2022 Shkreli Awards “Welcome to the 6th annual Shkreli Awards, the Lown Institute’s top ten list of the worst examples of profiteering and dysfunction in healthcare, named for the infamous ‘pharma bro’ Martin Shkreli.”
Well worth reading. These cases are appalling!
About Covid-19
Biden team eyes end of Covid emergency declaration and shift in Covid team “Senior Biden officials are targeting an end to the emergency designation for Covid as soon as the spring, after debating doing so last summer and taking a pass, three people with knowledge of the matter told POLITICO. Should they do so, such a move would represent a major pivot point in the country’s battle with the pandemic.
The decision, which has not yet been finalized amid more immediate efforts to manage a recent spike in Covid cases, would trigger a complex restructuring of major elements of the federal response — and set the stage for the eventual shifting of greater responsibility for vaccines and treatments to the private market. It would kickstart a transition away from the White House-led crisis operation and toward treating the virus as a continuous long-term threat.”
Moderna Considers Price of $110-$130 for Covid-19 Vaccine “The expected price for commercial insurers would be significantly higher than the per-dose cost in Moderna’s supply contracts with the federal government. Moderna’s updated booster shots cost about $26 per dose in a federal supply contract signed in July 2022. The original vaccine cost about $15 to $16 per dose in earlier supply contracts”
COVID-19 vaccine acceptance increased globally in 2022 “ Global willingness to accept a COVID-19 vaccine increased from 75.2% in 2021 to 79.1% in 2022, according to a new survey of 23 countries that represent more than 60% of the world’s population… Vaccine acceptance decreased in eight countries however, and nearly one in eight vaccinated respondents were hesitant about receiving a booster dose.”
Chinese bank tries to entice wealthy customers with mRNA vaccines “A Chinese state-owned bank in Hong Kong is offering customers one shot of an mRNA vaccine if they make a deposit of HK$4mn ($512,000), as it seeks to entice mainland clients who have until now only had access to locally produced jabs. The BioNTech/Pfizer mRNA vaccine is not widely available on the mainland but has long been available for free to permanent residents of Hong Kong and Macau as Beijing allowed the two territories to pursue a different vaccination strategy.”
Better than a toaster?
About health insurance/insurers
China’s Covid patients face medical debt crisis as insurers refuse coverage “Chinese patients suffering from Covid-19 are struggling under mounting medical bills after state-backed health insurance schemes reduced or dropped coverage in response to an unprecedented wave of infections sweeping across the country. At least 14 Chinese cities and provinces have stopped providing free treatment for coronavirus after Beijing abruptly rolled back its zero-Covid strategy last month, according to local government announcements. For three years, Chinese patients had received subsidised care for the virus.”
Comment: Just because a country provides national health insurance, it doesn’t mean the insurance is adequate or that it is not subject to cutbacks in economically challenging times.
About pharma
FDA Increasingly Halting Human Trials as Companies Pursue Risky, Cutting-Edge Drugs “The Food and Drug Administration is pressing pause on drug-company testing of experimental medicines more often, a side effect of the industry’s move into promising but less-proven technologies.
The agency, which must sign off before companies can begin testing an experimental drug in people, has long used its authority to place holds on studies due to safety concerns. As biotechs pursue more cutting-edge cell and gene therapies, the FDA has been issuing more suspensions than it had, according to a Wall Street Journal review of FDA data on clinical holds, some of which was obtained through a Freedom of Information Act request.
The agency halted clinical trials for experimental drugs an average of 664 times each year from 2017 to 2021, up from 557 each of the previous five years, according to the review of agency data. Through mid-December last year, the FDA had placed 747 of the holds.”
Carbon Health nabs $100M, CVS Health partnership to pilot primary care in retail stores “Startup Carbon Health is partnering with CVS Health to pilot its primary and urgent care clinic model in the drugstore giant's retail stores.
CVS' corporate venture arm also led a $100 million investment to accelerate Carbon Health's expansion into new markets. The series D round will fuel Carbon Health's investment in technology and ramp up new value-based care arrangements, executives said in a press release.”
CVS exploring acquisition of Oak Street Health “According to people familiar with the matter, a deal could be reached within weeks that would value Oak Street at more than $10 billion, including debt.
But talks between the companies are ongoing and could end without an agreement, according to the sources, who asked not to be identified.
Oak Street Health runs primary care centers across the U.S. for recipients of Medicare and has private equity firms such as General Atlantic and Newlight Partners among its shareholders.”
U.S. Supreme Court rebuffs Pfizer plan to help patients pay for heart medication “The U.S. Supreme Court on Monday turned away Pfizer Inc's bid to revive its plan to cover out-of-pocket expenses of Medicare patients for drugs costing $225,000 a year to treat a rare heart condition after federal officials found that the drugmaker's arrangement could amount to illegal kickbacks.”
About healthcare IT
2022 year-end digital health funding: Lessons at the end of a funding cycle “2022’s total funding among US-based digital health startups amounted to $15.3B across 572 deals, with an average deal size of $27M. Not only did 2022’s annual funding total come in at just over half of 2021’s $29.3B2, but it also just squeaked past 2020’s $14.7B sum. Notably, 2022’s year’s Q4 $2.7B total was less than half of last year’s Q4 raise ($7.4B).”
About healthcare personnel
The fight over how to deliver bad news to patients This Politico article explores the downside of making test results immediately available to patients.