Tag: medications

Doctors on key US health task force accused of prioritizing DEI over evidence-based medicine

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An “independent” advisory panel of non-federal experts determining which preventative healthcare services insurers must cover is accused of being staffed with doctors who have shown a propensity to prioritize “woke” left-wing diversity, equity and inclusion ideals in their work, as opposed to evidence-based science.

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF), an all-volunteer panel of doctors who serve four-year terms appointed by the Secretary of Health, is made up of experts in preventative medicine, which includes services like screening tests, immunizations, behavioral counseling, and medications that can prevent the development or worsening of health conditions. One of the task force’s primary functions is to weigh the efficacy and cost-benefit of such preventative care services, recommendations for which are then used to shape what preventative care services insurance providers must cover.

The task force’s ability to make these healthcare recommendations, coupled with what appears to be a membership largely made up of left-wing, DEI proponents, has raised concerns about how the task force could be impacting healthcare.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July that sources with knowledge of Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s thinking said he was planning to dismiss all 16 members of the USPSTF for being too “woke.”

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RFK Jr. speaks at the 2025 Rx and Illicit Drug Summit at Gaylord Opryland Resort and Convention Center in Nashville, Tenn., Thursday, April 24, 2025. (© Nicole Hester / The Tennessean / USA TODAY NETWORK)

“HHS has been made aware of the ideological issues with members of the USPSTF raised by letters from Senate Republicans, members of the GOP Doctors Caucus, and a large group of physicians including Associations of American Physicians and Surgeons, America’s Frontline Doctors, and the Pennsylvania Direct Primary Care Association. HHS is troubled by these allegations and is investigating further,” Emily Hilliard, a Health and Human Services Department spokesperson told Fox News Digital when asked about Kennedy’s plans for the future of the current USPSTF.

Meanwhile, others, including the GOP Doctors Caucus and major physician groups including the Association of American Physicians and Surgeons, have also raised alarm bells about potential left-wing bias at the USPSTF. One group that has also raised alarm bells about the USPSTF is the conservative watchdog group known as the American Accountability Foundation (AAF), which just released a new report claiming the USPSTF “has been thoroughly hijacked by left-wing partisans for the purpose of weaponizing science to spread leftist ideology.”

The AAF report points to Dr. Michael Silverstein, the task force’s current chairman, who, in 2023, said that USPSTF is “dedicated to … addressing critical issues of health equity” after he was re-appointed to the task force’s leadership team under the Biden administration. As Vice Chair of the task force in 2023, Silverstein co-authored an annual report to Congress highlighting a new partnership with the Gay and Lesbian Medical Association (GLMA) aimed at helping the task force be more “inclusive.”

The partnership, according to the report to Congress, was meant to help develop “new recommendations on screening for anxiety disorders, and other conditions that affect LGBTQ+ communities to enhance the health, wellness, and quality of life of their patients.”

Other recommendations from the USPSTF that have come down in the last several years include a 2022 recommendation denoting the need for physicians to consider race when screening for anxiety in children and adolescents. A more recent recommendation, published in April, said that doctors should pay special attention to breastfeeding in black mothers due to the “lasting psychological impact and stigma of enslaved Black women being forced to act as wet nurses.”

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Denver, CO – APRIL 25 : Medical doctor Alia Broman, right, examines a 6 years old patient at Denver Health in Denver, Colorado on Thursday, April 25, 2024. (Hyoung Chang/The Denver Post))

Meanwhile, a 2021 report from the USPSTF, on addressing sex and gender when making preventative healthcare recommendations, included an analysis of how gender-specific terminology, as opposed to “gender-neutral” terminology, could play a role in addressing the needs of “diverse populations.” Think “pregnant people” versus “pregnant mother,” a switch that eventually became part of the task force’s official guidelines.

“To advance its methods, the USPSTF reviewed its past recommendations that included the use of sex and gender terms, reviewed the approaches of other guideline-making bodies, and pilot tested strategies to address sex and gender diversity,” the report states. “Based on the findings, the USPSTF intends to use an inclusive approach to identify issues related to sex and gender at the start of the guideline development process; assess the applicability, variability, and quality of evidence as a function of sex and gender; ensure clarity in the use of language regarding sex and gender; and identify evidence gaps related to sex and gender.”

Another major achievement towards the task force’s mission to advance “health equity” was the release of a 2024 “Health Equity Framework” aimed at embedding gender theory and other left-wing ideologies into its operations.

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In addition to the work the task force has done, its members also have an extensive history of publishing research that focuses on “health equity” and other DEI components, such as how race impacts certain health outcomes, or how to address sex and gender when making recommendations for clinical preventative services.

“National Institutes of Health Pathways to Prevention Workshop: Achieving Health Equity in Preventive Services,” is the title of a scientific research report co-authored by task force rank-and-file member, Dr. Sandra Millon Underwood. “Further Incorporating Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion Into Medical Education Research,” and “Health Equity Starts with Us: Recommendations from the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute Racial Justice and Health Equity Task Force,” were also reports co-authored by members of the USPSTF.

“Antiracist initiatives, such as incorporating community-support persons (e.g., lay doulas) into maternity care for Black people, can reduce disparities in outcomes by addressing both interpersonal racism and the lack of workforce diversity caused by structural racism,” stated a May 2024 research paper co-authored by USPSTF rank-and-file member Dr. Alicia Fernandez.

The U.S. Preventative Services Task Force (USPSTF) has been accused of being infiltrated by “woke” leftists, with sources familiar with Heath Secretary Robert F. Kennedy saying he has plans to fire all 16 of them. (iStock; Getty Images)

Members of the supposedly “independent” USPSTF have also used their positions of expertise to fight Trump administration priorities as well, such as those around abortion and research funding reforms.

For example, Dr. David Chelmow, another task force member, has appeared in several physician-backed American Civil Liberties Union memos about efforts opposing the Trump administration, including one challenging Trump’s efforts to implement greater protections around the mail-order abortion drug called mifepristone, which many pro-life OBGYN’s have warned is dangerous if not dispensed in-person. In March, Dr. Carlos Roberto Jaen, another task force member, signed a letter alongside 1,900 others accusing the Trump administration of weakening US research capacity and endangering Americans.

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When making recommendations for preventative care services, the USPSTF assigns a letter grade, A, B, C, D, or I.

