Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
More Gray Skies Are In The Forecast For Pharmaceutical Industry
Stat: Once Again, The Credit Outlook For The Pharmaceutical Industry Is Negative
For the eighth consecutive year, the credit outlook for the pharmaceutical industry is negative and more drug makers should expect that their credit ratings may fall this year, according to a new forecast from S&P Global Ratings. (Silverman, 2/24)
FiercePharma: Johnson & Johnson Tots Up A Potential $4B Talc Bill As Tens Of Thousands Of Lawsuits Pile Up
In an annual filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), J&J said its multibillion-dollar 2020 litigation expense is “primarily associated with talc related reserves and certain settlements” worth $3.9 billion. The company faces 25,000 lawsuits alleging the household products cause cancer, and it's still in the process of appealing a massive verdict out of Missouri. (Sagonowsky, 2/23)
The Wall Street Journal: A Theranos Database Is Useless. What Happened?
Theranos Inc. founder Elizabeth Holmes is sparring with federal prosecutors over an inaccessible database recording millions of the company’s blood tests, arguing the government can’t prove the test results were unreliable without the database’s information. If Ms. Holmes’s argument is successful, prosecutors could be blocked at her criminal trial in July from presenting testimony from patients who government lawyers say received inaccurate test results from the company. Without broader Theranos results from the database, the witness testimony would be anecdotal and irrelevant, her attorneys said in court filings Tuesday, because prosecutors can’t show that the firm’s blood tests were less accurate than those from other companies. (Randazzo, 2/24)
Stat: With Genome-Editing Stock Booming, Beam Seizes Its Moment
Beam Therapeutics, a company focused on genome editing, is in a strange situation. The firm’s stock price has roughly quadrupled since the fall, and not because of pivotal data or an affirmational partnership but rather because of a broad and quite likely temporary boom for companies involved in editing DNA. But unlike some of its contemporaries, Beam isn’t letting its moment go to waste. (Garde, 2/24)
In pharmaceutical research news —
CIDRAP: FDA Accepts Priority Review For Pfizer’s Tick-Borne Encephalitis Vaccine
Yesterday the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) accepted priority review of TicoVac, Pfizer's tick-borne encephalitis (TBE) vaccine. If approved, TicoVac could be used to prevent active infections in people 1 year and older. "For many years, our TBE vaccine has helped protect millions of people in Europe from this potentially serious disease. We are proud that today's U.S. FDA Priority Review acceptance acknowledges the potential value that our vaccine candidate can bring," said Nanette Cocero, PhD, the global president of vaccines for Pfizer, in a company press release. "If approved in the U.S., we hope this vaccine will help protect those traveling to or residing temporarily in at-risk locations, potentially including military personnel who are serving overseas." (2/24)
NPR: Vitamin C Fails Again As Treatment For Sepsis
Though attention has understandably been on COVID-19 over the last year, nearly as many people in the hospital have died with a different condition: sepsis. A study now casts doubt on a once-promising treatment for this disease. In 2017, scientists thought they had found a remarkable advance. A researcher in Norfolk, Va., reported that a treatment involving intravenous vitamin C, thiamine, and steroids sharply reduced the risk of death in his sepsis patients. Sepsis, which is sometimes called blood poisoning, is essentially the body's overreaction to an infection. COVID-19 can trigger a similar reaction, known as a cytokine storm. (Harris, 2/24)
Stat: Patients Report No Difference In Muscle Pain When Taking A Statin Or Placebo
Statins — among the most successful drugs ever developed — prevent deaths from heart attacks and strokes but have long been dogged by the notion that they also cause muscle pain in some people. Now that belief has been called into question by a new study. (Cooney, 2/24)
Stat: Scientists Reveal A Precise Structure In C. Elegans' Tangled Brain
Using Facebook-like algorithms, a bespoke microscope, and hefty doses of patience, a team of scientists has determined the brain structure of one of biology’s most powerful model organisms, the transparent, millimeter-long nematode Caenorhabditis elegans. (McFarling, 2/24)
