| FDA finally has a commissioner | | |  | FRI, DEC 13, 2019 | | | | Think a friend or colleague should be getting this newsletter? Share this link with them to sign up.
Lawmakers passed the Democrats' bill to curb drug prices this week. And that could be as far as it goes in Congress, Berkeley Lovelace Jr. reports. Aside from impeachment, health care has dominated headlines on the Hill this year and will likely do the same next year. Yet researchers say not to expect any big policy changes in 2020.
(Are there any stories we should be chasing? Email tips, ideas, suggestions to CNBC Health Editor Dawn Kopecki at dawn.kopecki@nbcuni.com.)
| | House passes Pelosi bill to lower drug prices | This week, the House passed, as expected, Speaker Nancy Pelosi's drug pricing legislation that would allow Medicare to negotiate lower prices on the costliest drugs. Republicans, the drug industry and venture capitalists are opposed to the bill, arguing it would spur the loss of lifesaving cures and even completely dry up financing for small biotech companies. Pharma stocks didn't budge because the bill's chances of becoming law are slim. Nevertheless, the legislation will likely give voters a preview of the party's platform on health care ahead of the 2020 elections.
-Berkeley Lovelace Jr. | | | | FDA finally has a commissioner | Texas oncologist Dr. Stephen Hahn was officially voted in as Food and Drug Administration's commissioner after the Senate approved his nomination on Thursday by a vote of 72-18. The position has been vacant for most of the year. Hahn's predecessor, Scott Gottlieb, resigned in April. Hahn, who has little government experience, joins the FDA as the spotlight on the agency is growing.
-Angelica LaVito | | | | What does it say when diseases afflicting 50 million Americans are bad business? | French drug giant Sanofi joined the masses of pharmaceutical companies doubling down on drugs for cancer and rare diseases, announcing on Tuesday it would stop research into diabetes and cardiovascular disease. The move comes after Sanofi's new cholesterol drug, partnered with Regeneron and based on elegant, genetically-driven science, became a commercial flop. "Some of the access challenges that new, breakthrough medicines face in cardiovascular are a challenge themselves, but that wouldn't put us off," Sanofi's new CEO told us on Squawk Box. The incentives, though, are obvious: new medicines for cancer and rare diseases are routinely priced at more than $100,000 a year per patient, and can often gain regulatory approval on studies of hundreds, or fewer, patients. Drugs for diabetes and cardiovascular disease, on the other hand, often require multiple trials including thousands of patients, and when they do gain approval, often face pushback from payers who want to encourage use of cheaper generics. Heart disease remains the leading cause of death in the U.S. and worldwide.
-Meg Tirrell | | | | What to Watch in 2020: Policy slowdown, gene therapy ramp up | High health-care costs remain a top issue for voters, and a big talking point for Washington. Yet for all of the hearings and executive orders issued, it has been an uphill slog to get reforms passed this year on the Hill and at the White House. Researchers at PwC say if history is any guide, don't expect to see big policy movement next year in the run up to the 2020 presidential election. The pressure to do something about high prices is only going to get worse. There's a big pipeline of gene therapies poised for approval in 2020. You can expect them to come to market with eye-popping price tags.
-Bertha Coombs | | CNBC Evolve Summit 2020: Transforming Companies for the Future
In an era of rapid technological advances and demographic change, how do legacy companies adapt, innovate and evolve?
CNBC Evolve features iconic global companies and executives who are embracing change and transforming for the future.
Featuring best-in class CEOs and innovators in conversation with CNBC anchors and reporters, this half-day event series provides a forum for companies to share strategies, tactics and lessons learned in a peer-to-peer environment.
Attendees will walk away with an understanding of how businesses and brands can evolve and win in an age of disruption. | | CNBC Evolve June 9, 2020
Los Angeles | |
Post a Comment