Any service given an “A” or “B” grade, is required to be covered by private insurers under a mandate in the Affordable Care Act (ACA). These grades are also tied to coverage requirements for public insurers, like Medicare and Medicaid.

In 2019, the task force gave the precautionary anti-HIV drug Preexposure Prophylaxis (PrEP) an “A” grade, guidelines for which were later clarified in 2023. The task force’s current Vice Chair, Dr. John Wong, also co-authored a 2017 paper on how scaling-up the use of PrEP can help reduce the prevalence of HIV among gay men. But, according to AAF, the active promotion of PrEP creates an atmosphere of dangerous sexual activity that risks public health dangers due to what the foundation says is promotion of risky sexual behaviors. Additionally, at least one Christian-owned business has argued that forcing insurance providers to cover medication that promotes risky sexual behaviors violates their rights.

Earlier this summer, the Supreme Court weighed in on whether the USPSTF’s authority to compel coverage of preventative healthcare it gives either an “A” or “B” grade was unconstitutional. The group that brought the case, Braidwood Management Inc., initially objected on religious grounds to the ACA requirement that insurance providers cover certain HIV-prevention medications for which the task force has issued an “A” recommendation, specifically PrEP. However, the case ultimately morphed into a question over the legitimacy of USPSTF’s recommendation authority, and whether the circumvention of Senate approval for its members was allowed by the Constitutions Article II clause on advise and consent.

The facade of the Supreme Court building at dusk is shown in this photo. (Drew Angerer/Getty Images)

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Both the Biden and Trump administrations have taken up the argument that the Health Secretary alone has ultimate control over whether to appoint or fire USPSTF members. The Trump administration also argued in its briefs to the High Court that the Secretary had the authority to block, or rescind, task force recommendations as well, according to SCOUTS Blog.

Ultimately, the Supreme Court voted 6-3, in favor of the federal government’s argument that the appointment process for the USPSTF, and therefore its legitimacy, did not violate the Constitution.

Shortly after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Braidwood case, Health Secretary Kennedy reportedly postponed a long-scheduled task force meeting of the USPSTF, which was the same move he made before firing every member of the Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices (ACIP), the main federal entity that helps craft federal vaccine policy. Kennedy has long been a critic of conventional vaccination policies and practices.

The Wall Street Journal reported in July, not long after the Supreme Court’s decision in the Braidwood case, that sources familiar with Kennedy’s thinking said he was planning to dismiss all 16 members of the USPSTF for being too “woke.”

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October 23, 2025
Donald Trump’s Big Pharma Showdown Ends with a Whimper

It’s hard to find things that Donald Trump and Bernie Sanders agree on, but one point of consensus is that pharmaceutical companies have long been ripping off Americans by charging extortionate prices for prescription medications. “Americans are being screwed, and it’s no good. They’re not going to put up with it,” Trump said in February, at a White House event. In May, he issued an executive order declaring that the Administration would impose lower prices by fiat if drugmakers didn’t align their U.S. prices with what they charge in other countries. “I agree with President Trump,” Sanders commented in a statement. “It is an outrage that the American people pay, by far, the highest prices in the world for prescription drugs.”

In addition to threatening to introduce price controls, the Trump Administration was preparing the way for tariffs on drugs and their ingredients, many of which come from abroad. Wall Street paid attention to these threats. Between Trump’s election last November and the beginning of April, a period in which the stock market as a whole rose sharply, drug stocks fell by about twenty per cent. That was then. Last week, the President, standing alongside the C.E.O. of Pfizer, Albert Bourla, announced plans for a government-run website, TrumpRx, on which Pfizer would list some of its drugs at prices discounted up to eighty-five per cent. A White House fact sheet said the Administration and Pfizer, the world’s fourth-largest pharmaceutical company by revenue, had reached an agreement to “bring American drug prices in line with the lowest paid by other developed nations (known as the most-favored-nation, or MFN, price).” Wasn’t this more bad news for drugmakers? Investors didn’t think so. In two days, Pfizer’s shares jumped up by fourteen per cent. The stocks of other pharmaceutical companies also rose strongly based on predictions that they would strike similar deals. By the end of the week, the S. & P. Pharmaceuticals Select Industry Index had surpassed its November high.

A closer inspection of the Pfizer agreement shows that Trump has turned out to be a paper tiger. “It’s a lot of nothing,” Craig Garthwaite, the director of the health-care program at Northwestern’s Kellogg School of Management, told me. “For most people, it will have very little effect on drug prices.” Rena Conti, an economist and expert on the biopharmaceutical industry who works at Boston University’s Questrom School of Business, issued a similar assessment: “Top line is: it’s a win for Pfizer, but not a win for American patients.” Rather than radically restructuring drug pricing and distribution, the agreement amounted to “fiddling around the edges,” she said.

In the American drug industry, practically anything that preserves the status quo is a victory for Big Pharma firms, which, according to a study by the Journal of the American Medical Association, boast a net profit margin of 13.8 per cent compared to 7.7 per cent for S. & P. 500 companies in other sectors. Years ago, I asked a senior executive at a prominent drugmaker why it employed so many lobbyists in Washington. After looking at me as if I were a naïf, he explained that the industry generated most of its revenues and the vast majority of its profits in the U.S. In other countries, such as Britain and France, companies were forced to negotiate the prices they charged with government-run or single-payer health-care systems that have a lot of bargaining leverage. But in this country—where health care is balkanized and the largest public drug-buyer in the U.S., Medicare, was legally prevented from negotiating with drugmakers—the industry was able to charge much higher prices. It was well worth paying an army of lobbyists to try to preserve this privileged position.

Between 1998 and the middle of this year, according to data from OpenSecrets, a public-interest group that tracks money in politics, Big Pharma spent more than $6.3 billion on lobbying. During that period, the most significant reform related to drug pricing came in the Inflation Reduction Act of 2022, which empowered Medicare to haggle prices with drug companies. In principle, this was a landmark development, but the negotiated prices won’t go into effect until next year and will initially apply to just ten prescription drugs, out of thousands. (In subsequent years, the number is scheduled to grow.) If Trump was really determined to stand up to Big Pharma, he would be pressing for a rapid expansion of this initiative, but he isn’t doing that. And, even if he did, he would have to corral Republicans in Congress to support the new legislation required, which certainly wouldn’t be easy: the I.R.A. was passed without a single G.O.P. vote.

