1. With Obamacare, More Breast
Cancers Diagnosed at Earlier Stages
More breast cancers have been found
at earlier — and potentially more treatable — stages since the implementation
of the Affordable Care Act. The study in Cancer Epidemiology found that after
Obamacare, the percentage of cancers diagnosed at the earliest stage increased
by 3.2 percent for white women, 4.0 percent for blacks and 4.1 percent for
Latinas. “The same woman who pre-A.C.A. would have been diagnosed at Stage 2
was diagnosed at Stage 1 after A.C.A.,” said the lead author, Abigail Silva.
“The A.C.A. had the potential to improve public health, and there’s more and
more evidence coming out each day to show that it is doing that.” https://nyti.ms/2ueCcvU
2. ‘Pharma Bro’ Martin Shkreli Goes on
Trial on Securities Fraud Charges
Martin Shkreli is known for a number
of things. Jacking up the cost of a life-saving drug for AIDS patients by 5,000
percent. Grinning his way through a House hearing as he pleaded the Fifth.
Badgering a journalist on Twitter until his account was suspended. Today, jury
selection begins in federal court as 34-year-old Shkreli goes on trial for
something else entirely: securities fraud charges. Prosecutors say he was
swindling investors in his hedge fund well before he became “the most hated man
in America.” If Shkreli is dreading his day in court, he isn’t showing it. “I’m
excited,” he told the AP last week. “I can’t wait.” The boy genius-turned- “pharma
bro” told The New Yorker he doesn’t expect to serve time.
http://www.npr.org/sections/thetwo-way/2017/06/26/534411641/pharma-bro-martin-shkreli-goes-on-trial-on-securitiesfraud-charges
3. Senate Health Care Bill Includes
Deep Cuts to Medicaid
Senate Republicans, who for seven
years have promised a repeal of the Affordable Care Act, took a major step on
Thursday toward that goal, unveiling a bill to make deep cuts in Medicaid and
end the law’s mandate that most Americans have health insurance. “We are
extremely disappointed by the Senate bill released today,” the medical school
association wrote. “Despite promises to the contrary, it will leave millions of
people without health coverage, and others with only bare-bones plans that will
be insufficient to properly address their needs.” https://nyti.ms/2tT8Ti9
4. U.S. Health Sector Hits Record High
on Senate Bill, Biotech Rally
U.S. healthcare stocks posted sharp
gains with hospitals and insurers climbing after Senate Republicans released a
draft bill to replace Obamacare, while a recent surge in biotechnology shares
showed no signs of slowing. Shares of hospitals and health insurers, the main
focus of investors during Republican efforts to dismantle the Affordable Care
Act, known as Obamacare, were higher after the release of the proposed
legislation in the Republican-controlled Senate. Hospitals, in particular, have
benefited from Obamacare’s coverage expansion. HCA Healthcare Inc rose 3
percent, while Tenet Healthcare Corp surged 7 percent. https://www.reuters.com/article/us-usa-healthcare-stocks-idUSKBN19C2V2
5. Novartis Drug Becomes First to
Prevent Heart Attacks and Strokes by Targeting Inflammation
Novartis, the Swiss drug giant,
announced that a drug that targets inflammation prevented heart attacks and
strokes in a 10,000-patient trial of people with established heart disease. It
could be a scientific breakthrough, and a commercial one, too. A lot will
depend on full results that will be presented at a medical meeting later this
year, and on price. The drug, Ilaris, costs $200,000 a year now, and a price
cut could be necessary. More than 7 million patients in Europe and the U.S.
