Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New Treatments Hold Promise To Help COVID Patients, Make Big Money
San Francisco Chronicle: UCSF Testing Promising New Treatment That Could Lessen COVID-19 Symptoms
UCSF researchers are testing a promising COVID-19 drug that could lessen symptoms and keep people out of the hospital. The drug, which could eventually work on coronavirus much the way Tamiflu reduces flu symptoms, is being rolled out in a clinical trial at Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital, one of many U.S. sites that are enrolling volunteers for the study. (Ho, 9/30)
The Washington Post: These Laboratory-Made Antibodies Are A Best Bet For A Coronavirus Treatment, But There Won’t Be Enough
In two-story-high stainless steel vats, a drug is brewing in trillions of hamster ovary cells. Many experts think this could be the best bet to defang the novel coronavirus and transform it from a potentially lethal infection into a treatable illness. Current treatments for the coronavirus aim to help the sickest patients survive. But this drug, called a monoclonal antibody cocktail, aims to keep people out of the hospital altogether. The experimental shot of lab-generated antibodies imitates the body’s own disease-fighting force. The goal is to boost a person’s immune defense, instead of waiting for human biology to muster its own response — and possibly lose to the virus. (Johnson, 9/30)
The Washington Post: Remdesivir May Not Cure Covid, But It’s On Track To Make Billions For Gilead
J. Randall Curtis gives remdesivir to his seriously ill coronavirus patients based on statistics, not his own experience. From the bedside, he said, benefits of the drug are undetectable. "It’s hard when you’re on the front line, knowing whether it makes a difference. People are not jumping out of bed and saying, ‘Thanks, you saved my life,' " said Curtis, a doctor at Seattle’s Harborview Medical Center. "We are continuing to use it, because if you look at all the data in total, there probably is some benefit.” (Rowland, 9/30)
Also —
Stat: How Is Covid-19 Upending Drug Development? An Industry Leader Weighs In
As the Covid-19 pandemic continues to force drastic change in everyday life, the effects on the pharmaceutical industry are no less profound. Although drug makers are still regularly demonized over their pricing, their proverbial stock has, nonetheless, risen in the public eye thanks to the desperate need for treatments and vaccines to combat the coronavirus. But what are those changes looking like? And what might they mean going forward? (Silverman, 10/1)
The Texas Tribune: Medical Schools, Hospitals And Plenty Of Coronavirus: How Texas Became A Leading COVID-19 Research Hub
In the race to develop a vaccine and other stopgap treatments for coronavirus patients in the meantime, Texas has emerged as a leading site for COVID-19 research. Home to massive research universities, hundreds of hospitals and a relatively high rate of coronavirus transmission, the state is the site of 130 clinical trials investigating possible vaccines and treatments for the coronavirus. That’s the highest of any state other than California and New York, according to the National Institutes of Health. (Walters, 10/1)
