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Johnson & Johnson Sues Researchers Who Linked Talc to Cancer
Johnson & Johnson has sued four doctors who published studies citing links between talc-based personal care products and cancer, escalating an attack on scientific studies that the company alleges are inaccurate.
J&J’s subsidiary LTL Management, which absorbed the company’s talc liability in a controversial 2021 spinoff, last week filed a lawsuit in New Jersey federal court asking it to force three researchers to “retract and/or issue a correction” of a study that said asbestos-contaminated consumer talc products sometimes caused patients to develop mesothelioma.
J&J is facing more than 38,000 lawsuits alleging that the company’s talc products, including its Baby Powder, were contaminated by asbestos and caused cancers including ovarian cancer and mesothelioma. J&J is attempting to resolve those lawsuits, as well as any future talc lawsuits, through an $8.9 billion settlement in bankruptcy court.
J&J says that its talc products are safe and do not contain asbestos. J&J has stopped selling talc-based Baby Powder in favor of cornstarch-based products, citing an increase in lawsuits and “misinformation” about the talc product’s safety.
Uninsured U.S. Patients Pay up to $330 for Eli Lilly’s $25 Insulin, Senator Warren Says
Americans without health insurance pay an average of $98 for Eli Lilly’s generic insulin despite the company’s May 1 pledge to cut its list price to $25 per vial, according to a survey of more than 300 U.S. pharmacies by U.S. Senator Elizabeth Warren’s office released on Thursday.
Warren’s survey of chain and independent pharmacies across all 50 states, carried out between June 9 and 28, found a third of drug stores charged $164 or more to uninsured patients for Lilly’s Insulin Lispro. The highest-priced pharmacy wanted $330.
Lilly (LLY.N), Novo Nordisk (NOVOb.CO) and Sanofi (SASY.PA), which dominate the insulin market, announced in March that they would slash their insulin prices by at least 70% later in the year.
Americans with insurance typically pay a fraction of the list prices for prescription drugs, but uninsured people sometimes have to pay the full price, forcing some to ration or skip taking their medicine.
London at Risk of Major Measles Outbreak, U.K. Health Security Agency Warns
London is at risk of a major measles outbreak that could result in tens of thousands of cases, the U.K. Health Security Agency has warned.
Without an improvement in MMR vaccination rates, the capital could experience an outbreak of between 40,000 and 160,0000 cases, a fresh analysis by the UKHSA suggests. Experts said an outbreak of this scale could lead to dozens of deaths and thousands of people hospitalized.
Official data published on Friday revealed a steady rise in measles cases this year, indicating a resurgence of the illness. Between January 1 and June 30 this year, there have been 128 cases of measles, compared with 54 cases in the whole of 2022, with 66% of the cases detected in London, although cases have been seen in all regions.
How Can We Fix Drug Shortages? Let’s Start by Re-Examining Big Pharma’s Relationship With Wall Street
According to the FDA database, there are currently more than 135 drugs in shortage, with medical devices also in short supply. A recent U.S. Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs report found that drug shortages in the U.S. increased 30% between 2021 and 2022. The report also found that “more than 15 critical drug products have been in shortage for over a decade.”
The U.S. has endured drug shortages for some 20 years, and, unfortunately, little has changed during that time. Headlines about critical drug shortages certainly feel both more frequent and more serious. Headlines such as “Cancer drug shortages could put chemo patient treatment at risk,” and “U.S. cancer drug shortage forces doctors to ration life-saving treatments” highlight not only the scarcity of chemotherapy drugs but also shortages of other life-saving medicines and even emergency room (ER) supplies.
What’s particularly troubling is that while supply chain-related shortages in many other areas have eased, those related to drugs and medical supplies have become worse, suggesting a problem that is endemic.
While pharmaceutical and medical device companies’ approach to inventory and foreign outsourcing, coupled with supply chain disruptions, are to blame, a closer look at Wall Street uncovers the root of a much deeper problem. All of this was predictable, and it has come at a high cost.
CureVac Puts More Patent Claims on the Table in Its COVID Vaccine Suits Against Pfizer and BioNTech
CureVac is adding fuel to its COVID-19 vaccine patent fire by asserting more claims against Pfizer and BioNTech in both its U.S. and German cases.
The German mRNA specialist put a tenth patent on the table in its U.S. litigation and three more to its five in Germany, expanding the scope of the disputes.
CureVac went after BioNTech in Germany last summer, starting off with four claims and adding a fifth in May. The original patents it claimed its fellow German mRNA maker stepped on related to inventions considered “essential to the design and development” of BioNTech and Pfizer’s Comirnaty, including sequence modifications and mRNA vaccine formulations, the company noted in a statement at the time.
Its lawsuit doesn’t aim to stop the production and distribution of the shot but wants recognition and royalties from past and future sales. That likely puts $500 million on the line, Berenberg Capital Markets analyst Zhiqiang Shu projected in a note to clients last July.
Biden Administration to Provide Free COVID Vaccines to Uninsured Americans This Fall Through End of 2024
The Biden administration on Thursday announced a program to provide free COVID vaccines to uninsured Americans through December 2024 after the federal government’s supply of shots runs out this fall.
Those free shots, which the government is purchasing at a discount, will be available to the uninsured at pharmacies and 64 state and local health departments.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services also is hoping vaccine makers will donate shots to pharmacies as part of the program.
Currently, the government has an inventory of vaccines purchased from three manufacturers, Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax, and those companies do not sell the shots to healthcare providers. In the fall, the companies will begin selling shots directly to health providers, and the government’s supply is expected to run out.
Lilly to Buy Versanis, Adding to Obesity Drug Pipeline
Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire privately held biotechnology company Versanis in a deal that will add an experimental antibody to Lilly’s pipeline of medicines for obesity.
The companies did not disclose a purchase price but said in a statement Friday that upfront and milestone payments by Lilly to Versanis shareholders could be worth as much as $1.9 billion.
Founded in 2021 by Aditum Bio, Versanis is built around a drug licensed by Novartis. The antibody, called bimagrumab, is designed to block cellular communication via two types of protein regulators and is being studied in people who are overweight or obese.
