Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Purdue's Law Firm Hires Lawyer Who Prosecuted Company
Stat: Purdue Law Firm Hires Government Lawyer Who Investigated The Firm
A prominent law firm that represents Purdue Pharma has hired a former Department of Justice lawyer who, as recently as seven months ago, was investigating the drug maker for its opioid marketing. In a court filing, King & Spalding disclosed that its new partner is Ethan Davis, a former acting assistant attorney general in the Department of Justice Civil Division, whose work probing Purdue ended last March, before he began negotiating for a position with the law firm. Davis wrote us that he left the department last month. (Silverman, 10/30)
In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —
Modern Healthcare: Ascension Expands Pharmacy Services
Ascension is expanding its pharmacy services as it aims to improve medication adherence, the Catholic health system announced Thursday. Ascension Rx—the newly launched brand for its national pharmacy—offers specialty medication packaging and delivery, infusion therapy and medication management, including financial aid coordination. A new specialty pharmacy in Austin, Texas is slated to open next spring, which will provide prior authorization, medication management assistance for providers and patient consults with clinical pharmacists, among other wraparound services. (Kacik, 10/29)
Reuters: AstraZeneca Sells Right To Heart Failure, Blood Pressure Drugs For $400 Million
British drugmaker AstraZeneca Plc AZN.L said on Friday it would sell commercial rights for two of its heart failure and blood pressure medicines to German pharmaceutical company Cheplapharm Arzneimittel GmbH for $400 million. Cheplapharm, which already holds the European rights for Atacand and Atacand Plus since 2018, can sell now them in around 70 countries under the deal. (10/30)
The Washington Post: Artificial Intelligence And Covid-19: Can The Machines Save Us?
Early this spring as the pandemic began accelerating, AJ Venkatakrishnan took genetic data from 10,967 samples of the novel coronavirus and fed it into a machine. The Stanford-trained data scientist did not have a particular hypothesis, but he was hoping the artificial intelligence would pinpoint possible weaknesses that could be exploited to develop therapies. He was awed when the program reported back that the new virus appeared to have a snippet of DNA code — “RRARSVAS” — distinct from its predecessor coronaviruses. This sequence, he learned, mimics a protein that helps the human body regulate salt and fluid balance. (Eunjung Cha, 11/1)
