Amid speculation he is considering a 2026 run for California governor, HHS.gov Secretary Xavier Becerra says he will stay in current role 'as long as the President lets me.'

Good ol AC...

This is weird.

Medicare estimates $3.5 billion cost on Alzheimer's drug Leqembi. Which is several times what Wall Street and the company expect.

By ⁦Bob Herman⁩ and ⁦Rachel Cohrs Zhang⁩.

(Personally I would bet on a lower number here…) statnews.com/2024/04/11/med…

European Parliament adopts pharma legislative revamp by wide margin - endpts.com/european-parli…

A patchwork of state AI laws is creating 'a mess' for US businesses yahoo.trib.al/YIOymV7 by Alexis Keenan

Over a year after biosimilars started competing, AbbVie still holds 96% of Humira market, report says - endpts.com/over-a-year-af…

HCA reports almost $1 billion more in charity care to Medicare than to its shareholders, drawing more taxpayer money statnews.com/2024/04/08/hca… via STAT Tara Bannow

In study of cancer drugs granted accelerated approval from 2013 to 2017, 41% did not improve overall survival or quality of life in confirmatory trials after more than 5 years of follow-up.

jamanetwork.com/journals/jama/…

Putting the rise of WuXi Biologics in perspective (w/CRO backlog as an indicator of future success)

WuXi's backlog has gone from:
- $241 million at end of 2016 to
- $20.6 billion at end of 2023

The No Surprises Act was supposed to eliminate surprise bills & ↓ health care costs, on the assumption that prices emerging from arbitration would resemble prior in-network rates.

Yet in new analysis w/ Matt Fiedler, we find that arbitration decisions are coming in much higher

New trial results add to the growing body of data that suggests GLP-1 drugs may also be helpful in treating Parkinson’s
statnews.com/2024/04/03/par…

Novo Nordisk's blockbuster drug #Ozempic is the latest target in Sen. Bernie Sanders’ quest to lower drug costs, but it’s unlikely the political pressure campaign will make a dent on the manufacturer to slash prices, some drug pricing observers say. news.bloomberglaw.com/health-law-and…

Eli Lilly’s weight-loss drug Zepbound is in shortage in the US, the FDA says trib.al/HFWzvF4

Finally!
Peter was a generous and reliable source, to not just me but many of the biggest newsrooms/health reporters in the country, during the pandemic. Great to finally meet in person after all the correspondence.

Scoop: CDC, FDA, ASPR and USDA briefed Congress on avian flu today.

CDC's Demetre Daskalakis said on the call that while the health risk to the public is low, people with long exposure to infected birds or livestock may be at greater risk of infection.

politico.com/news/2024/04/0…

Additional drugmakers flag risks of working with WuXi amid heightened US scrutiny — $MRK $GILD - endpts.com/additional-dru…

Covid is changing faster than the flu, so expect updated vaccine and guidance on Covid shots for the Fall, per Mandy K. Cohen, MD, MPH.

'Flu is very seasonally oriented. Covid does not seem to follow as tight of a seasonal pattern.'

EXCLUSIVE: The Biden administration is aiming to tackle rampant drug shortages with a new multibillion-dollar plan for Congress to pressure hospitals into paying more for higher-quality💊generic medicines💊

bloomberg.com/news/articles/… via Bloomberg