Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
No Pipette? No Science! Global Shortage Threatens Research
Stat: A Shortage Of Tiny Pipette Tips Is Creating Huge Problems For Science
The humble pipette tip is tiny, cheap, and utterly essential to science. It powers research into new medicines, Covid-19 diagnostics, and every blood test ever run. It is also, ordinarily, abundant — a typical bench scientist might grab dozens every day. But now, a series of ill-timed breaks along the pipette tip supply chain — spurred by blackouts, fires, and pandemic-related demand — have created a global shortage that is threatening nearly every corner of the scientific world. (Sheridan, 4/28)
Stat: How One Major Distributor Is Prioritizing Scarce Pipette Tips
Scientists across the spectrum — at universities, at public health labs, at biotechs — are facing a global shortage of pipette tips that threatens to upend their work. Adding insult to that injury: Many of them don’t actually understand their distributors’ process for determining which orders will be filled first, or how much of their order they’ll actually get. (Sheridan, 4/28)
In other biotech news —
Modern Healthcare: Henry Ford, Google Cloud Launch Tech Competition To Tackle Health Disparities
Henry Ford Health System is seeking out new ways to address health disparities with digital technology, including a focus on the digital divide, the Detroit-based system said Tuesday. The system's Henry Ford Innovations arm on Tuesday unveiled the digital inclusion challenge, a competition it's hosting in partnership with Google Cloud and Novi, Mich.-based information-technology firm Miracle Software Systems. Entrepreneurs and engineers from across the globe are encouraged to propose ideas for how to use digital technologies to reduce racial, gender and other health disparities. (Kim Cohen, 4/27)
Stat: Flagship-Backed Fertility Company Ohana Biosciences Shutters
Flagship Pioneering-backed fertility company Ohana Biosciences is winding down. Employees were told Tuesday during an all-hands Zoom town hall meeting that the Cambridge, Mass.-based company’s board had decided to lay off most of Ohana’s staff, according to a former employee. The company had more than 50 employees, according to LinkedIn. (Sheridan, 4/27)
In pharmaceutical industry news —
Stat: Eli Lilly’s Earnings Fall Short After Company's Dramatic Run
Eli Lilly posted earnings Tuesday that surprised and disappointed investors, as both sales and profit figures fell below Wall Street expectations. The company also cut its forecasts for earnings for the year. The company reported first-quarter sales of $6.81 billion, compared to $7 billion forecast by analysts. Earnings per share excluding one-time items, used by analysts to track business performance, were $1.87, compared to a consensus forecast of $2.12. Earnings this year, the company said, will also be below what analysts expect. (Herper, 4/27)
Stat: Biogen To Expand Access To ALS Drug, But Move May Be Too Late For Some
After weeks of controversy, Biogen (BIIB) has agreed to provide an experimental drug for combating ALS to a small group of very sick patients under a so-called expanded access program. But the move may come too late for the woman who pushed the company to take this step. The decision follows sustained pressure by ALS patients, notably Lisa Stockman Mauriello, a health care communications executive who has a rare and fast-moving form of the neurological disease. This subset of patients typically has a very short life span, but no treatment options. So with help from supporters, she mounted a high-profile campaign to convince Biogen to provide access to its drug as quickly as possible. (Silverman, 4/27)
The New York Times: John C. Martin, 69, Dies; Led Drugmaker In Breakthroughs
John C. Martin, who became a billionaire by developing and marketing a daily single-dose pill that transformed H.I.V. into a manageable disease and who popularized another drug that cures hepatitis C, died on March 30 in Palo Alto, Calif. He was 69. His death, in a hospital, was confirmed by Gilead Sciences, based in Foster City, Calif., where he was chief executive from 1996 to 2016 and executive chairman from 2016 until he retired two years later. The cause was head injuries suffered the day before, when he fell on a sidewalk while walking home in Old Palo Alto, according to the Santa Clara County medical examiner. (Roberts, 4/27)
