Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Working On A New Puzzle: A Finance Whiz Focuses On Matching Medical Researchers With Investors
The Wall Street Journal: The Woman Who Has A Plan For Wall Street To Help Cure Blindness
Karen Petrou, an influential adviser to bankers and regulators, has made a career of deciphering complicated financial regulations. Now she’s trying to decode another type of puzzle. The conundrum: Matching medical researchers who need money with investors who have it. A bill outlining her strategy, which would include a government guarantee, was introduced in the House of Representatives last month. (Rexrode, 8/18)
Kansas City Star: Epidiolex, CBD Cannabis Based Medicine For Epilepsy Seizures
The strawberry-flavored syrup is an oral solution, derived from marijuana, though it doesn’t contain any part of the plant that causes a high. (Tetrahydrocannabinol, or THC, does.)I nstead, Epidiolex comes from cannabidiol, or CBD. It was approved June 25 and is expected to be available this fall to help people with epilepsy, particularly those with Lennox-Gastaut and Dravet syndromes. (Stark, 8/17)
The Associated Press: Birth Control App Highlights Emerging Health Tech Market
The condom, the pill and now, the smartphone? Natural Cycles, a mobile fertility app, this month became the first ever digital contraceptive device to win FDA marketing approval. Women take their temperatures and track their menstrual cycle on the app, which uses an algorithm to determine when they’re fertile and should abstain from unprotected sex or use protection. In effect, it’s a form of the rhythm or calendar method. (Chan, 8/17)
Stat: Nine Things To Know About Sangamo And Its First-In-Human Genome Editing Study
The first clinical trial using genome editing to treat real patients is nearing an early but crucially important data reveal. Until now, the only data available involving the removal or repair of disease-causing DNA have come from experiments in test tubes and animals. But late last year, the biotech company Sangamo Therapeutics started a clinical trial using a one-time, genome-editing fix to treat people born with a rare, inherited disease. (Feuerstein, 8/20)
The New York Times: This Drug Is Safe And Effective. Wait. Compared With What?
We spend many billions of dollars each year on the discovery and development of new drugs, but almost none of it addresses two crucial questions: How do these new therapies compare with already known ones? What are the relative benefits and harms in a particular situation, for a person like you? Such questions can best be answered by comparative effectiveness research. (Carroll, 8/20)
Stat: The Perfect Lab Animal Is Strikingly, Surprisingly Beautiful
The worms turned out to be the perfect lab animal. They were simple creatures that lived in the dirt and ate bacteria but were just complicated enough to provide biological insights applicable to human health. C. elegans was the first organism to have its genome sequenced and, aside from humans, have been sent into space more than any other animal. (Chen, 8/20)
