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COVID-19 snarled the US healthcare supply chain, but it was in trouble long before, experts say. What's more, drug and medical-device shortages could get worse, Tammy Beckham, DVM, PhD, associate director of the US Food and Drug Association's (FDA's) Resilient Supply Chain Program at the Center for Devices and Radiological Health (CDRH), told attendees at this month's MedCon 2023. (Van Beusekom, 5/11)

As the US faces a near-record number of drug shortages, cancer treatments are among the hardest hit. There is an active shortage of about two dozen chemotherapy drugs, the fifth most of any drug category, according to data from the end of March from the University of Utah Drug Information Service. “The fact that we have this many chemo drugs in shortage is really concerning,” said Michael Ganio, senior director of pharmacy practice and quality at the American Society of Health-System Pharmacists. (McPhillips, 5/11)

A committee of the Food and Drug Administration's outside advisers voted Thursday in favor of an epinephrine nasal spray product, clearing a key hurdle for what could soon be the first needle-free option for treating severe allergic reactions. The majority votes backing the spray for both adults and kids followed a daylong meeting of the agency's Pulmonary-Allergy Drugs Advisory Committee, picking apart an application from ARS Pharmaceuticals for their proposed epinephrine spray, branded as Neffy. (Tin, 5/11)

New highly-effective weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy are not a “silver bullet” for addressing the rapid rise in global obesity rates, the World Health Organization’s nutrition chief told Reuters, as the agency conducts its first review of obesity management guidelines in more than 20 years. (Rigby, 5/12)

AbbVie has filed a lawsuit against a behind-the-scenes company that helps health plan sponsors take advantage of the assistance programs created by drug companies to provide specialty medicines to patients for free. At issue is a maneuver called alternative funding, which a growing number of drugmakers contend exploits their charitable programs. Basically, a plan sponsor excludes certain expensive drugs from coverage and taps an outside vendor to help uninsured and underinsured patients obtain the medicines for free from patient assistance programs. (Silverman, 5/11)