In place of real reform, we now have the Pfizer agreement, and its headline proposal to launch TrumpRx. In a press release about the deal, Pfizer said it would offer many of its primary-care medications at prices averaging half their list prices. This sounded promising, but industry analysts quickly pointed out that about ninety per cent of Americans get their prescribed medications through insurance plans. For these people, it would still likely be cheaper to get the drugs the traditional way and pay the co-payment. Garthwaite said buying drugs through TrumpRx could conceivably benefit “a small subset of people,” principally among the population that doesn’t have any insurance coverage. But many medications would still be prohibitively expensive. Conti calculated that, even with Pfizer’s announced forty-per-cent discount for Xeljanz, a popular treatment for arthritis and other inflammatory diseases, it could still cost patients more than fifteen thousand dollars a year.

John Cassidy

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October 6, 2025
DC residents can now get a COVID-19 shot without a prescription – WTOP News

Emergency legislation signed by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser will authorize licensed pharmacies to administer COVID-19 vaccinations without a prescription.

Emergency legislation signed this week by D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser will authorize licensed pharmacies to administer COVID-19 vaccinations without a prescription.

Changes in federal recommendations this year made it a requirement for those who wanted the COVID-19 vaccine to get a prescription first, unless a person was 65 or older or was considered at risk. The Centers for Disease Control’s immunization schedule lists the 2024-25 COVID-19 vaccine, but not the 2025-26 version — leaving the newer shots subject to a prescription requirement.

That has resulted in several states resorting to implementing their own policies to negate the need for a prescription, which was not required in previous years since the pandemic.

“D.C. will now match both Maryland and Virginia, so that residents don’t have to travel out of state to be able to get access to the vaccine,” said At-Large Council member Christina Henderson, who chairs the Committee on Health.

Glad we’re one step closer to joining our neighbors Maryland and Virginia on this. It’s important that our region continues to have access to safe and effective vaccines without unnecessary barriers. https://t.co/J99RK8Wmda

— Christina Henderson (@chenderson) September 18, 2025

It was her bill that was passed 12-0 by the council and signed by Mayor Bowser.

Eligible Virginians also now have an easier time getting vaccines due to an order issued by the Virginia Department of Health two weeks ago. Neighboring Maryland will also protect access to vaccines for all of its residents with flu season approaching.

“The D.C. Department of Insurance Securities and Banking has required that all insurance plans in the District continue to cover all vaccines that were approved as of last December through 2026,” Henderson added.

Henderson is concerned that the current administration is not focused on proven, health-based practices.

“I do wish that the federal government would get back on track in terms of truly following the science, as opposed to these associations not correlations that they are seeing in research,” she said.

She pointed to President Donald Trump’s announcement this week that pregnant women should not take Tylenol because he said — without any supporting scientific evidence — that there is a link between acetaminophen and autism in children. The maker of Tylenol, Kenvue, as well as numerous scientific groups immediately and forcefully rebuked that claim.

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© 2025 WTOP. All Rights Reserved. This website is not intended for users located within the European Economic Area.

Alan Etter

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September 24, 2025
Young children with ADHD are being medicated too quickly, study says

Pediatricians are too quick to prescribe medication for young children with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder, a new analysis shows.

The American Academy of Pediatrics recommends behavioral therapy for at least six months after an ADHD diagnosis in preschool age children, but doctors often prescribe stimulants as a first-line strategy, according to the study, published Friday in JAMA Network.

“That’s concerning, because we know starting ADHD treatment with a behavioral approach is beneficial; it has a big positive effect on the child as well as on the family,” said Dr. Yair Bannett, the study’s lead author and an assistant professor of pediatrics at Stanford Medicine.

ADHD stimulant medications are less effective for preschool-aged children. Children under 6 cannot fully metabolize the medications and have an increased chance for side effects, which may include decreased appetite, difficulty sleeping, emotional outbursts, irritability and repetitive behaviors or thoughts, according to the AAP.

“We don’t have concerns about the toxicity of the medications for 4- and 5-year-olds, but we do know that there is a high likelihood of treatment failure, because many families decide the side effects outweigh the benefits,” Bannett said.

The study analyzed data from more than 700,000 children across eight health systems in the United States. More than 9,700 of those children were diagnosed with ADHD when they were 4 or 5.

About two-thirds of those children were prescribed ADHD medication before age 7, with more than 42% of them receiving medication within 30 days of diagnosis, according to the study.

The researchers reported especially high rates of early medication in white children, likely due to the fact that Black, Hispanic and Asian children were less likely to receive an ADHD diagnosis, according to the study.

Children with publicly funded health insurance through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program were more likely to receive medication earlier than children with private insurance. Systemic barriers to evidence-based behavioral therapies and specialists may explain this finding, the researchers said.

“Behavioral treatment works on the child’s surroundings: the parents’ actions and the routine the child has,” Bannett said.

For young children, the APA recommends giving behavioral interventions six months to see if they are effective before jumping to medication. The APA recommends behavioral interventions in combination with medication in older children.

Approximately 7 million children in the U.S. have ADHD. That is about 1 in every 10 children, ages 3 to 17, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

ADHD symptoms include difficulty maintaining focus, hyperactivity and impulsivity, according to the American Psychiatric Association.

Courtenay Harris Bond

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September 2, 2025
American Heart Association discusses best methods for managing hypertension

The American Heart Association recently gathered experts worldwide to debut their latest preliminary studies on high blood pressure at the Hypertension Scientific sessions. One conference session was a debate between three medical professionals on which method was the best for managing hypertension. Each doctor shared the pros and cons of all three methods. The biggest lesson the doctors wanted to educate the crowd on is utilizing all means necessary to handle a severe issue facing most people in America.

“Hypertension is the leading risk factor for cardiovascular death and disability. Each of these positions has merit in the right patient population. Suppose we’re going to make a dent in resistant hypertension in this country. In that case, we must utilize every tool in our toolkit,” said Dr. Jenifer Cluette, assistant professor of medicine at Harvard Medical School and medical director of the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

The hypertension management debate happened on September 5 at the AHA’s Hypertension Scientific Sessions in Chicago, IL. The hypertension management debate involved Dr. Cluette, Dr Debbie Cohen, professor of medicine at the University of Pennsylvania, and Dr. Stephen Juraschek, associate professor at Harvard University. According to AHA, Hypertension is when the force of blood flowing through your blood vessels continues to be too high over time. Being diagnosed with hypertension requires managing your blood pressure to live.

