National Institute On Aging Sets Sights On Boosting Alzheimer’s Research
CNN covers an effort to "transform" Alzheimer's disease research, starting with building a real-world disease database. AP, meanwhile, reports that $200 million has been pledged by the Estée Lauder family to the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation.
CNN:
US Health Officials Aim To 'Transform' Alzheimer's Disease Research With $300 Million Data Platform
The US National Institute on Aging is moving forward with efforts to build a real-world Alzheimer’s disease database as part of its aim to improve, support and conduct more dementia research. Last month, the agency, part of the National Institutes of Health, posted a notice of the grant for the six-year database project, setting its earliest start date as April 2024. (Howard, 4/4)
AP:
Lauder Family Pledges $200M To Its Alzheimer's Research Work
The sons of cosmetics giant Estée Lauder, along with her four grandchildren, pledged $200 million Tuesday to the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, a nonprofit the family founded to support research into finding a cure for the disease. Leonard and Ronald Lauder founded the organization in 1998 in honor of their mother, who had Alzheimer’s as did other members of her family, said Mark Roithmayr, the CEO of ADDF. (Beaty, 4/4)
In other pharmaceutical industry news —
Becker's Hospital Review:
Cuban's Pharmacy Picks Up J&J Brand-Name Drugs
Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. now sells more brand-name drugs. After breaking into the brand-name market in March — over a year since launching its online wholesaler company — Cost Plus Drugs offers three brand-name products made by Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson business. Cost Plus Drugs sells about 1,000 generics and four brand-name drugs. The three products are Invokana (canagliflozin), Invokamet (canagliflozin-metformin HCl) and Invokamet XR (canagliflozin-metformin HCl), according to a Cost Plus Drugs tweet. (Twenter, 4/4)
Bloomberg:
Cheaper Insulin From Lilly And Sanofi Risks Raising Costs Later
After years of complaints about runaway drug costs, pharmaceutical companies are finally reducing the price of insulin. On March 1, Eli Lilly & Co. slashed some versions by 70%. Two weeks later, Novo Nordisk A/S and Sanofi SA responded with similar cuts. Just as important for diabetics, who often pay hundreds of dollars monthly for the vital medication, Lilly and Sanofi instituted new policies aimed at capping copays—what patients must shell out at the pharmacy counter—to $35 per month for many versions. (Peng, 4/4)
Bloomberg:
Illumina Ordered By FTC To Unwind $7 Billion Grail Deal From 2021
Illumina Inc. was ordered to unwind its $7 billion acquisition of cancer startup Grail by the Federal Trade Commission, an uncommon move by antitrust regulators who said the deal raises competition concerns for cancer testing. The FTC’s 4-0 decision announced Monday overturned an earlier ruling by its in-house judge who found last year that the tie-up wouldn’t harm innovation in the market for early-stage cancer detection. (Nylen and Birnbaum, 4/3)
The Wall Street Journal:
Longevity Seekers Rethink Their Use Of Metformin To Fight Aging
Spurred by a selection of research that has suggested metformin could improve longevity, a growing community of self-described biohackers latched onto it, taking it even though they don’t have diabetes. A tech-heavy crowd seeking to engineer improvements in their health through gadgets, data analysis and medications, they trade tips in forums on sites like Facebook, Reddit and chat app Discord. ... However, the science behind its effectiveness as a longevity improver in healthy people is mixed, and some recent studies have been discouraging, giving some advocates pause. (Janin, 4/4)
The Atlantic:
Ozempic Is About To Be Old News
Made by the Danish drugmaker Novo Nordisk, semaglutide dominates the U.S. weight-loss market right now, but its reign might be short-lived. The colossal demand for these drugs has spurred a competition in the pharmaceutical industry to develop even more potent and powerful medications. The first of them could become available as soon as this summer. For all its hype, semaglutide is the stepping stone and not the final destination of a new class of obesity drugs. Just how good they get, and how quickly, will go a long way in determining whether this pharmaceutical revolution actually meets its full promise. (Tayag, 4/4)
Also —
Reuters:
World Making 'Huge Mistake' Not Funding New TB Vaccines - Gates
A lack of funding could delay late-stage trials of the first new vaccine against tuberculosis for more than a century, warned Bill Gates, whose foundation is backing the development of the shot. The Microsoft co-founder turned philanthropist said there were a raft of promising innovations in the fight against TB, the world’s biggest infectious disease killer, but that more funding was essential. (Rigby, 4/4)
