, after the Food and Drug Administration approved the medicine. The move precludes any competition for seven years. (Silverman, 11/15)