Medical professionals can measure blood pressure based on the systolic and diastolic blood pressure numbers. Systolic blood pressure is the amount of pressure during the heart’s contraction, while diastolic measures the pressure when the heart is relaxed. The systolic will always be higher than the diastolic, so blood pressure results are displayed as a fraction, EX: 115 over 75. The AHA explains that if your systolic blood pressure goes over 130 and your diastolic crosses 80, you may be diagnosed with hypertension.

Medications, lifestyle changes (eating better and exercising), and renal denervation were the three methods discussed during the debate. The last method is a procedure that became FDA-approved in November 2023. Renal denervation involves a catheter inserted in the groin going up to the renal arteries and destroying the nerves connected to the kidneys that signal an increase in high blood pressure. Dr. Cluett argued for medications, Dr. Cohen argued for renal denervation, and Dr Jurascheck argued for lifestyle changes.

Dr Cluette led the debate, explaining why medication was the most applicable method among the three. She highlighted the practicality of medication by presenting that the only barrier people have with them is taking their medication as scheduled. She moved further on the practical point by breaking down the challenges with exercising and healthy eating. The Havard professor shared that 150 min of exercise a week is required to lower blood pressure. That may be hard for those with multiple jobs or caring for loved ones like children and older adults. A healthy diet is not as feasible as one thinks because people who live in food deserts have difficulty getting healthy foods.

Dr. Juraschek had a rebuttal to defend lifestyle changes. He broke down how Lifestyle changes are a necessity for hypertension management because a lack of dieting and exercise will take people farther away from better health.

“Lifestyle is tough, but there’s no free pass for not adhering to lifestyle. If you don’t make lifestyle changes, things will get worse. Frank Sacks made this nice point in the New England Journal about reversing age-related hypertension with lifestyle changes. Don’t we want to turn the clock back on aging? I don’t think that meds or renal denomination can do that,” said Dr. Juraschek.

Dr. Jursachek mentioned that lifestyle changes are more patient-centered based on his patient experience. Lowering the amount of high-sodium foods one consumes and increasing the amount of fruits, vegetables, and lean meats can make considerable strides in lowering blood pressure. Dr. Jursachek revealed the hurdles of renal derivation. Since the procedure is so new, renal denervation is not accessible for everyone because the medical centers that perform the operation are few and are located in larger cities.

Each doctor shared enlightening points during the hypertension management debate. Dr. Cluette, Dr. Jursachek, and Dr. Cohen encourage every method mentioned in the debate based on one’s healthy journey. The more options available for the public for hypertension, the better chance there is to get control of this problem.

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Clayton Gutzmore

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September 30, 2024
Why it’s important to pay attention to expiration dates on medications

Have you ever grabbed a bottle of Tylenol from your medicine cabinet, discovered that it expired two years ago and wondered whether you can still take it?

You really shouldn’t, cautioned Robert Frankil, a pharmacist and executive director of the Philadelphia Association of Retail Druggists, which represents about 250 independently-owned pharmacies in Pennsylvania.

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“At that expiration date, it’s expected to be 100% or nearly 100% potent, and after that expiration date, it will begin to lose its potency slowly,” Frankil said.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration began requiring drug companies to put expiration dates on over-the-counter and prescription medications in 1979. Pharmaceutical companies must conduct comprehensive testing on how a drug breaks down over time and in different environments to establish a medication’s shelf life. Medications can be “less effective or risky due to a change in chemical composition or a decrease in strength” past their expiration dates, according to the FDA.

Frankil advised people not to take over-the-counter medications after their expiration dates, because the medications do not hold their “stability,” Frankil said. “They don’t become dangerous. They just become less effective after the expiration date.”

With prescription drugs, such as antidepressants, it is especially important to observe expiration dates, Frankil said.

“If you’re talking about something like depression, you want to make sure your medication is potent, so I would never mess around with a drug that’s treating a chronic ailment – if it was past its expiration date,” Frankil said.

Some research, including a 2019 systematic review of studies, has found that many medications can be used beyond their expiration dates. “It was not uncommon that the actual shelf-life exceeded the manufacturer assigned one by three- or four-fold,” the 2019 literature review concluded.

But Frankil said he, personally, would not take any medication past its expiration date.

However, he said that “… if it’s either that or nothing, and you wake up at two in the morning with a bad headache,” taking a common analgesic like Tylenol that is less than a year past its expiration date would be OK.

Frankil recommended grinding up unused, expired medications and throwing them out with the garbage, rather than flushing them down the toilet, which can pollute water and unintentionally expose people to medications. Burying medications in containers of coffee grounds before dumping them in the trash is another option. Also, some pharmacies have medication disposal packages, which also are available on Amazon.

The U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency has a locator for collection sites where people may dispose of certain drugs, such as opioids.

Courtenay Harris Bond

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May 15, 2024

Roche's Cancer Injection Tecentriq SC Gets European Commission Approval

By Andrea Figueras

Roche said that the European Commission approved Tecentriq SC, a cancer immunotherapy subcutaneous injection for multiple cancer types.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that it has been granted marketing authorisation for Tecentriq SC, which reduces treatment time by approximately 80% compared with standard IV infusion.

The subcutaneous injections take between four and eight minutes, while until now the treatment had been given directly into patients’ veins by IV infusion, which takes approximately 30-60 minutes.

Last year, more than 38,000 people in the EU received Tecentriq to treat different types of lung, liver, bladder and breast cancer, Roche said.

The company is also working closely with several providers in Europe to include Tecentriq SC in cancer homecare initiatives where possible.

The injections can also be administered by a healthcare professional outside of the hospital, in a community care setting or at a patient’s home, depending on national regulations and health systems.

Write to Andrea Figueras at andrea.figueras@wsj.com

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January 15, 2024

Roche's Inavolisib Breast Cancer Drug Shows Promise in Late-Stage Study
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By Mauro Orru
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Roche Holding said its investigational treatment, inavolisib, showed promise in a late-stage study to treat patients with breast cancer.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company said Tuesday that the phase 3 study met its primary endpoint of progression-free survival, showing that inavolisib, in combination with palbociclib and fulvestrant, delivered a statistically significant and clinically meaningful improvement compared to palbociclib and fulvestrant alone.
While Roche acknowledged that overall survival data were immature at this stage, it said it had observed a clear positive trend. The inavolisib combination was well tolerated.