could be eligible for the drug. Assuming a $15,000 price, like the PCSK9s,
would yield a $60 billion market opportunity. https://www.forbes.com/sites/matthewherper/2017/06/22/novartis-drug-becomes-first-to-prevent-heart-attacks-andstrokes-by-targeting-inflammation
6. Hospitals Handling Growing Debt
Loads—For Now
Storm clouds notwithstanding,
hospital companies are borrowing as if they’ll be able to handle whatever’s
ahead. Some of the dollar amounts are eye-popping. Nashville-based HCA is
preparing to sell $1.5 billion of senior secured notes with an interest rate of
5.5% that will be used to retire higher-cost debt and pay for the $725 million
announced acquisition of three hospitals in Houston from rival Tenet Healthcare
Corp. Community Health Systems in March raised $2.2 billion through the sale of
senior secured notes and another $900 million in May. The Franklin, Tenn.-based
hospital giant, which is selling hospitals to try to reduce $15 billion in
total debt, used much of the proceeds to retire debt maturing in 2018 by
pushing its new borrowings further into the future. http://www.modernhealthcare.com/article/20170622/MAGAZINE/170629974/hospitals-handling-growing-debt-loadsx2014-for-now
7. GSK Wins $235 Million From Teva
in Coreg Patent Trial
A U.S. jury has ordered Teva
Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd to pay GlaxoSmithKline Plc more than $235 million
(£185 million) for infringing a patent covering its blood pressure drug Coreg,
court documents showed. A federal jury in Wilmington, Delaware on Tuesday found
that Teva willfully infringed the patent in connection with its sales of a
generic version of the drug with a label indicating it could be used for
treating chronic heart failure. GSK in a statement said that it was pleased
with the trial’s outcome. Teva said it was disappointed. “We still intend to
present our equitable defenses to the court at a separate hearing which could
eliminate the liability determination or significantly reduce the assessed
damages,” Teva said in a statement. “We are also considering an appeal.” https://nyti.ms/2tuA0TG
8. EU court: Vaccines can be blamed
for illness without scientific evidence
The Court of Justice of the European
Union ruled that courts may consider vaccines to be the cause of an illness,
even in the absence of scientific evidence confirming a link. The EU’s highest
court said that if the development of a disease is timely to the person’s
receiving a vaccine, if the person was previously health with a lack of history
of the disease in their family and if a significant number of disease cases are
reported among people receiving a certain vaccine, this may serve as enough
proof. The EU court is authorizing national courts to make such judgments about
causality themselves, based on evidence they are presented with, without
reliance on expert opinion, said Professor Tony Fox from the pharmaceutical
medicine group at King’s College London. http://www.cnn.com/2017/06/21/health/vaccines-illness-european-court-bn/index.html
9. FDA Wants to Stop Pharma From
‘Gaming’ Generic Drug System
The U.S. Food and Drug
Administration moved to prevent pharmaceutical companies from “gaming” the
system to block or delay entry of generic rivals. FDA Commissioner Scott
Gottlieb said in a blog post that the agency plans to hold a public meeting on
July 18 to identify ways pharmaceutical companies are using FDA rules to place
obstacles in the way of generic competition. The move comes as President Donald
Trump and lawmakers in Congress search for ways to lower the cost of
prescription drugs. The FDA does not include price considerations when deciding
whether to approve a new drug, but Gottlieb said the agency can facilitate
increased competition by approving lower-cost generics. That means removing
some of the obstacles placed by branded companies in the way of generic
manufacturers. http://www.nbcnews.com/health/health-news/fda-wants-stop-pharma-gaming-generic-drug-system-n775151
10. Pamplona Capital to Take Parexel
Private for $4.5 Billion
U.S. pharmaceutical research
services provider Parexel International Corp said on Tuesday it would be taken
private by Pamplona Capital Management LLP in a $4.5 billion deal. Pamplona
will pay $88.10 per share in cash for Parexel, representing a 5 percent premium
to the stock’s Monday close. Parexel’s shares were trading at $87.67 before the
bell, just shy of the offer price. Pamplona had been scouring the market in the
last year, seeking to acquire a contract research organization. It made an
unsuccessful bid earlier this year for Pharmaceutical Product Development LLC
(PPD), a U.S. clinical trials firm valued at more than $9 billion. https://www.nytimes.com/reuters/2017/06/20/business/20reuters-parexel-intl-m-a-pamplona.html?mtrref=undefined
11. He Broke Ground in Stem-Cell
Research. Now He’s Running for Congress.
