Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
J&J, Merck Break Out The Big Bucks In Separate Billon-Dollar Deals
Reuters: J&J Acquires Experimental Skin Disorder Drug For $1.25 Billion
Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday agreed to acquire the rights to an experimental skin disorder treatment from privately held Numab Therapeutics for about $1.25 billion, its second deal for an eczema-focused company this month. J&J will acquire a unit of Numab, backed by the parent of Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk to gain rights to the experimental treatment for eczema, also known as atopic dermatitis. (5/28)
The Wall Street Journal: Merck Nears $1.3 Billion Deal For Eye-Drug Company EyeBio
Merck is close to a $1.3 billion deal to buy Eyebiotech, a move that would push the big drugmaker into the large and growing market for eye-care. Under the terms, Merck would pay the $1.3 billion in cash upfront to acquire the closely held biotech, according to people familiar with the matter. Merck could make an additional $1.7 billion in milestone payments for the company, which goes by the name EyeBio. (Hopkins and Cooper, 5/28)
In other pharmaceutical news —
Stat: Insmed Lung Disease Drug Hits Target In Key Phase 3 Trial
An experimental drug from Insmed Incorporated successfully reduced lung problems among patients with an airway disease in a closely watched Phase 3 trial, sending the company’s share price soaring early Tuesday. (Joseph, 5/28)
Stat: New Obesity Drugs Seem To Be Everywhere. Black America Feels Left Out
Jonathan Gustave was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes last August after decades of struggling with his weight. To help lower his blood sugar levels, his doctor prescribed Ozempic, the diabetes drug that has become wildly popular for its weight loss effects. (Durham, 5/29)
KFF Health News: Psychoactive Drugs Are Having A Moment. The FDA Will Soon Weigh In.
Lori Tipton is among the growing number of people who say that MDMA, also known as ecstasy, saved their lives. Raised in New Orleans by a mother with untreated bipolar disorder who later killed herself and two others, Tipton said she endured layers of trauma that eventually forced her to seek treatment for crippling anxiety and hypervigilance. For 10 years nothing helped, and she began to wonder if she was “unfixable.” (Megli, 5/29)
CNBC: Why Walmart, Walgreens, CVS Health Clinic Experiment Is Struggling
Bobbi Radford showed up at the CVS MinuteClinic in Batavia, Ohio, last Thanksgiving because she had pain in her arm. “I waited an hour and then was told to go to the [emergency room].,” Radford said. Filling the staffer in on her history of congestive heart failure, she was directed to go to the ER. But Radford says after she did that, it was determined at the ER that she had a case of tennis elbow. (Williams, 5/28)
KFF Health News: Listen To The Latest 'KFF Health News Minute'
This week on the KFF Health News Minute: A 1930s law is keeping cutting-edge sunscreen off the shelf in the United States, and survivors of gun violence often have to decide what to do with the bullets still in their bodies. (5/28)
In tech news —
Reuters: Musk's Neuralink Seeks To Enroll Three Patients In Brain Implant Study
Neuralink, Elon Musk's brain-chip company, aims to enroll three patients to evaluate its device in a study expected to take several years to complete, according to details on the U.S. government's clinical trials database. The company had sought to enroll 10 patients when it applied to U.S. regulators to begin clinical trials, Reuters reported last year. Neuralink is testing its implant designed to give paralyzed patients the ability to use digital devices by thinking alone, a prospect that could help people with spinal cord injuries. (Levy and Taylor, 5/28)
NBC News: Bilingual AI Brain Implant Helps Stroke Survivor Communicate In Spanish And English
Scientists at the University of California, San Francisco have developed a bilingual brain implant that uses artificial intelligence to help a stroke survivor communicate in Spanish and English for the first time. Nearly a dozen scientists from the university’s Center for Neural Engineering and Prostheses have worked for several years to design a decoding system that could turn the man's brain activity into sentences in both languages and display them on a screen. (Acevedo, 5/28)