The group said inavolisib is an investigational, oral targeted treatment with potential to provide durable disease control.

Write to Mauro Orru at mauro.orru@wsj.com
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December 4, 2023
WHO’s new COVID guidelines see fewer patients requiring hospitalization

Most patients are unlikely to develop severe disease or die if they get the current variants of COVID-19 as immunity levels have climbed given higher levels of vaccination.

That’s according to the World Health Organization, which updated its COVID-19 guidelines on Friday for the 13th time.

The guidelines highlight that fewer patients will require hospitalization as they are more likely to have non-severe COVID.

“The new ‘moderate risk’ category now includes people previously considered to be high risk including older people and/or those with chronic conditions, disabilities, and comorbidities of chronic disease,” the agency said in a statement.

People who are immunosuppressed remain at higher risk, however, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 6%. But people who are older than 65 years old, those with conditions like obesity, diabetes and/or chronic conditions including chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, kidney or liver disease, cancer, people with disabilities and those with comorbidities of chronic disease are at moderate risk, with an estimated hospitalization rate of 3%.

And patients who belong to neither of those groups are at low risk of hospitalization, at an estimated rate of just 0.5%. Most people are now considered low-risk, said the WHO.

The agency continues to recommend the use of Paxlovid for anyone at high or moderate risk of hospitalization. The antiviral developed by Pfizer Inc.
PFE,
-1.20%
is still the best choice for most eligible patients, given its therapeutic benefits, ease of use and fewer concerns about potential harms.

In cases where Paxlovid is not available, the WHO recommends molnupiravir, an antiviral developed by Merck
MRK,
-1.11%,
or remdesivir, an antiviral developed by Gilead Sciences Inc.
GILD,
+0.92%

Read now: Pfizer to more than double price of its COVID antiviral once drug moves to commercial market

“For people at low risk of hospitalization, WHO does not recommend any antiviral therapy. Symptoms like fever and pain can continue to be managed with analgesics like paracetamol,” said the agency.

The WHO said it recommends against the use of a new antiviral called VV116 for patients, apart from those who are enrolled in clinical trials.

That oral antiviral is being developed by Junshi Biosciences and Vigonvita in China.

It issued a warning against the use of ivermectin for people with non-severe COVID. The drug used to treat parasites in animals proved highly controversial during the pandemic when many people were persuaded by fraudulent research and online misinformation that it was an effective treatment.

From the archive: ‘You will not believe what I’ve just found.’ Inside the ivermectin saga: a hacked password, mysterious websites and faulty data.

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November 10, 2023
Pfizer gets FDA green light for new shot that can streamline teenagers’ vaccinations

Pfizer Inc.
PFE,
-1.73%
said Friday that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved the first five-in-one vaccine designed to protect teenagers and young adults against meningococcal disease.

The new Pfizer shot, Penbraya, protects against the five most common subgroups of meningococcal disease, a rare but serious and potentially fatal illness that most often affects babies and teenagers.

Penbraya “has the potential to protect more adolescents and young adults from this severe and unpredictable disease by providing the broadest meningococcal coverage in the fewest shots,” Annaliesa Anderson, Pfizer senior vice president and head of vaccine research and development, said in a statement.

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention currently recommends that all 11- to 12-year-olds get a meningococcal vaccine protecting against four of the subgroups — A, C, W and Y — and get a booster dose of the same vaccine type at age 16. Teenagers and young adults age 16 to 23 may also get a meningococcal B vaccine, the CDC says, particularly if they’re at increased risk due to other health conditions.

The complex vaccination schedule has weighed on uptake of the meningococcal shots, and the COVID-19 pandemic may have compounded the problem, as many families missed routine appointments when vaccinations were due, researchers say. Among teenagers who were born in 2008 — who were due for their routine adolescent vaccinations as the pandemic was raging in 2020 — uptake of meningococcal and other recommended vaccines declined, according to CDC research. Only about 60% of the 17-year-olds surveyed by the CDC last year had received both recommended doses of the ACWY vaccine, and fewer than 30% had received at least one dose of the meningococcal B vaccine.

The new Pfizer shot combines components of a meningococcal group B vaccine and an ACWY vaccine.

A CDC immunization advisory committee is set to meet Oct. 25 to discuss recommendations for the use of Penbraya in teenagers and young adults, Pfizer said.

The green light for Penbraya gives Pfizer the edge in its race with GSK
GSK,
+0.54%,
which is also working on a five-in-one meningococcal shot. GSK earlier this year released positive late-stage clinical-trial results for that vaccine.

The FDA approval of Pfizer’s shot caps a rocky week for the pharmaceutical giant, which late last Friday cut $9 billion from its full-year revenue guidance due to reduced COVID sales expectations and announced a cost-cutting program designed to deliver savings of at least $3.5 billion. Pfizer executives said on a call with analysts Monday that development of combination respiratory vaccines, such as those that provide COVID and flu protection in one shot, remains a focus for the company, in part because they can help boost vaccine uptake.

Pfizer shares were down 1.7% Friday and have dropped 40% in the year to date, while the S&P 500
SPX
has gained 10%.

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October 20, 2023
Bristol Myers Squibb to buy Mirati Therapeutics in deal worth up to $5.8 billion

Bristol Myers Squibb Co. said Sunday it will buy Mirati Therapeutics Inc. in a deal valued at up to $5.8 billion.

The pharmaceutical giant announced it will pay $58 a share for Mirati, for a total equity value of $4.8 billion. Mirati stockholders will also receive one non-tradeable Contingent Value Right for each share they hold, potentially worth $12 a share in cash, representing an additional $1 billion of possible value.

Mirati shares closed Friday at $60.20, with the company’s market cap at about $4.21 billion.

Mirati develops commercial-stage oncology therapies, and through the deal, Bristol Myers Squibb will add lung-cancer medicine Krazati, among others, to its portfolio.

“We are excited to add these assets to our portfolio and to accelerate their development as we seek to deliver more treatments for cancer patients,” Giovanni Caforio, Bristol Myers Squibb’s chief executive and chairman, said in a statement. “With a strong strategic fit, great science and clear value creation opportunities for our shareholders, the Mirati transaction is aligned with our business development goals.”

The deal is expected to be dilutive to Bristol Myers Squibb’s non-GAAP earnings per share by about 35 cents a share in the first 12 months after the transaction closes. The merger is expected to close by the first half of 2024.

