Gilead Accused Of ‘Slow-Walking’ HIV Therapy For More Profit

The New York Times:
How Gilead Profited By Slow-Walking A Promising H.I.V. Therapy

In 2004, Gilead Sciences decided to stop pursuing a new H.I.V. drug. The public explanation was that it wasn’t sufficiently different from an existing treatment to warrant further development. In private, though, something else was at play. Gilead had devised a plan to delay the new drug’s release to maximize profits, even though executives had reason to believe it might turn out to be safer for patients, according to a trove of internal documents made public in litigation against the company. (Robbins and Gay Stolberg, 7/22)

Reuters:
GSK’s HIV Prevention Drug Gets European Marketing Nod

GSK Plc (GSK.L) said on Monday that its HIV-focused unit ViiV Healthcare’s cabotegravir injected drug and tablets got marketing authorisation from the European Medicines Agency. Cabotegravir is recommended in combination with safer sex practices for pre-exposure prophylaxis to reduce the risk of sexually-acquired HIV-1 infection in high-risk adults and adolescents weighing at least 35 kilogrammes, the company said. (7/24)

In other industry news —

Axios:
Cosmetics Companies Take A Page From Precision Medicine’s Playbook

The power of genomics is already being harnessed to develop therapies customized to a patient’s biological makeup. Now, it’s being applied to cosmetics. L’Oreal is teaming up with Google life sciences spinout Verily to create a 10,000-person study to understand the biological, social, and environmental factors behind skin and hair health. (Reed, 7/24)

Modern Healthcare:
AI, Women’s Health Startups Get Funding Deals

The nonprofit Peterson Center for Healthcare launched a $50 million digital health venture on Tuesday. The Peterson Health Technology Institute will provide independent analyses of digital health technologies that consider factors such as clinical benefits, economic impacts, privacy, equity and security. The institute will publish reports on tech ranging from artificial intelligence to provider enablement tools, but will not evaluate direct-to-consumer products, Peterson Center on Healthcare Executive Director Caroline Pearson told Crain’s New York Business. The organization’s work will help health insurers, providers and investors assess potential purchases, she said. (Perna and Turner, 7/21)

Fortune:
Ozempic Manufacturer Novo Nordisk Spent $11 Million Last Year ‘Wining And Dining’ Doctors. Experts Slam The Move As A Breach Of Doctor-Patient Trust

Experts are sounding the alarm after a report that popular weight-loss injectable manufacturer Novo Nordisk spent $11 million last year on meals and travel for thousands of prescribing doctors. The company purchased more than 457,000 meals—at a total price of more than $9 million—to educate prescribers about Wegovy and other similar drugs it sells, known as GLP-1 agonists, according to a July 5 STAT report. (Prater, 7/21)

Reuters:
Verrica’s Drug Gets US Nod As First Treatment For A Type Of Skin Infection

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Verrica Pharmaceuticals Inc’s treatment of a viral skin infection in adults and children aged 2 years and above, the company said on Friday. The green light for Verrica’s drug, Ycanth, makes it the first approved treatment for viral skin disease molluscum contagiosum in the United States. (Roy and Mandowara, 7/21)

Reuters:
Roche Enters Partnership With Alnylam For Hypertension Therapy

Swiss pharmaceutical group Roche said on Monday it had entered into a partnership with U.S. biopharmaceutical company Alnylam to co-develop and co-commercialise zilebesiran, a therapy to treat hypertension in patients with high cardiovascular risk. Under terms of agreement, which provides Roche with exclusive commercialisation rights outside of the United States and joint commercialisation rights within the country, Alnylam would receive an upfront payment of $310 million, Roche said. (7/24)

Reuters:
Bavarian Nordic Ends RSV Vaccine Programme After Poor Trial Results 

Denmark-based Bavarian Nordic said on Saturday it was ending its respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine programme as its Phase 3 clinical trial did not meet all the primary goals of preventing lower respiratory tract disease. RSV is a common respiratory virus that usually causes mild, cold-like symptoms but can also lead to serious illness and hospitalisation. The market for RSV vaccines could exceed $10 billion by 2030, according to analysts. (7/22)

Reuters:
Pfizer To End License Deal With Syros For Blood Disorder Therapies

Syros Pharmaceuticals said on Friday Pfizer will terminate a license deal between the companies related to the development of novel therapies for two blood disorders. Shares of Syros were down 5.7% in trading after the bell. The termination will end the company’s more than three-year long collaboration with sickle cell disease drugmaker Global Blood Therapeutics that Pfizer bought in a $5.4 billion deal last August. (7/21)

Also —

NPR:
Messaging Your Doctor Through A Patient Portal Might Cost You

If you wanted to talk with your doctor before the pandemic, you generally had to schedule an in-person appointment. But the sudden, rapid expansion of telehealth means patients generally can now text or email their health care providers. “When you wanted to get a Zoom visit or an audio visit, you needed to sign up for the patient portal, and I think a lot of people became aware that they could message for the first time” during the pandemic, says A Jay Holmgren, a researcher in health care information technology at the University of California San Francisco. (Noguchi, 7/21)

Stat:
Providers Still Hesitate To Prescribe Buprenorphine, Study Finds

Significant challenges remain before most American clinicians feel comfortable treating patients with buprenorphine, according to a new study. While the federal government’s recent moves to deregulate buprenorphine have led to a bump in new prescribers, it didn’t lead to a significant bump in overall prescribing volume. Many health care providers still see prescribing buprenorphine as difficult, or simply have little interest in using the medication, according to the study. (Facher, 7/21)

Stat:
Pharma Companies Call On Suppliers To Reduce Carbon Footprints

As anxiety mounts over climate change, seven of the world’s largest drugmakers urged dozens of their suppliers to outline targets they expect them to reach over the next few years in order to reduce carbon footprints. In explaining their action, the companies — GSK, Sanofi, Roche, AstraZeneca, Novo Nordisk, Samsung Biologics, and Merck KGaA — noted that the health care sector contributes approximately 5% of global greenhouse gas emissions, with around half of this coming from healthcare supply chains. (Silverman, 7/21)

CNN:
Medical Professionals React A Year After The Roe V. Wade Reversal

CNN spoke with doctors and medical professionals who responded to a request for stories about how people’s lives have changed in the wake of the ruling. Those who responded all shared stories of their professional lives being disrupted by abortion bans and severe restrictions — including in Idaho and Arizona. Some no longer want to practice in states with limitations on the procedure. Others worry about the safety of their patients as more bans loom in the future. (Chowdhury, 7/23)

Modern Healthcare:
Nursing Schools Embrace Quality, Safety Education Initiatives

With hospitals experiencing an increase in adverse events and patient harm in recent years, nursing schools are introducing their students to concepts of safety and care quality as key aspects of their learning. Educators should make competency in such areas a top priority for physicians and nurses, especially because health systems are still dealing with the detrimental effects of widespread staffing shortages and training disruptions, said Patricia McGaffigan, vice president of the Institute for Healthcare Improvement. (Devereaux, 7/21)