TOP STORIES
Is China becoming a bad bet for the medical industry? In the near-term, the answer seems to be yes. The Financial Times does a great deep dive.
It has been triggered not by a drop in demand — on the contrary, China’s need for medicines has never been greater — but by deep structural problems in the country’s healthcare system.
Pharma companies are being squeezed as China tries to extract greater value from its $150bn drugs bill and reform a hospital system whose finances have become unhealthily dependent on pushing pills. As Xudong Yin, chairman of the China arm of Novartis , says: “Whether you look at hospitals or pharma, the whole health system is unbalanced.”
There’s mixed messages about the medical industry in China: from avoiding corruption (see GSK’s half-billion-dollar fine) to price cuts in drug prices. Don’t forget to peruse some of the comments. – Financial Times
LIFE SCIENCES
Good news for Johnson & Johnson and AbbVie’s cancer drug Imbruvica. Late-stage trial results have paved the way for regulatory approval. – Reuters
Laguna Pharmaceutics has shut down, and the founder gave the 100 percent right answer: “If you’re going to fail, you want to fail quickly, right? We didn’t fail. The drug failed.” – Xconomy
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Merck & Co’s immunotherapy Keytruda led to a high response rate for patients with the blood cancer multiple myeloma when added to standard therapy in a small, early stage trial, according to data presented on Monday.
More good news for Keytruda in a Phase I trials. #longwaytogo – Reuters
Is the hedge-fund crowd going to turn its back on Valeant? – Forbes
Bad news for cancer drug evofosfamide (developed by Merck KGaA and Threshold Pharmaceuticals). It had a poor showing in a pair of late-stage trials. – Reuters
PAYERS PROVIDERS
Blue Cross Blue Shield of Michigan plans to cut $300 million by 2018 – I wonder how many other Blues have similar plans. – Modern Healthcare
This penis transplant is a first-of-its-kind in the United States and is transformative for many soldiers wounded in battle. – The New York Times
Man oh man. The last generation of medical residents just cannot accept that this generation of medical residents works only 30 hours a week. – NPR
TECHNOLOGY
Moderning Medicine has unveiled its practice-management solution, modmed PM. – Business Wire
HIV is growing among certain adolescent groups – and the culprit may be dating apps (more research please). – BBC
POLITICS
Status check on the SEC’s application of the JOBS Act: “If you’re worried equity crowdfunding could yield the 21st-century version of penny-stock pump-and-dump schemes, that’s a good thing. But if you think that attitude is patronizing, there is always the chance that the SEC’s rules might someday be judged by Congress to be contrary to the original intent of the JOBS Act. ?” – The Wall Street Journal
A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
The world gets an education via Jimmy Carter: medical miracle or modern healthcare. – CNN