Bristol Myers Squibb, with a market cap of about $118.4 billion, has seen its shares
BMY,
+0.43%
sink 21% year to date. Mirati shares
MRTX,
-3.49%
are up 33% this year. The S&P 500
SPX,
in comparison, has gained about 12% in 2023.

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October 8, 2023
Nobel Prize in medicine awarded to two scientists whose work enabled creation of mRNA vaccines against COVID-19

STOCKHOLM (AP) — Two scientists won the Nobel Prize in medicine on Monday for discoveries that enabled the development of effective mRNA vaccines against COVID-19.

The award was given to Katalin Karikó, a professor at Sagan’s University in Hungary and an adjunct professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and Drew Weissman, who performed his prizewinning research together with Karikó at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Through their groundbreaking findings, which have fundamentally changed our understanding of how mRNA interacts with our immune system, the laureates contributed to the unprecedented rate of vaccine development during one of the greatest threats to human health in modern times,” the panel that awarded the prize said.

Thomas Perlmann, secretary of the Nobel Assembly, announced the award and said both scientists were “overwhelmed” by news of the prize when he contacted them shortly before the announcement.

The Nobel Prize in physiology or medicine was won last year by Swedish scientist Svante Paabo for discoveries in human evolution that unlocked secrets of Neanderthal DNA which provided key insights into our immune system, including our vulnerability to severe COVID-19.

The award was the second in the family. Paabo’s father, Sune Bergstrom, won the Nobel Prize in medicine in 1982.

Nobel announcements continue with the physics prize on Tuesday, chemistry on Wednesday and literature on Thursday. The Nobel Peace Prize will be announced Friday and the economics award on Oct. 9.

The prizes carry a cash award of 11 million Swedish kronor ($1 million). The money comes from a bequest left by the prize’s creator, Swedish inventor Alfred Nobel, who died in 1896.

The prize money was raised by 1 million kronor this year because of the plunging value of the Swedish currency.

The laureates are invited to receive their awards at ceremonies on Dec. 10, the anniversary of Nobel’s death. The prestigious peace prize is handed out in Oslo, according to his wishes, while the other award ceremony is held in Stockholm.

Corder reported from The Hague, Netherlands.

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October 2, 2023
5 things to know about the new COVID-19 vaccine

It may be time to get your COVID-19 vaccine again.

There’s a new booster that’s coming out to guard against the virus. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention said Tuesday that it was recommending the vaccine, which is being produced in versions by Moderna
MRNA,
+3.18%
and Pfizer
PFE,
-0.20%
-BioNTech
BNTX,
-2.06%,
for people 6 months of age and older.

Here are answers to some common questions about the shot — and what you may need to know before you receive it.

Why are we seeing another booster?

Boosters are all about maintaining protection against the virus as new COVID-19 variants emerge. The CDC said: “The updated vaccines should work well against currently circulating variants of COVID-19, including BA.2.86, and continue to be the best way to protect yourself against severe disease.” The CDC also noted that “protection from COVID-19 vaccines and infection decline over time. An updated COVID-19 vaccine provides enhanced protection against the variants currently responsible for most hospitalizations in the United States.”

So, everyone who is 6 months or older should receive it?

That’s the CDC’s recommendation, but not everyone sees this booster as a firm requirement, depending on various medical and other factors.

Dr. Paul A. Offit, a pediatrician with the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia who specializes in infectious diseases, told MarketWatch that the new vaccine is a must for some who are at higher risk for developing serious illness, such as people who are over 75, people who have certain health problems (including diabetes, obesity or chronic lung or heart disease) and people who are immune compromised.

And what about the others? Offit said it can be a case of “low risk, low reward.” Meaning there’s little harm in getting the booster and it may buy “a few months protection against mild disease,” Offit said. But he stops short of saying the booster is an absolute necessity for such people.

Still, CDC director Dr. Mandy K. Cohen counters such an argument. In a column for the New York Times, Cohen noted that all the members of her family, including her 9- and 11-year-old daughters, would be getting the booster. “Some viruses…change over time. This coronavirus is one of them. It finds ways to evade our immune systems by constantly evolving. That’s why our vaccines need to be updated to match the changed virus,” Cohen explained.

What if you recently had COVID? Or have just gotten the previous COVID booster?

Offit said you should wait at least two months — and possibly as long as four months — before receiving the new vaccine.

The CDC said, “You should get a COVID-19 vaccine even if you already had COVID-19,” adding “you may consider delaying your next vaccine by 3 months from when your [COVID] symptoms started or, if you had no symptoms, when you received a positive test.”

When and where can you get the new booster?

The CDC said the vaccine “will be available by the end of this week at most places you would normally go to get your vaccines.”

How much will it cost?

The new shots are expected to have list prices of $110 to $130, but the CDC said, “Most Americans can still get a COVID-19 vaccine for free.” That is, most health-insurance plans will cover the cost.

As for those without insurance, the CDC said there are still plenty of free options, including programs run by local health centers and health departments as well as pharmacies participating in the CDC’s Bridge Access Program. For more information about where to get the booster, go to Vaccines.gov.

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September 13, 2023
CDC recommends updated COVID shots for people 6 months of age and older

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention on Tuesday recommended updated COVID-19 vaccines for people 6 months of age and older.

Director Mandy Cohen late Tuesday backed the findings of CDC advisers, who voted 13-to-1 for approval earlier in the day. The updated vaccines from Moderna Inc.
MRNA,
-0.53%
and Pfizer Inc.
PFE,
+0.62%
-BioNTech
BNTX,
-1.97%
should become available later this week.

“We have more tools than ever to prevent the worst outcomes from COVID-19,” Cohen said in a statement. “CDC is now recommending updated COVID-19 vaccination for everyone 6 months and older to better protect you and your loved ones.”

The move comes just one day after the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the updated shots from Moderna and Pfizer. The FDA approved single-dose vaccines for people 12 and older and authorized emergency use of new shots for children as young as 6 months.

The CDC recommendations Tuesday include some key changes from the recommendations that previously applied to the bivalent COVID vaccines. People age 65 and older were recommended to get a second bivalent dose, for example, but the CDC is not currently recommending two doses of the new shot for older adults. The CDC said it will monitor epidemiology and vaccine effectiveness to determine if additional doses are needed.

