About the public’s health
Gates Foundation Teams Up With Vaccine Maker to Produce $3 Covid-19 Shots:”The Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation said it is backing the world’s largest vaccine maker, Serum Institute of India, to churn out 100 million doses of coronavirus vaccine for poorer countries and price them at less than $3.”
New CDC Guidelines Advise People to Wear Masks Without Vents, Valves: “The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention has released new guidance on wearing face coverings during the coronavirus pandemic, advising people not to use masks with vents or valves.” Check CDC mask recommendations here.
Young MSM [men who have sex with men] at high risk for HIV should be screened every 3 months, study suggests: “Screening young men who have sex with men every 3 months for HIV is cost effective and improves clinical outcomes compared with less frequent screening…”
Hospitalization Rates and Characteristics of Children Aged <18 Years Hospitalized with Laboratory-Confirmed COVID-19 — COVID-NET, 14 States, March 1–July 25, 2020: From the CDC: “Analysis of pediatric COVID-19 hospitalization data from 14 states found that although the cumulative rate of COVID-19–associated hospitalization among children (8.0 per 100,000 population) is low compared with that in adults (164.5), one in three hospitalized children was admitted to an intensive care unit…
Children are at risk for severe COVID-19. Public health authorities and clinicians should continue to track pediatric SARS-CoV-2 infections. Reinforcement of prevention efforts is essential in congregate settings that serve children, including childcare centers and schools.”
Scientists in spat over whether to infect people in coronavirus vaccine trials: The headline speaks for itself.
About healthcare technology
FDA approves Guardant’s tumor-sequencing blood test as a Tagrisso lung cancer diagnostic: ”Guardant Health received a milestone approval from the FDA for its cancer test, as the first liquid biopsy able to genetically profile solid tumors anywhere in the body through a single blood draw.|This can provide oncologists with biomarker and mutation information across 55 genes linked to multiple cancers, without needing to remove samples of the tumor tissue—but the Guardant360 CDx test has not been approved to direct patients toward a particular treatment, in all cases.
The agency did, however, grant the test a new, specific companion diagnostic approval for identifying patients with metastatic non-small cell lung cancer, who may benefit from AstraZeneca’s Tagrisso based on the presence of epidermal growth factor receptor, or EGFR alterations.”
FDA clears Siemens’ wheeled, bedside CT scanner: “Placed at a person’s bedside, the Somatom On.site allows for easier head exams of critically ill patients, including those within intensive care units.”
About pharma
Kodak's $765 million manufacturing loan on the rocks as red flags multiply: “The government put the $765 million loan on hold after "allegations of wrongdoing" on the company's part jeopardized its federally funded move into pharmaceuticals, the U.S. International Development Finance Corporation (DFC) said in a terse tweet Friday. “
Novartis to charge $2.1 million for Zolgensma following its US approval as first gene therapy for paediatric SMA patients: “Novartis' AveXis unit announced Friday that the FDA has approved Zolgensma (onasemnogene abeparvovec-xioi) for the treatment of patients under two years of age with spinal muscular atrophy (SMA) with bi-allelic mutations in the SMN1 gene. The company noted that Zolgensma is the first gene therapy approved in the US for the treatment of patients with SMA, including those who are pre-symptomatic at diagnosis…
Novartis has priced Zolgensma, which is administered via a single intravenous infusion, at a cost of $2.13 million.”
About health insurance
Kaiser's net income more than doubles to $4.5B in Q2: “After reporting a $1.1 billion net loss in the first quarter, Kaiser Permanente's revenue, operating income and net income for its nonprofit hospital and health plan units increased year over year in the second quarter of this year.
The Oakland, Calif.-based healthcare giant reported operating revenues of $22.1 billion in the second quarter of 2020, up 3.3 percent from the same period a year earlier. Kaiser also saw expenses decline about 1.5 percent year over year to $20 billion.”
Trump teases order requiring insurers to cover preexisting conditions: President Trump “teased an executive order to require health insurers to cover all preexisting conditions, something already established under the Affordable Care Act, which his administration is suing to dismantle.
’Over the next two weeks I’ll be pursuing a major executive order requiring health insurance companies to cover all preexisting conditions for all companies,’ Trump said during a news conference at his Bedminster property in New Jersey.”
About healthcare IT
VA, Cerner restart $16B EHR overhaul with planned October go-live: “The Department of Veterans Affairs and Cerner are resuming a massive medical records project with a new go-live date in October.
In early April, the VA hit pause on its $16 billion electronic health record overhaul due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The agency is working to transition from its customized VistA platform to a Cerner EHR system.”