About hospitals and healthcare systems
Best Children’s Hospitals by Specialty U.S. News just issued its annual ranking.
About pharma
Novo Nordisk, Mylan settle generic Ozempic dispute A potential future thorn in Novo Nordisk's side was preemptively removed this month after the Danish drugmaker reached a settlement with Mylan Pharmaceuticals and Natco Pharma over a generic version of its blockbuster diabetes drug, Ozempic (semaglutide).
Even though Ozempic isn't set to lose patent exclusivity in the US until 2032, Novo initiated a patent infringement lawsuit against Mylan, now part of Viatris, over a year ago.”
Compounders sue FDA for removing Eli Lilly's tirzepatide from shortage list “With an estimated 2 million people in the United States taking copycat versions of Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk’s incretin hormone drugs, compounding pharmacies have suddenly thrived from their ability to help meet the booming demand for these products.
But last week, when the FDA removed Lilly’s tirzepatide from its drug shortage list, it erased the compounders’ qualification to manufacture one of their two new cash cows.”
Comment: The only reason compounders were allowed to make those products was an exception in case of FDA declared shortages.
IQVIA Global Oncology Trends 2024: Outlook to 2028 “Key findings:
Cancer incidence is expected to rise significantly through 2050, particularly in lower-income countries, potentially increasing by more than 12 million new cases annually to 32 million.
Global spending on cancer medicine increased to $223 billion in 2023, $25 billion more than 2022, and is projected to reach $409 billion by 2028.
In 2023, 25 oncology novel active substances (NASs) were launched globally, making a total of 193 since 2014 – however, large geographic variations exist in availability of these medicines.
More than 2,000 new oncology clinical trials started in 2023 with novel modalities and significant promise for cancer treatment, including cell and gene therapies, antibody-drug conjugates, multispecific antibodies, and radioligand therapies.
Cancer treatments have increased 9% annually since 2019 but the pace of bringing novel therapies to patients is uneven due to differences in biomarker testing rates, adoption of novel therapies and lack of infrastructure capacity to deliver some of the most advanced therapies.
About the public’s health
In landmark move, EPA requires removal of all U.S. lead pipes in a decade “The Environmental Protection Agency finalized a rule Tuesday requiring water utilities to replace all lead pipes within a decade, a move aimed at eliminating a toxic threat that continues to affect tens of thousands of American children each year.
The move, which also tightens the amount of lead allowed in the nation’s drinking water, comes nearly 40 years after Congress determined that lead pipes posed a serious risk to public health and banned them in new construction.”
Supreme Court declines to intervene in Texas emergency abortion case “The Supreme Court on Monday refused to require doctors in Texas to perform certain emergency abortions when the procedure would conflict with the state’s strict abortion ban.
The justices left in place a lower-court ruling that rejected the Biden administration’s claim that federal law requires access to emergency abortion care even in states that restrict the procedure.”
U.S. Supreme Court won’t hear appeal from Alabama IVF clinics “The U.S. Supreme Court Monday declined to review an Alabama case that sparked a national debate over the availability of in vitro fertilization (IVF) treatments.
The Center for Reproductive Medicine and Mobile Infirmary Medical Center filed a petition in August challenging a February Alabama Supreme Court ruling that frozen embryos were minor children under an 1872 law.
The decision forced several clinics to temporarily halt services and sparked widespread criticism. The Alabama Legislature in March approved a bill granting clinics criminal and civil immunity in the course of providing IVF treatments.”
About healthcare IT
California to require physician oversight of AI-driven health insurance decisions “The bill establishes requirements for health plans using AI or other software tools for utilization review and management decisions. The tools must rely on a patient's medical and clinical history and not override provider decisions — any violations could result in legal consequences. The bill also prohibits AI, algorithms, or software tools from making decisions based solely on group data or discriminating against patients in violation of state or federal laws. Tools must also be open for audit or compliance reviews.”
John Hopfield and Geoffrey Hinton awarded Nobel Prize in physics “The academy honored Hinton, a computer scientist, and Hopfield, a physicist, “for foundational discoveries and inventions that enable machine learning with artificial neural networks.” While the laureates have made waves in computer science, their work relies on physics principles.”