The recommendations come as the vaccines are transitioning from federal procurement and distribution to the commercial market. The new shots are expected to have list prices of $110 to $130 per dose. But the Affordable Care Act requires insurers to cover most vaccines recommended by the CDC advisory committee at no cost to plan enrollees, and people with Medicare and Medicaid also have no-cost access to the vaccines.

The CDC meeting Tuesday addressed some concerns about the accessibility and cost of the vaccines for people without health-insurance coverage. The CDC’s new Bridge Access program will provide free shots to uninsured people within days at retail pharmacies as well as local health centers, the CDC said. The agency had previously said that the free shots might not arrive in retail pharmacies until mid-October. The federal government’s vaccines.gov website will be updated later this week to list Bridge Access program sites, the CDC said.

Roughly 25 million to 30 million U.S. adults do not have health insurance. About 85% of people without coverage live within 5 miles of a Bridge Access program site, according to CDC data.

Under the Bridge Access program, CVS Health Corp.
CVS,
+2.57%
will administer doses in stores and Minute Clinics, the CDC said, and Walgreens Boots Alliance Inc.
WBA,
+1.35%
will offer doses in stores and at off-site events that target areas of low access and uptake. Healthcare-services company eTrueNorth is also working with the program to reach lower-access areas without other coverage under the program, the CDC said.

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September 12, 2023

Nestle Sells Peanut-Allergy Treatment Business to Stallergenes Greer

By Adria Calatayud

Nestle said it has sold its Palforzia peanut-allergy treatment business to biopharmaceutical company Stallergenes Greer.

The Swiss consumer-goods company said Monday that it will receive milestone payments and royalties from Stallergenes Greer. The deal was closed upon signing, Nestle said.

The sale allows Nestle’s health-science operations to focus on its core strengths and key growth drivers, the unit’s Chief Executive Greg Behar said.

Nestle last year said that it would conduct a strategic review of Palforzia after a slower-than-expected adoption by patients and healthcare professionals.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@dowjones.com

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September 3, 2023

Roche Lung Cancer Drug Shows Promise in Phase 3 Trial

By David Sachs

Roche said Friday that its Alecensa drug demonstrated the ability to reduce recurrence of lung cancer for patients in the early stage of the disease.

The Swiss pharmaceutical company said the results, from a Phase 3 study of 257 people which compared the treatment with platinum-based chemotherapy, met its primary goal of disease-free survival in people with early-stage non-small cell lung cancer. About half of people with this type of lung cancer experience a recurrence of the disease after surgery, Roche said.

Roche said that it found no unexpected safety issues and will submit the data to global health authorities.

Write to David Sachs at david.sachs@wsj.com

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August 31, 2023

New coronavirus variant has experts on alert and WHO is urging countries to step up COVID surveillance

A new variant of the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus has put epidemiologists around the world on alert, and the World Health Organization is asking countries to sustain early warning, surveillance and reporting systems as it works to evaluate the current COVID-19 risk level.

The BA.2.86 variant, which was first detected in Israel, was designated a new variant under monitoring by the WHO on Aug. 17, after the agency received nine sequences from five countries — three in the WHO’s European Region, one in the African Region and one in the Region of the Americas.

The variant has more than 30 mutations in the spike protein compared with the XBB variants that are currently dominant in the U.S. and around the world, namely XBB.1.16 and EG.5, which has been dubbed Eris, following the Greek-alphabet designation used for other variants.

The WHO made EG.5 a variant of interest, or VOI, earlier this month, which is an upgrade from the designation of variant under monitoring, or VUM.

But BA.2.86 is worrying experts because there is too little data to assess its potential impact.

“It is crucial to sustain early warning, surveillance and reporting, variant
tracking, early clinical care provision, administration of vaccine boosters to high-risk groups, improvements in ventilation, and regular communication,” the agency said in its latest weekly update.

That update, which reviews the state of the virus for the 28-day period through Aug. 20, contains no data from the WHO’s Region of the Americas, as reports for the period were incomplete. That’s a worry that the WHO has consistently warned about as countries pull back on their monitoring of the illness as they seek to put the pandemic behind them.

The WHO officially declared the emergency phase of the pandemic to be over on May 5 but emphasized that COVID remains a major threat. Many countries have dismantled much of their systems of oversight and greatly reduced testing and data measurement.

See also: New ‘Eris’ COVID variant is dominant in the U.S., but a shortage of data is making it hard to track

The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention offered an update this week on BA.2.86 — which it said has been detected in Denmark, South Africa, Israel, the U.S. and the U.K. — and said the multiple locations are a sign of international transmission. The CDC acknowledged the surveillance challenge.

“Notably, the amount of genomic sequencing of SARS-CoV-2 globally has declined substantially from previous years, meaning more variants may emerge and spread undetected for longer periods of time,” the U.S. agency said in its update.

The CDC also noted a current increase in hospitalizations in the U.S., although it said that’s not likely driven by the BA.2.86 variant.

“It is too soon to know whether this variant might cause more severe illness compared with previous variants,” said the CDC.

Perhaps the bigger issue is whether the new variant has greater escape from existing immunity from vaccines and previous infections, compared with other recent variants.

“One analysis of mutations suggests the difference may be as large as or greater than that between BA.2 and XBB.1.5, which circulated nearly a year apart,” the CDC said. “However, virus samples are not yet broadly available for more reliable laboratory testing of antibodies, and it is too soon to know the real-world impacts on immunity.”

Americans gearing up for what’s expected to be an annual COVID vaccine booster this fall can be confident those vaccines will be designed to protect against all subvariants of XBB, including Eris, the agency said.

The CDC said it’s likely that antibodies built up in the population through infection, vaccination or both will provide protection against BA.2.86. However, it said, “this is an area of ongoing scientific investigation.”

Eric Topol, the chair of innovative medicine at Scripps Research in La Jolla, Calif., said the ability to neutralize the virus depends on the levels of neutralizing antibodies, and those are bound to be lower against BA.2.86 than earlier variants that people have been exposed to or immunized against.

“Also to note, the burden of new mutations for BA.2.86 is not confined to the spike and is seen broadly across other components of the virus,” he wrote in commentary this week. “If BA.2.86 takes off, it will be a real test of how good our T-cell response can rev up to meet the challenge.”

Meanwhile, the CDC’s weekly projections for where Eris and other variants are circulating continue to be hampered by a shortage of data. In early August, the CDC said it would unable to publish its “Nowcast” projections because it did not have enough sequences to update the estimates.

