From 340B to price transparency: Here are 3 takeaways from Becerra's confirmation hearing: Good summary of yesterday’s hearings.
About Covid-19
FDA review confirms safety and efficacy of single-shot Johnson & Johnson coronavirus vaccine, especially against severe cases: “A Food and Drug Administration review released Wednesday of the single-shot coronavirus vaccine made by pharmaceutical giant Johnson & Johnson found it was safe and effective and completely prevented hospitalizations and deaths in a large clinical trial.
The review sets the stage for a third coronavirus vaccine to be authorized as soon as this weekend…” In a related article: Johnson & Johnson ready to ship nearly 4 million doses of COVID-19 vaccine in U.S.: “Richard Nettles, Vice President of Medical Affairs at J&J unit Janssen Pharmaceutical, said the company expects to deliver 20 million doses of the vacine by the end of March.”
AstraZeneca expects U.S. COVID-19 vaccine authorization in April: “AstraZeneca Plc expects its COVID-19 vaccine could receive U.S. Emergency Use Authorization at the beginning of April and could immediately deliver 30 million doses of the shot there, a top executive said at a hearing in the U.S. House of Representatives on Tuesday.”
When Could the United States Reach Herd Immunity? It’s Complicated.: Lots of “ifs” in answering the question. The article does a great job explaining different scenarios. If we continue at our current pace with vaccination and controlling infection, my guess is November.
U.S. Federal Regulators Expected To Allow Pfizer-BioNTech Vaccine To Be Stored At Standard Freezer Temperatures: The headline speaks for itself.
Moderna sends COVID-19 booster shot for NIH testing as it hikes production targets past 2B doses: “Moderna on Wednesday said it's now on track to produce 700 million vaccine doses this year, and it's still aiming for 1 billion at the high end. Last year, the company had said 500 million would be its minimum output this year, and it ratcheted up that minimum to 600 million in January.
And for 2022, the biotech is planning for 1.4 billion doses—or perhaps even 2 billion, depending on the dose required for booster shots targeting new variants. The company has shipped a booster candidate to the National Institutes of Health for testing, according to Wednesday's statement; it's targeted specifically at the South Africa variant now worrying public health experts.”
About healthcare IT
Cleveland Clinic, Amwell joint venture launches virtual 2nd opinions service: “The Cleveland Clinic and telehealth company American Well are offering virtual medical second opinions as part of their telehealth joint venture.
The Clinic by Cleveland Clinic aligns the hospital's clinical expertise with innovative digital health technologies to provide easier access to leading medical expertise—ultimately driving better decisions, improved patient outcomes and lower costs, the organization said.
Monday, The Clinic launched its new website and brand identity.”
2 More Telehealth Bills Return to Congress For Another Try: “Two popular telehealth bills that failed to make it through last year’s Legislature are being reintroduced this week on Capitol Hill, adding to a growing number of connected health bills aimed at continuing the momentum for telehealth beyond the coronavirus pandemic.
On Monday, Senators Rob Portman (R-OH) and Sheldon Whitehouse (D-RI) re-submitted the Telehealth Response for E-prescribing Addiction Therapy Services (TREATS) Act, which would make permanent certain emergency actions passed during the coronavirus pandemic to boost telehealth access for substance use disorder (SUD) treatment.”
Microsoft updates Cloud for Healthcare with new virtual care, patient monitoring features: “The tech giant announced its Cloud for Healthcare service back in October that brings together existing services such as Microsoft Teams, Azure IoT and chatbots to help healthcare organizations manage operations.
The first update will be available in April and includes services for care plan management and will support eight additional languages.”
About the public’s health
Fructose reprogrammes glutamine-dependent oxidative metabolism to support LPS-induced inflammation: In other words, the fructose that is common in fast foods has a pro-inflammatory effect on our immune systems.
About pharma
UCB taps Microsoft to accelerate drug discovery, clinical trials: “UCB and Microsoft have entered into a multiyear strategic collaboration. The deal will see Microsoft use its capabilities in computational services, cloud computing and artificial intelligence to support drug discovery and development at UCB…
Belgium’s UCB is also looking to identify other areas of its operation that could benefit from AI and additional computing power. UCB is yet to name areas it is exploring, saying only that the work will span ‘every part of the drug discovery and delivery value chain”’and is intended to accelerate the development of life-changing treatments in immunology and neurology.”
Retail Health Clinic Engagement Rising; May Be Key to Supercharging COVID-19 Vaccine Rollout:
“Nearly half (48%) of retail pharmacy customers used at least one health and wellness service in 2020, up significantly from 2019 (43%)
One in five (20%) customers spoke to a pharmacist during their visit, up from 16% in both 2018 and 2019
When customers use two or more health and wellness services, overall customer satisfaction and brand advocacy increases, and average customer spending doubles”
About health insurance
Impact of Policy Options for Reducing Hospital Prices Paid by Private Health Plans: From RAND: “In this report, we focus on policies that address prices paid to hospitals by private health plans. We analyze the impact of three policy options—regulating hospital prices, improving price transparency, and increasing competition among hospitals—on hospital spending by employer-sponsored and individual market plans and their enrollees. For each policy option… we explore key considerations and estimate the potential impact on hospital prices and spending using data from the CMS Hospital Cost Report Information System.” A summary is on this page. You can click the pdf for the full report.
Carrum Health First to Launch Bundled Cancer Care for Employers in Collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering: A bit of hype…and it is not the first cancer care bundle.
”Carrum Health, the first digital health company connecting employers and employees to Centers of Excellence (COEs) through a technology-powered platform… announced that it is extending its COE model into oncology with the industry's first-ever cancer care bundle. Working in collaboration with Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK), Carrum Health will offer comprehensive bundles that cover in-person treatment at MSK for eligible patients with breast and thyroid cancers, as well as remote diagnosis, treatment planning, and care guidance for all forms of cancer. For breast and thyroid cancers, the bundle includes complete medical treatment for up to two years….”
Expanding Premium Tax Credits to Middle-Income Families Would Reduce the Number of People Uninsured and Increase Marketplace Enrollment: “In this brief, we analyze a policy that would expand Marketplace premium tax credits by raising the eligibility cutoff from 400 to 600 percent of the federal poverty level (FPL). The policy would lessen the financial burden of high premiums for such families and increase Marketplace enrollment for this group. A potential drawback, however, is that some employers might stop offering employer-sponsored insurance to their workers. However, we find such concerns unwarranted. Research shows most employers responded the Affordable Care Act (ACA) by increasing the rate at which they offer insurance to their employees. Incorporating that evidence, our analysis finds extending the eligibility cutoff for Marketplace premium tax credits to 600 percent of FPL would decrease the number of people uninsured by more than 116,000, and 48,000 people with non-ACA-compliant coverage would enroll in Marketplace plans. Together, these effects would move 164,000 people into plans providing minimum essential coverage.”
Survey: Healthcare Costs Loom Large Among Women Medicare Recipients:
“Key findings:
Almost two-thirds of women (66%) are concerned about their ability to pay for future healthcare compared to just over half (51%) of men.
18% of women report trouble paying for prescription drugs within the last year, compared to just 11% of men.
Six in 10 (60%) women said Democrats would better protect Medicare, compared to roughly four in 10 (43%) men.”