American Patients Held Hostage Day 71
Jeffrey A. SingerThe new omicron variant is the most contagious variant of COVID-19 yet to emerge. Cases of omicron aredoubling every 1.5 to 3 days, as the virus quickly spreads throughout the U.S. While the delta variant is still the dominant variant in this country, omicron is on track to replace it. The Centers for Disease Control and Preventionreported late today that the omicron variant is responsible for 73 percent of recent COVID-19 cases in the U.S.The Pfizer and Moderna mRNA vaccines remain effective against omicron but aremuch less effective than with earlier variants. Evidence shows 2 doses of the mRNA vacci...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 20, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
Omicron Is Coming: Can We Live With It?
Ryan Bourne andJeffrey A. SingerThe U.S. is about to be hit by a huge wave of infections from the COVID-19 omicron variant. Thoughit ’s unclear yet whether omicron isnaturally less severe than, say, the delta variant, South African and British case data shows just how quickly it spreads, with significant vaccine evasion and widespread anecdotal reports of COVID-19 reinfections.UK recorded daily cases, for example, have risen quickly to theirhighest level in the pandemic, despite not counting any reinfections as new cases. These numbers vastly understate true daily infections, because not all those infected test and there...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - December 17, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Ryan Bourne, Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
The post-pandemic future I envisioned is here
It has been exactly one year since Pfizer’s first trucks rolled out to much fanfare. Billions followed every twist and turn on the path to getting a vaccine that would save countless lives and give us a return to normalcy. We all hoped for a brisk global vaccination campaign that, in addition to securing ourRead more …The post-pandemic future I envisioned is here originally appeared inKevinMD.com. (Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog)
Source: Kevin, M.D. - Medical Weblog - December 16, 2021 Category: General Medicine Authors: < span itemprop="author" > < a href="https://www.kevinmd.com/blog/post-author/owais-durrani" rel="tag" > Owais Durrani, MD < /a > < /span > Tags: Physician COVID Infectious Disease Source Type: blogs
Merck Antiviral Drug Moves Closer to Approval
Jeffrey A. SingerA Food and Drug Administration Advisory Panel justapproved, narrowly, the Merck antiviral drug Molnupiravir. This is just step one. We now have to wait for the FDA to decide on emergency use authorization.The U.K. approved Molnupiravir on November 4.Merck applied to the FDA for approval on October 11. Vaccines are the best long ‐term defense against COVID-19, but antivirals are the best first‐line defense, especially when new variants can develop that escape the immunity provided by vaccines.Rather than wait weeks for the vaccine to take effect, antivirals —like antibiotics—work immediately t...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - November 30, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
TWiV 828: COVID-19 clinical update #88 with Dr. Daniel Griffin
In COVID-19 clinical update #88, Dr. Griffin covers vaccine protection among US veterans, absence of long COVID in vaccinated who are infected, single dose of REGEN-COV monoclonal antibody cocktail provides long term protection, and Pfizer protease inhibitor Paxlovid is 89% effective in preventing hospitalization or death. Show notes at microbe.tv/twiv (Source: virology blog)
Source: virology blog - November 13, 2021 Category: Virology Authors: Vincent Racaniello Tags: This Week in Virology antiviral coronavirus COVID-19 inflammation Long Covid monoclonal antibody pandemic SARS-CoV-2 vaccine vaccine booster variant of concern viruses Source Type: blogs
World ’ s Biggest Pharma Companies Go Digital – Summary
In recent weeks, we have examined more than two dozen of the largest pharma companies from the perspective of how they use digital solutions and what digital health investments they do. These pharmaceutical giants have long-term strategies that, when the time comes, will alter our lives entirely. So it is critical that we know where they stand and how they imagine our common future – for it will become our reality.
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Big Pharma, Big Money: Johnson&Johnson, Pfizer, Bayer, Novartis in digital healthMerck, GlaxoSmithKline, AbbVie, Sanofi & Bristol Myers Squibb: Big Pharma’s Extending Digital H...
Source: The Medical Futurist - November 11, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Judit Kuszkó Tags: Forecast Future of Medicine Future of Pharma investment big tech DTx digital therapeutics big pharma evidence Source Type: blogs
Digital Health Interests Of Pharma Giants Boehringer Ingelheim, Takeda, Astrazeneca, Amgen And Roche
With their extending reaches, resources and influence, pharmaceutical heavyweights have the potential to shape the digital health landscape to line up with their interests. And to have a better picture of where those interests lie, it is worth taking a look at what moves pharma giants are making in this sphere. With this in mind, we started a series of articles focusing on the digital health efforts of 14 global pharma companies.
The first article explored developments coming from Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Bayer and Novartis, while the second article investigated those coming from Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, AbbV...
Source: The Medical Futurist - November 4, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: TMF Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Digital Health Research Future of Pharma sleep patient empowerment pharmaceutics roche MySugr Astra-Zeneca DTx takeda Boehringer Ingelheim Amgen digitisation Quire.ai Renalytix Eko Source Type: blogs
Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, AbbVie, Sanofi & Bristol Myers Squibb: Big Pharma ’s Extending Digital Health Reaches
A few weeks ago, we kickstarted a new series of articles contemplating the moves of pharmaceutical heavyweights in the digital health arena. The first batch of companies, Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Bayer and Novartis, seem to have some interest in remote healthcare solutions and DTx.
In this second article, we will explore which trends pharma giants Merck, GlaxoSmithKline, AbbVie, Sanofi and Bristol Myers Squibb are eyeing.
