Novartis Will Sell Older Drugs At Cost To Poor Countries To Fight COVID
The drugs include antibiotics and a steroid that has been shown to be effective in treating the coronavirus. Also, a new firm will look into making antibodies to fight the disease.
Stat:
Novartis To Provide Drugs For Covid-19 At No Cost, But Fails To Share Prices
As companies face pressure to ensure access to medicines during the pandemic, Novartis (NVS) plans to sell more than a dozen older drugs at cost to dozens of mostly poor countries, a move that was met with mixed reaction from consumer advocates because pricing was not disclosed. The drug maker is creating a nonprofit to sell 15 generic and over-the-counter medicines that treat various symptoms of Covid-19 to low-income and lower-middle-income countries. Among the medicine are several antibiotics as well as dexamethasone, a steroid that recent top-line study data suggests ... may improve the odds of survival in the sickest Covid-19 patients. (Silverman, 7/16)
Stat:
Adimab Founder Launches Firm To Make Antibodies To Fight Coronaviruses
One of biotech’s most respected entrepreneurs is betting the novel coronavirus won’t be the last deadly outbreak in his lifetime — and that vaccines won’t be enough to stop a future pandemic from bringing the world to a halt once more. Tillman Gerngross, the Dartmouth bioengineering professor behind the biotech company Adimab, has founded a new firm dedicated to making antibodies that could protect against the novel coronavirus, called SARS-CoV-2, in addition to any future coronaviruses that might make the leap from animals to humans. (Garde, 7/16)
In news on other drug issues --
Stat:
Glympse Bio Hopes Its Test Will Show Whether Drugs Are Actually Working
Cambridge, Mass.-based startup Glympse Bio has raised more than $45 million for its nanoparticle-based biosensors, and it’s hoping the alternative to traditional biopsies can help drug developers test whether their own medicines are actually treating a patient’s condition. The company’s first biosensors will be tested in some of Gilead’s clinical trials for people with non-alcoholic steatohepatitis, the fatty liver disease known as NASH that is the target of many new experimental treatments. (Sheridan, 7/17)
Stat:
Corbus Pharma Is Nearing The Readout Of A Pivotal Drug Study
Four years ago, Corbus Pharmaceuticals claimed success in a mid-stage clinical trial of its lead drug, lenabasum, announcing that it improved symptoms in patients with a chronic, connective tissue disease. That rosy view wasn’t universally embraced — some people, myself included, looked at the same data back then and didn’t see much efficacy at all. (Feuerstein, 7/17)
