Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Roche Drug Achieves Dramatic Impact On Some Early-Stage Lung Cancers
Stat: Roche Drug Slashes Death Risk In Early-Stage Lung Cancer Trial
A Roche drug lowered the risk of recurrence or death by 76% versus chemotherapy for patients with a type of early non-small cell lung cancer, according to data from a Phase 3 trial presented Saturday. (Joseph, 10/21)
The Wall Street Journal: Roche To Buy Telavant From Roivant Sciences And Pfizer In $7.25 Bln Deal
Roche Holding has agreed to buy Telavant Holdings from Roivant Sciences and Pfizer in a deal worth up to $7.25 billion as the Swiss pharmaceutical giant seeks to bolster its immunology pipeline. The acquisition will give Roche rights over Telavant’s drug candidate that has shown promise for inflammatory bowel disease and could have potential in other indications, it said. Roche will have rights to commercialize the drug in the U.S. and Japan, pending clinical-trial data and regulatory approval. (Calatayud, 10/23)
In other pharmaceutical news —
The Washington Post: 'Pharmacy Desert' Risks Rise As Drugstore Chains Move To Close Stores
After decades of expansion, the nation’s largest drugstore chains are closing hundreds of stores as they reorient their operations against rising competition, a crush of opioid lawsuits and other forces — relegating many already-vulnerable communities into pharmacy deserts. Rite Aid, which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection last week, CVS and Walgreens have signaled over the past two years plans to collectively shutter more than 1,500 stores. Public health experts have already seen the fallout, noting that the first neighborhoods to lose their pharmacies are often predominantly Black, Latinx and low-income. (Gregg and Peiser, 10/22)
Reuters: Express Scripts Conspired To Overcharge Pharmacies, Class Action Says
A group of pharmacies has filed a proposed class action lawsuit accusing Cigna Group's pharmacy benefit manager unit Express Scripts Inc of conspiring with another company to charge higher fees and reimburse pharmacies at lower rates. In a complaint filed Thursday in federal court in Milwaukee, Wisconsin, four retail pharmacies said that a three-year collaboration agreement announced in 2019 between Express Scripts and Prime Therapeutics was in fact a pretext for fixing reimbursement rates and fees, with no benefit for customers. (Pierson, 10/20)
Stat: Pharmacists Can Make Shortage Drugs, But At What Cost?
Pharmacists increasingly are being asked to make drugs in bulk for hospitals that are in short supply, and they’re even beginning to make chemotherapies. But some in the industry worry about the unintended consequences of overreliance. Hospitals’ reliance on pharmacist-made drugs, a practice called compounding, has risen in step with worsening drug shortages. (Wilkerson, 10/20)
USA Today: Drug Trials Don't Require People With Obesity, So Dosing May Be Wrong
It's well known that having obesity increases the risk of a wide range of health conditions, but data suggests it may not be just the extra weight that adds risk. Medications may not work as well on people with obesity, studies suggest, because, although people with a lot of body fat metabolize drugs differently, they aren't required to be included in research trials. So prescribed doses may be too high in some cases and linger too long in others. (Weintraub, 10/22)
The New York Times: How Much Do Ozempic And Wegovy Cost? Not What You Think.
The drugs’ list prices are generally very different from the net prices, which companies receive after making secret deals with health insurers or the intermediaries known as pharmacy benefit managers. Companies generally do not reveal net prices, but there are data sources that can be used to estimate them. (Kolata, 10/22)
KFF Health News: Quick Genetic Test Offers Hope For Sick, Undiagnosed Kids. But Few Insurers Offer To Pay.
Just 48 hours after her birth in a Seattle-area hospital in 2021, Layla Babayev was undergoing surgery for a bowel obstruction. Two weeks later, she had another emergency surgery, and then developed meningitis. Layla spent more than a month in neonatal intensive care in three hospitals as doctors searched for the cause of her illness. (Galewitz, 10/23)
