About Covid-19
Pfizer covid shot 80 percent effective in young kids, early data shows “Pfizer and its German partner, BioNTech, said Monday that an early analysis showed their three-dose coronavirus vaccine regimen triggered a strong immune response in young children, proving 80 percent effective at preventing symptomatic infections in children 6 months to 4 years old…
A few hours after Pfizer and BioNTech issued a news release announcing the data, which has not been peer reviewed, the Food and Drug Administration said its outside experts will meet June 14 and 15 to discuss the Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech pediatric vaccines. Pfizer and BioNTech said they plan to finish filing data with the FDA this week — and warned that the efficacy number was fluid because results are still arriving.”
COVID DATA TRACKER WEEKLY REVIEW “As of May 18, 2022, the current 7-day moving average of daily new cases (101,130) increased by 18.8% compared with the previous 7-day moving average (85,143). A total of 82,820,565 COVID-19 cases have been reported in the United States as of May 18, 2022.”
About hospitals and healthcare systems
Mayo Clinic posts $227M operating loss for Q1 as labor expenses shoot up “‘Workforce shortages and corresponding labor cost inflation, persistent supply chain disruptions and shortages, a higher interest rate environment and capital market volatility have all taken center stage for management attention,’ the earnings report said.”
Trinity Health's operating income slips 79% as labor costs soar “Higher labor costs put pressure on Trinity Health's margins in the first nine months of fiscal year 2022, according to financial documents released May 20.
Livonia, Mich.-based Trinity Health posted revenue of $15.13 billion in the nine months ended March 31, up from $15.12 billion in the same period a year earlier. The health system said net patient service revenue was up 3.3 percent year over year, primarily because of increased volume and payment rates.”
In a related story: Trinity Health to build $1.5M pharmacy
About pharma
EU body calls for suspending some 100 generic drugs over flawed testing by CRO “The EMA's Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use (CHMP) said "irregularities" were identified in how Synchron Research Services, which is located in Ahmedabad, conducted bioequivalence studies for drugs it tested on behalf of a slew of pharmaceutical firms…
According to the EMA, the CHMP's review looked at all drugs that had been tested by Synchron for EU companies and found that a majority of them, roughly 100 drugs, had "no adequate bioequivalence data…available from other sources." Some of the companies whose products are affected include Viatris, Novartis' Sandoz and 1 A Pharma units, Johnson & Johnson, Teva, Accord Healthcare, Orifarm Generics, RIA Generics, STADA Arzneimittel, Wockhardt and Zentiva, among several others.”
According to the EMA: “The list of concerned medicines can be found in the list of medicines concerned by the procedure.”
Bayer Backs Out of $670 Million Collaboration Deal With Atara “The collaboration included ATA3271, an allogeneic T-cell immunotherapy, and an autologous version, ATA2271, for high mesothelin-expressing tumors such as malignant pleural mesothelioma and non-small cell lung cancer.
The ending of the partnership follows the death of a patient in an early-phase clinical trial of ATA2271 at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in February.”
About the public’s health
CDC examines hepatitis cases and deaths in children “The CDC is examining 180 reported cases of hepatitis of unknown origin in kids across 36 states and territories, including six cases that resulted in deaths, officials told reporters in a briefing…
CDC is still trying to tease out whether these are part of a true increase in hepatitis among kids — or if the cases were identified as the result of improved pandemic-era surveillance…
The leading hypothesis for a root cause is adenovirus infections, which are common in childhood, officials said.”
CDC tells doctors to be on alert for monkeypox as global cases rise “The alert comes two days after the agency confirmed a monkeypox case in Massachusetts, where a patient with skin lesions associated with the rare virus was treated. New York City officials said Thursday they are investigating a potential case. Federal officials say they expect to identify additional infections in the coming days.”
About healthcare IT
MeMD rebrands as Walmart Health Virtual Care “Walmart announced in May 2021 that it would acquire MeMD, a multispecialty telehealth provider, in an effort to significantly expand its telehealth capabilities. The telehealth platform sits within the retailer's Walmart Health arm, which operates a slate of health clinics as well as other services.”
About health technology
FDA Reports Thousands of Deaths, Injuries from Philips Respironics Device Breakdowns in Past Year “In a recently promised update on medical device reports (MDR) associated with suspected foam breakdown in certain Philips Respironics devices, the FDA reports it received more than 21,000 MDRs, including 124 reports of deaths, from April 2021 through April 2022.”