Merck: big tech-friendly
A big pharma company itself, Germany’s Merck hasn’t shied from teaming up with big tech companies in recent years as it aims to make a lasting footpri...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 26, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: Artificial Intelligence in Medicine Biotechnology Future of Medicine Future of Pharma Health Sensors & Trackers Personalized Medicine Portable Medical Diagnostics Security & Privacy pharmaceutics 23andme philips big pharma Merck Source Type: blogs
The “Secret Sauce” – A Comparison of TSMC and Pfizer
By MIKE MAGEE
This week’s Tom Friedman Opinion piece in the New York Times contained a title impossible to ignore: “China’s Bullying Is Becoming a Danger To The World and Itself.” The editorial has much to recommend it. But the item that caught my eye was Friedman’s full-throated endorsement of Taiwan’s “most sophisticated microchip manufacturer in the world,” Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company (TSMC).
TSMC owns 50% of the world’s microchip manufacturing market, and along with South Korea’s Samsung, is one of only two companies currently producing the ultra-small 5-nano...
Source: The Health Care Blog - October 22, 2021 Category: Consumer Health News Authors: Ryan Bose-Roy Tags: Health Tech Health Technology microchip Mike Magee Pfizer Privacy TSMC Vaccination Vaccinations Vaccine vaccines Source Type: blogs
Big Pharma, Big Money: Johnson & Johnson, Pfizer, Bayer, Novartis in digital health
In a recent series of articles, we explored the latest moves of Tech Giants like Amazon, NVIDIA and Microsoft in the field of digital health. Analysing these recent developments can give us a better idea regarding where they are focusing the efforts, and how it might shape the future path of healthcare.
But equally, if not more, strong players in this field are pharmaceutical giants, as their resources and influence can significantly shape or alter the course of this path. As such, we are kickstarting a new series of articles focusing on the digital health efforts of 14 global pharma companies. While those heavywe...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 12, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Pranavsingh Dhunnoo Tags: Future of Medicine Future of Pharma digital health novartis pfizer J&J big pharma Johnson&Johnson Bayer Source Type: blogs
COVID-19 In 2022 – An Unexpected Reality
Last April, at the top of lockdowns and the pandemic we forecasted When And How COVID-9 Will End. Within these projections, we looked at how the pandemic can unfold – and when we could finally declare it’s over. Among the 3 scenarios we projected for 2021 last October, the most optimistic seemed the most unlikely (hence its name, the fairy-tale scenario), and everyone hoped for the second. At that time, wearing masks in 2022 did not seem likely – at all.
And still, here we are, heading towards a pessimistic scenario, living a future we should not have – let’s see how that is possible and where we are at.
...
Source: The Medical Futurist - October 7, 2021 Category: Information Technology Authors: Judit Kuszkó Tags: Covid-19 Forecast future lockdown vaccine virus Source Type: blogs
Vaccinating the World: The Problem with Drop-in-the-Bucket Thinking
By Govind Persad, JD, PhD
The United States, after wasting over 15 million doses since March and with a stockpile of 150 million more in freezers, reportedly ordered 200 million more vaccines from Pfizer/BioNTech for delivery starting in October. These orders may be motivated by the expectation of broad access to “booster” vaccines in the United States.
The World Health Organization and many ethicists have criticized the broad provision of boosters on the basis that they exacerbate global vaccine scarcity. But other influential commentators defend using hundreds of milli...
Source: blog.bioethics.net - October 6, 2021 Category: Medical Ethics Authors: Blog Editor Tags: Featured Posts Global Ethics Health Disparities Politics Public Health Social Justice Vaccines Vulnerable Populations Booster shots COVID-19 global health vaccination Source Type: blogs
FDA Panel Wants to Deny Adults the Right to Decide How Much COVID Protection They Want
Jeffrey A. SingerThe Food and Drug Administration ’s scientific advisory panel recommendedagainst approving Pfizer/ BioNTech booster vaccinations for the general population aged 16 and above. The boosters are currently only approved for immunocompromised individuals and patients in nursing homes—patients who are more vulnerable than the general population to get breakthrough infections that result in hospita lization or death.Concluding that the vaccines offer the general adult population robust protection against severe disease that can possibly result in hospitalization or death, the committee decided the protecti...
Source: Cato-at-liberty - September 17, 2021 Category: American Health Authors: Jeffrey A. Singer Source Type: blogs
U.S. Patients Need U.S. FTC to Do More to Bring Rx Drug Prices Down to Earth
For a moment, try to answer the following question honestly:When are biosimilar insulins, even those which are designated by the FDA as " interchangable " with the innovator, MORE EXPENSIVE than the originator molecule the biosimilar is supposed to be a copy of? The correct answer is when a person with diabetes lives in the United States. It defies logic!In theory, the biosimilars should be cheaper because the work of developing, conducting clinical trials and whatnot is not the same to make a copy. The biosimilar doesn ' t have to go through the same process of conducting extensive three phases of clinical trial...
Source: Scott's Web Log - September 15, 2021 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Federal Trade Commission FTC PBM rebate reform rebates Source Type: blogs
U.S. Patients Need U.S. FTC to Do More to Bring Rx Drug Prices Down to Earth
For a moment, try to answer the following question honestly:When are biosimilar insulins, even those which are designated by the FDA as " interchangeable " with the innovator, MORE EXPENSIVE than the originator molecule the biosimilar is supposed to be a copy of? The correct answer is when a person with diabetes lives in the United States. It defies logic!In theory, the biosimilars should be cheaper because the work of developing, conducting clinical trials and whatnot is not the same to make a copy. The biosimilar doesn ' t have to go through the same process of conducting extensive three phases of clinical tria...
Source: Scott's Web Log - September 15, 2021 Category: Endocrinology Tags: Biosimilar biosimilars Federal Trade Commission FTC PBM rebate reform rebates Source Type: blogs
