Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Plasma Trials Off To Slow Start Because Focus Was On Other Treatments
NBC News: Work On Hydroxychloroquine Delayed Promising Studies Of Convalescent Plasma
Robust scientific studies on convalescent plasma, a potentially promising COVID-19 treatment, have gotten off to a slow start in the U.S., in part because some researchers were more focused on enrolling their sickest patients in other trials, including some for hydroxychloroquine. "You always have that hindsight and say, oh man, we should have put our efforts into something else," said Dr. Todd Rice, an associate professor of medicine at Vanderbilt University Medical Center. (Edwards, 8/6)
The Wall Street Journal: Pandemic Lays Bare U.S. Reliance On China For Drugs
The shortage of a simple, over-the-counter painkiller shows how dependent the U.S. has become on China for vital pharmaceutical supplies. ... Acetaminophen is one of a slew of life-or-death ingredients for medicines now produced in significant amounts by China. Many of these are commodity chemicals that U.S. makers found unprofitable to produce. China makes about 70% of the acetaminophen used in the U.S., the Commerce Department and analysts estimate. (Yap, 8/5)
Boston Globe: Racing The Clock To Stop Drug-Resistant Superbugs
Today, it’s estimated superbugs kill almost three-quarters of a million people around the globe annually; by 2050 that could grow to 10 million every year if the trend isn’t slowed. And that has brought us to a crisis that nests inside the larger catastrophe of the COVID-19 pandemic: The world needs new antibiotics more than ever — for resistant infections, and now also for coronavirus patients developing pneumonia and other infections as they endure long hospital stays. Yet the problem of how to pay for the development of a new antibiotic — which can cost about $1 billion — has deprived us of the drugs just when we need them most. (McKenna, 8/5)
In other news —
Stat: Teladoc Health Reaches Agreement To Buy Livongo In A $18.5 Billion Deal
Telemedicine provider Teladoc Health has reached an agreement to buy the diabetes coaching company Livongo in an $18.5 billion deal that will create the first true health tech giant — in an era in which demand for virtual care is surging. The merger agreement, announced on Wednesday morning, is expected to create a combined company on track to bring in $1.3 billion in revenue this year, up 85% over last year. (Robbins, 8/5)
Stat: 10 Burning Questions About Teladoc's $18.5 Billion Deal To Buy Livongo
It’s hard to recall a deal that scrambled the dynamics of the health tech industry more than Teladoc Health’s proposed $18.5 billion buyout of Livongo. The agreement, announced on Wednesday, is expected to create a digital health behemoth that combines Teladoc’s telemedicine platform with Livongo’s chronic disease coaching programs — and brings in a huge number of patient users and insurer and employer customers in the process. (Robbins, Ross and Brodwin, 8/5)
Stat: Blackstone Agrees To Buy Ancestry In $4.7 Billion Deal
Investment firm Blackstone announced on Wednesday that it was buying a majority stake in the direct-to-consumer genetics company Ancestry from its former equity holders for $4.7 billion. The firm will take the reins from global firms including Silver Lake, GIC, and Spectrum Equity, but GIC will retain a significant minority stake in the company, according to a press release. Ancestry was last valued at roughly $3 billion in 2017, according to PitchBook, and had eyed an IPO in 2017 and 2019, when the personal genetics business was booming. (Brodwin, 8/5)
Dallas Morning News: This North Texas Biotech Startup Just Raised A Whopping $95 Million Amid The Pandemic
Dallas-based Taysha Gene Therapies has raised $95 million in new funding for development of its treatments for rare childhood diseases. The financial boost from investors such as Fidelity Management & Research, BlackRock and GV (formerly Google Ventures) marks the startup’s second big investment this year. In April, Taysha wrapped up a $30 million seed round that was the North Texas region’s largest funding haul in the second quarter, despite funding for startups slowing amid the pandemic. (DiFurio, 8/5)
