Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
'AARF' Bill Aims To Prevent Use Of Dogs In Pharmaceutical Research
A bipartisan group of Congressional lawmakers has introduced a bill that would require the Food and Drug Administration to permit pharmaceutical companies to avoid running tests in dogs, an issue that has galvanized animal rights groups for years. The move comes amid growing criticism that the agency has failed to ease testing requirements, even as some drug makers have argued that such testing may sometimes be unnecessary. (Silverman, 11/12)
In other pharmaceutical and biotech news —
Drugmaker Indivior Solutions will pay $600 million in criminal and civil liability over its marketing of opioid-addiction treatment Suboxone, the Justice Department (DOJ) announced. Indivior pleaded guilty to a one-count misdemeanor in July for making false statements to Massachusetts’s Medicaid program, MassHealth, in order to expand access to the drug for children. (Williams, 11/12)
The biggest question in biotech — other than whether Covid-19 vaccines will work — centers on Biogen and its years-long quest to win Food and Drug Administration approval for a polarizing treatment for Alzheimer’s disease. (Feuerstein, Garde and Tirrell, 11/13)
Artificial intelligence is gaining new ground in nearly every corner of the clinic — including, increasingly, in vitro fertilization. IVF has helped millions of families conceive. But it’s also expensive, often emotionally and physically grueling, and requires many patients to go through numerous rounds to get pregnant. Researchers are looking to see if AI can more precisely pick the most viable embryo to implant — and in turn, improve success rates, reduce the risk of pregnancy loss, and bring IVF costs down. (Snow, 11/12)
