Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Different Takes: Why Are There So Many Drug Shortages?; Compounded Ozempic Is Not The Same As A Generic
Whether it鈥檚 the lack of Adderall for people with ADHD, children鈥檚 Tylenol, or lifesaving cancer treatments, drug shortages are plaguing American patients. At the end of 2022, there were 295 drug shortages, a five-year high, according to a US Senate report. (6/7)
The Food and Drug Administration is warning consumers to steer clear of weight loss drugs sold through compounding pharmacies, some of which are brazenly being marketed as 鈥済eneric鈥 Ozempic and Wegovy. (Lisa Jarvis, 6/7)
Semaglutide is hardly a household name, but depending on who you ask, this injectable medicine represents a revolution, a scourge and a long-term unknown. Say the word 鈥淥zempic鈥 and it鈥檚 more instant recognition: This brand name of semaglutide, also sold under the name Wegovy, in addition to treating type 2 diabetes, is now synonymous with weight loss. (Jane Carr and Kirsi Goldynia, 6/7)
The profit model of the PBM industry 鈥 and it is an industry 鈥 incentivizes the delay and denial of prescription coverage with no accountability to or recourse for patients. (Lauren Hunt, 6/6)
This week more than 14,000 business leaders in the life sciences are in Boston for the BIO International Convention 鈥 executives, marketers, and researchers representing companies ranging from biotech startups to big pharma giants. (Katie Payne, 6/7)
PEPFAR has saved over 25 million lives over the past 20 years and has provided more than $100 billion in cumulative funding for HIV/AIDS treatment, prevention and research in more than 50 countries. (Ken Hersh, 6/7)
Recently, the American Cancer Society issued an alert noting that chemotherapy drugs 鈥渁re increasingly in short supply and have returned to the list of top-five drug classes affected by shortage.鈥 (Mary Vought, 6/8)