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Hey there. At present, we talk about how Medicaid would possibly pay for the pricey however probably healing sickle cell gene therapies, in addition to the stunning lawsuit that outlines a knowledge breach at 23andMe that targets Chinese language and Jewish clients.
The necessity-to-know this morning
- Sarepta Therapeutics announced results from a mid-stage scientific trial of its next-generation remedy for sufferers with Duchenne muscular dystrophy brought on by mutations in a gene known as exon 51.
- Pfizer kicks off a busy week of pharma earnings on Tuesday. Novo Nordisk, Novartis, and GSK report on Wednesday; Merck, Sanofi, and Roche on Thursday; and Abbvie, Bristol Myers Squibb, and Regeneron Pharma on Friday.
How will Medicaid pay for sickle cell gene therapies?
The FDA lately authorized two healing gene therapies for sickle cell illness, however the prices of those medicine — $2.2 million and $3.1 million — are making a pressure for presidency well being protection. About 100,000 People have the illness, and between 30% and 40% of those individuals are believed to depend on Medicaid for care. Whereas not all of them could be eligible for the brand new wave of sickle cell gene therapies and even need to take them, the price would nonetheless be staggering.
“The magnitude of the price is actually dwarfing something we’ve seen earlier than,” the chief director of the Nationwide Affiliation of Medicaid Administrators informed STAT’s Ed Silverman. “The important thing argument is whether or not the funding in healing therapies would offset future prices. However will probably be terribly troublesome for the state packages to resolve this on their very own.”
The Facilities for Medicare & Medicaid Companies is growing a pilot program to assist create outcomes-based agreements between state Medicaid packages and cell and gene remedy producers.
Learn extra.
23andMe breach focused Chinese language, Jewish populations
A brand new class motion lawsuit accuses 23andMe of failing to guard the privateness of shoppers whose knowledge had been uncovered throughout a breach final 12 months that affected almost 7 million profiles. It notes that clients with Chinese language and Ashkenazi Jewish profiles appear to have been focused — and their private genetic data appears to have been siphoned into “specifically curated lists” that had been shared and bought on the darkish net, the New York Times writes.
“Now once we take a look at knowledge breaches, our first concern can be whether or not the data can be used to bodily harass or hurt individuals on a scientific, mass scale,” an lawyer for the plaintiffs mentioned. “The usual for when an organization acts fairly to guard knowledge is now the next one, at the very least for the kind of knowledge that can be utilized on this method.”
On Oct. 1, a hacker who known as himself “Golem” leaked the private knowledge of greater than 1 million 23andMe customers with Jewish ancestry on a web-based discussion board utilized by cybercriminals. The information included the customers’ full names, dwelling addresses, and beginning dates. “Golem” additionally linked to profiles of 100,000 Chinese language clients.
Merck and J&J chiefs conform to testify to Congress
The CEOs of Merck and Johnson & Johnson have determined to testify earlier than the Senate well being committee in any case — avoiding a subpoena threatened lately by Bernie Sanders. They’ll testify earlier than Congress about drug pricing on Feb. 8. The businesses lately selected to sue the Biden administration over the current Medicare drug value negotiation program, and had balked on attending a congressional listening to due to this battle. They provided up executives apart from the CEOs to testify — however Sanders was unmoved.
“Using a subpoena was clearly a final resort and I’m delighted that these CEOs can be coming into our committee voluntarily,” Sanders wrote in a press release. The CEO of Starbucks additionally agreed to testify final 12 months solely when handled by Sanders with a subpoena.
Learn extra.
Keytruda has a kidney most cancers win; Opdivo doesn’t
New knowledge present that Keytruda can lengthen affected person lives when used as a post-surgical remedy for resectable kidney most cancers: It lower the danger of demise by 38% in contrast with placebo, FiercePharma writes. After 4 years of remedy, 91.2% of sufferers within the Keytruda arm had been nonetheless alive, versus 86% for the management group. The Merck PD-1 inhibitor was authorized in 2021 as an adjuvant remedy kidney most cancers sufferers vulnerable to relapse.
Curiously, this survival knowledge comes proper on the heels of Bristol Myers Squibb sharing that its personal PD-1 inhibitor, Opdivo, failed for a second time as an adjuvant remedy for kidney most cancers. Opdivo diminished the danger of recurrence or demise by 13%, which wasn’t thought-about statistically vital. And at 18 months, 78.4% of individuals taking Opdivo had been estimated to be alive with out their illness worsening, in contrast with 75.4% of these taking placebo.
Extra reads
- Buried in Wegovy prices, North Carolina will cease paying for weight problems medicine, New York Times
- From a small city in Wales, a scientific sleuth has shaken Dana-Farber — and elevated the problem of analysis integrity, STAT
- Massive pharma is at a crossroads, as they put together to lose heaps of income from blockbuster medicine, CNBC
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