Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Many Children With Flu Not Being Prescribed Antivirals; Drop In Covid Vaccine Sales Is Costing Jobs
ScienceDaily: Antiviral Treatment Is Largely Underused In Children With Influenza, Study Findings Show
Despite national medical guidelines supporting the use of antiviral medications in young children diagnosed with influenza, a new study reports an underuse of the treatment. (Vanderbilt University Medical Center, 11/13)
Reuters: Pfizer To Cut 500 Jobs At UK Site As Part Of Wider Cost Cuts
Pfizer will cut 500 jobs at its Sandwich, Kent site in the U.K. as part of its $3.5 billion cost-cutting plan, the drugmaker said on Tuesday. The U.S. drugmaker announced the cost-cutting program in October after slashing its full-year revenue forecast due to lower-than-expected sales of its COVID-19 vaccine and treatment. (11/14)
Reuters: Acuitas Sues CureVac For Credit On COVID-19 Vaccine Patents
Biotech company Acuitas Therapeutics has filed a lawsuit in Virginia federal court against Germany-based CureVac, accusing it of failing to credit Acuitas scientists on patents related to COVID-19 vaccines. Acuitas told the court on Monday that CureVac omitted its scientists from patent applications for lipid nanoparticle technology used in messenger RNA-based vaccines after they collaborated to develop the technology during the COVID-19 pandemic. (Brittain, 11/14)
CIDRAP: Indian Drugmaker To Supply Key Component Of Drug-Resistant TB Regimens
The TB Alliance announced yesterday that Indian pharmaceutical company Macleods will start manufacturing an essential component of the shorter, all-oral drug regimen for drug-resistant tuberculosis (DR-TB). Under a licensing agreement with the non-profit TB Alliance, Macleods will be able to supply 135 low- and middle-income countries (LMICs) with pretomanid, which is part of the 6-month BPaL (bedaquiline, pretomanid, and linezolid) regimen used with or without moxifloxacin (BPaLM). Macleods will supply the drug to those countries through the Stop TB Partnership's Global Drug Facility. Pretomanid was developed by TB Alliance and approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 2019. (Dall, 11/14)
Stat: Weight Loss Drug Wegovy Cuts Risk Of Heart Attacks In Milestone Trial
Novo Nordisk’s obesity drug Wegovy notably cut the risk of heart attacks in a landmark cardiovascular trial that affirms the treatment offers health benefits beyond weight loss. (Chen, 11/11)
New England Journal of Medicine: Semaglutide And Cardiovascular Outcomes In Obesity Without Diabetes
Semaglutide, a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist, has been shown to reduce the risk of adverse cardiovascular events in patients with diabetes. Whether semaglutide can reduce cardiovascular risk associated with overweight and obesity in the absence of diabetes is unknown. (Lincoff, M.D., et al, 11/11)
Axios: Doctors Grapple With Patients' Demand For Weight-Loss Drugs
Doctors are getting inundated with patients' requests for wildly popular new anti-obesity drugs, including from many who don't really need them. Why it matters: Primary care doctors in particular, who typically have little training in obesity, have found themselves as gatekeepers for a class of injection drugs, including Novo Nordisk's Ozempic and Wegovy, that are effective but still face questions about who should take them. (Reed, 11/13)
