// Biotech and Pharma Therapeutics
Amgen’s Biosimilar Trends Report shows benefit of competition from biosimilars
Competition created by biosimilars has delivered $9.8bn in savings over five years and could reduce patients’ out-of-pocket costs by $238m
www.pmlive.com
Novartis, determined to dethrone Pfizer, will launch bold Kisqali-Ibrance head-to-head trial in breast cancer
Despite two life extension wins, Novartis still finds it difficult to convince doctors to use its breast cancer drug Kisqali over Pfizer’s first-to-market Ibrance. Now, with a third survival victory under its belt, the Swiss pharma is determined to overthrow its rival—and it’s launching an ambitious…
www.fiercepharma.com
Amgen to collab with Verastem on KRAS combination treatment
Agreement will evaluate Verastem’s dual RAF/MEK inhibitor with Amgen’s KRAS G12C inhibitor
www.pharmatimes.com
// 4th Industrial Revolution
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Apple’s Latest iOS Has A New Feature To Help Improve Healthcare Outcomes
Multiple large EHR systems are already working to integrate this feature into their platforms.
www.forbes.com
UnitedHealthcare members to get access to Apple Fitness+
The Apple Fitness+ platform offers 11 different workout styles from high-intensity interval training to yoga.
www.mobihealthnews.com
Diabetes AI adjustable for surveilling other public health concerns
They will be trialling Ibex Medical Analytics AI technology which aims to reduce diagnostic errors by using clinical-grade solutions to detect cancer.
aiin.healthcare
The Irish scientist ‘building’ body parts in Australia
BioFab3D is a state-of-the-art bioengineering research, education and training hub. It is equipped with advanced technology, such as 3D bioprinters and tissue bioreactors, and brings researchers and clinicians together to develop and produce replacement body parts.
www.irishtimes.com
// Business & Markets
Digital mental health startup Meru Health bags $38M
Meru said the funds will be used to grow nationwide, add employer and payer partnerships, and expand its coaching service.
www.mobihealthnews.com
14 health systems invest in digital health startup Xealth
Xealth, a digital health startup spun out of Renton, Wash.-based Providence in 2017, has garnered 14 health system investors to date.
www.beckershospitalreview.com
Virpax raises $40M to use delivery systems to improve pain drugs
Virpax Pharmaceuticals crept onto public markets earlier this year, grossing $18 million to support its work to use delivery systems to improve pain drugs. After seeing its share price soar in response to progress against COVID-19, Virpax filed to raise more money—only for its stock to come crashing…
www.fiercepharma.com
// Legal & Regulatory
Insurers sue Merck for ‘monopolistic scheme’ to delay generics of blockbuster cholesterol drug
The suits allege an agreement between Merck and a generic manufacturer kept low-cost versions of the drugmaker’s widely used Zetia off the market for years.
www.biopharmadive.com
CDC Breaks with Advisory Panel on Boosters, Recommends Broader Access | BioSpace
A day after the FDA authorized a COVID-19 booster dose of the Pfizer-BioNTech vaccine, a U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention advisory committee voted in support.
www.biospace.com
FDA authorizes software that can help identify prostate cancer
Today, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration authorized marketing of software to assist medical professionals who examine body tissues (pathologists)
www.worldpharmanews.com
Pharma in the Courts: Takeda, AbbVie, RedHill, Pfizer and Gilead
The fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes is dominating pharma legal news this week, but there are other court-related cases taking place, including a ruling in the legal spat between Takeda and AbbVie over a supply agreement for the prostate cancer drug, Lupron.
www.pharmalive.com
// Research & Development
Engineers grow pancreatic ‘organoids’ that mimic the real thing: Studying these organoids could help researchers develop and test new treatments for pancreatic cancer, one of the deadliest types of cancer
Engineers developed a way to grow tiny replicas of the pancreas, using either healthy or cancerous pancreatic cells. Their models could help researchers develop and test potential drugs for pancreatic cancer.
www.sciencedaily.com
Positive results for Lynparza plus abiraterone in metastatic prostate cancer
AstraZeneca and MSD have announced positive results for their PARP inhibitor Lynparza (olaparib) in combination with abiraterone as a first-line treatment for metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer (mCRPC) patients, with or without homologous recombination repair (HRR) gene mutations.
www.pharmatimes.com
Scientific study finds music can ‘tune out pain’ -
Scientific study backed by Reckitt Benckiser painkiller brand Nurofen suggests music can ‘tune out pain.’
pharmaphorum.com
Retail pharmacies: The key to making clinical trials accessible for everybody? - MedCity News
Covid-19, if nothing else, has forced the hands of the clinical research community and we have discovered the possibilities for taking giant leaps forward in healthcare by leveraging modern technologies, existing retail infrastructure, and one another.
medcitynews.com
Repairing heart damage by transiently turning back the clock
A research team led by scientists at the Max Planck Institute for Heart and Lung Research has proposed a promising new method to give the heart regenerative capabilities. It involves transiently returning adult cardiomyocytes to a fetal-like state by selectively expressing four genes.
www.fiercebiotech.com
// Politics
Senate broadens its plans to penalize pharma for hiking drug prices
A key Senate committee is planning to ensure drug companies get penalized for hiking prices for patients who have job-based insurance.
www.statnews.com
A Biden health policy retrospective: Implications for healthcare innovation
President Joe Biden entered office during the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic and, as such, the new Administration began with a laser focus on curbing the uncontrolled spread of the virus and rising death rate. Healthcare reform more broadly had been a dominant issue during the presidential race as well.
www.mobihealthnews.com
Medicare Takes On Big Pharma in New Biden Plan
President Joe Biden has called on Congress today to pass legislation that will lower the costs of prescription drug prices. A linchpin in the plan: allowing Medicare to negotiate with pharmaceutical companies to lower drug prices for seniors.
finance.yahoo.com
Elijah E. Cummins Lower Drug Costs Now Act: The Long and Winding Road to Drug Pricing Reform
The Proposal would require that 125 brand-name drugs that cost Medicare the most to be subject to negotiation by Medicare, with a cap on the price for each drug set at 120% of the average price paid in six other countries.
www.natlawreview.com