“Because Nowcast is modeled data, we need a certain number of sequences to accurately predict proportions in the present,” CDC representative Kathleen Conley told MarketWatch at the time.

The agency had received data from just three U.S. regions. In its most recent weekly update for the week through Aug. 19, it also got data from just three regions.

Separately, the CDC reported a 21.6% increase in U.S. hospitalizations for COVID in the week through Aug. 12. Deaths rose 21.4% in the week through Aug. 19.

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August 25, 2023
FDA approves Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, clearing the way for Medicare coverage

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration on Thursday granted full approval to the Biogen BIIB and Eisai Co. Ltd. ESALF Alzheimer’s treatment Leqembi, a step that secures Medicare reimbursement for the first drug shown to slow the progress of the disease, rather than just treating its symptoms.

Leqembi, also known as lecanemab, is a monoclonal antibody designed to reduce the buildup of amyloid beta plaque in the brain, a marker of Alzheimer’s disease.

The…

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July 6, 2023
No more needles? A daily pill may work as well as Wegovy shots to treat obesity

That’s a notion that has long fueled hope for many of the more than 40% of Americans who are considered obese — and fueled criticism by those who advocate for wider weight acceptance. Soon, it may be a reality.

High-dose oral versions of the medication in the weight-loss drug Wegovy may work as well as the popular injections when it comes to paring pounds and improving health, according to final results of two studies released Sunday night. The potent tablets also appear to work for people with diabetes, who notoriously struggle to lose weight.

Drugmaker Novo Nordisk
NOVO.B,
+0.22%
plans to ask the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to approve the pills later this year.

“If you ask people a random question, ‘Would you rather take a pill or an injection?’ People overwhelmingly prefer a pill,” said Dr. Daniel Bessesen, chief of endocrinology at Denver Health, who treats patients with obesity but was not involved in the new research.

That’s assuming, Bessesen said, that both ways to take the medications are equally effective, available and affordable. “Those are the most important factors for people,” he said.

There have been other weight-loss pills on the market, but none that achieve the substantial reductions seen with injected drugs like Wegovy. People with obesity will be “thrilled” to have an oral option that’s as effective, said Dr. Katherine Saunders, clinical professor of medicine at Weill Cornell Health and co-founder of Intellihealth, a weight-loss center.

Novo Nordisk already sells Rybelsus, which is approved to treat diabetes and is an oral version of semaglutide, the same medication used in the diabetes drug Ozempic and Wegovy. It comes in doses up to 14 milligrams.

But results of two gold-standard trials released at the American Diabetes Association’s annual meeting looked at how doses of oral semaglutide as high as 25 milligrams and 50 milligrams worked to reduce weight and improve blood sugar and other health markers.

A 16-month study of about 1,600 people who were overweight or obese and already being treated for Type 2 diabetes found the high-dose daily pills lowered blood sugar significantly better than the standard dose of Rybelsus. From a baseline weight of 212 pounds, the higher doses also resulted in weight loss of between 15 and 20 pounds, compared to about 10 pounds on the lower dose.

Another 16-month study of more than 660 adults who had obesity or were overweight with at least one related disease — but not diabetes — found the 50-milligram daily pill helped people lose an average of about 15% of their body weight, or about 35 pounds, versus about 6 pounds with a dummy pill, or placebo.

That’s “notably consistent” with the weight loss spurred by weekly shots of the highest dose of Wegovy, the study authors said.

But there were side effects. About 80% of participants receiving any size dose of oral semaglutide experienced things like mild to moderate intestinal problems, such as nausea, constipation and diarrhea.

In the 50-milligram obesity trial, there was evidence of higher rates of benign tumors in people who took the drug versus a placebo. In addition, about 13% of those who took the drug had “altered skin sensation” such as tingling or extra sensitivity.

Medical experts predict the pills will be popular, especially among people who want to lose weight but are fearful of needles. Plus, tablets would be more portable than injection pens and they don’t have to be stored in the refrigerator.

But the pills aren’t necessarily a better option for the hundreds of thousands of people already taking injectable versions such as Ozempic or Wegovy, said Dr. Fatima Cody Stanford, an obesity medicine expert at Massachusetts General Hospital.

“I don’t find significant hesitancy surrounding receiving an injection,” she said. “A lot of people like the ease of taking a medication once a week.”

In addition, she said, some patients may actually prefer shots to the new pills, which have to be taken 30 minutes before eating or drinking in the morning.

Paul Morer, 56, who works for a New Jersey hospital system, lost 85 pounds using Wegovy and hopes to lose 30 more. He said he would probably stick with the weekly injections, even if pills were available.

“I do it on Saturday morning. It’s part of my routine,” he said. “I don’t even feel the needle. It’s a non-issue.”

Some critics also worry that a pill will also put pressure on people who are obese to use it, fueling social stigma against people who can’t — or don’t want to — lose weight, said Tigress Osborn, chair of the National Association to Advance Fat Acceptance.

“There is no escape from the narrative that your body is wrong and it should change,” Osborn said.

Still, Novo Nordisk is banking on the popularity of a higher-dose pill to treat both diabetes and obesity. Sales of Rybelsus reached about $1.63 billion last year, more than double the 2021 figure.

Other companies are working on oral versions of drugs that work as well as Eli Lilly and Co.’s
LLY,
+0.25%
Mounjaro — an injectable diabetes drug expected to be approved for weight-loss soon. Lilly researchers reported promising mid-stage trial results for an oral pill called orforglipron to treat patients who are obese or overweight with and without diabetes.

Pfizer
PFE,
-1.11%,
too, has released mid-stage results for dangulgipron, an oral drug for diabetes taken twice daily with food.

Novo Nordisk officials said it’s too early to say what the cost of the firm’s high-dose oral pills would be or how the company plans to guarantee adequate manufacturing capacity to meet to demand. Despite surging popularity, injectable doses of Wegovy will be in short supply until at least September, company officials said.

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June 25, 2023
AstraZeneca Says US Approved Lynparza as a Prostate Cancer Treatment

By Anthony O. Goriainoff

AstraZeneca said Thursday that its and MSD’s Lynparza cancer treatment had been approved in the U.S. for the treatment of metastatic castration-resistant prostate cancer, or mCRPC.

The Anglo-Swedish pharma giant said Lynparza, in combination with abiraterone and prednisone, reduced the risk of disease progression or…

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June 1, 2023