Stem-cell researcher Hans Keirstead,
50, announced last week that he will try to unseat California’s Rep. Dana
Rohrabacher (R). Keirstead, a Democrat with a PhD in neuroscience from the
University of British Columbia, was a professor at the University of California
at Irvine before launching and selling several biotech companies. Keirstead
emerged from academic and entrepreneurial fields. He pioneered a technique to
purify stem cells — “You can’t go putting toenails into the spinal cord,” he
said — and applied this method to spinal-cord injuries and diseases such as
cancer and amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, or ALS. “I’m delighted that Dana
Rohrabacher loves science. That’s fabulous. But I’m also very convinced that he
doesn’t understand science. There’s a real big difference. If you love science,
that’s one thing. If you don’t understand it, you can’t effect change, and you
make wrong decisions,” remarked Keirstead. https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/speaking-of-science/wp/2017/06/20/he-broke-ground-in-stem-cell-research-nowhes-running-for-congress/
12. Bristol-Myers Selling Ireland
Plant to South Korean Company with Large Aspirations
Bristol-Myers Squibb, which is
shifting its focus toward biologics manufacturing, will unload an API plant in
Ireland to a South Korean company that has aspirations of becoming a big deal
in contract manufacturing. The U.S. drugmaker said today that it will sell its
plant in Swords to SK Biotek, a unit of South Korea’s third largest
conglomerate, SK Holdings. SK has been a BMS ingredient supplier for a decade.
SK Biotek, the first South Korean company to set up shop in Ireland, will use
the BMS plant as a base for its burgeoning contract development and
manufacturing business. “This transaction is an important step to achieve our
goal of becoming a leading global CDMO,” SK Biotek CEO Junku Park said in a
statement. http://www.fiercepharma.com/manufacturing/bristol-myers-selling-ireland-plant-to-south-korean-company-will-largeaspirations
13. Drug Deaths in America Are
Rising Faster Than Ever
Drug overdose deaths in 2016 most
likely exceeded 59,000, the largest annual jump ever recorded in the United
States, according to preliminary data compiled by The New York Times. Drug
overdoses are now the leading cause of death among Americans under 50. Although
the data is preliminary, the Times’s best estimate is that deaths rose 19
percent over the 52,404 recorded in 2015. And all evidence suggests the problem
has continued to worsen in 2017. Early data from 2017 suggests that drug
overdose deaths will continue to rise this year. “It’s the only aspect of
American health”, said Dr. Tom Frieden, the former director of the C.D.C.,
“that is getting significantly worse.” https://nyti.ms/2rI5lBB
14. Pfizer Drug Delays Lung Cancer
Growth Longer than Astra’s Iressa: Study
A targeted drug being developed by
Pfizer Inc. held advanced lung cancer in check longer than AstraZeneca’s Iressa
in newly diagnosed patients, but with a higher rate of side effects, according
to data presented on Monday. About 60 percent of patients receiving the Pfizer
drug in the study had the dose lowered due to side effects. Liver enzyme
abnormalities were the most common serious side effect observed in the Iressa
patients. Despite the higher rate of side effects, “the activity seen in this
study should allow for consideration of this effective therapy in this patient
population,” Dr. Tony Mok from Chinese University of Hong Kong, who led the
study, said in a statement. http://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-cancer-pfizer-idUSKBN18W1HD
15. Many COPD Patients Struggle to
Pay for Each Breath
An estimated 1 in 9 Medicare
beneficiaries are diagnosed with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or
COPD. And, in 2014, COPD was the third-leading cause of death in the country,
according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Inhalers like
Spiriva and Advair account for billions in Medicare spending each year. Across
the country, doctors who treat COPD say costs are a common problem for
patients. Dr. David Mannino at the University of Kentucky College of Public
Health says some patients cut pills in half or take a prescription once a day
instead of twice, just to save money. Spiriva’s list price has jumped 31
percent the past five years to $368 for a 30-day supply, according to drugmaker
Boehringer Ingelheim. And Breo Ellipta’s price has risen 20 percent since 2013
to $321.74 a month, according to drugmaker GlaxoSmithKline. http://www.npr.org/sections/health-shots/2017/06/02/529759280/many-copd-patients-struggle-to-pay-for-each-breath