Axios Vitals: Pharma's quagmire

Plus, why low booster uptake could be costly | Wednesday, October 05, 2022

Open in app View in browser   Presented By Johnson & Johnson MedTech   Axios Vitals By Tina Reed · Oct 05, 2022 Happy hump day, Vitals readers. Today's newsletter is 850 words or a 3-minute read.     1 big thing: Pharma can't give up on Dems as it tries to weaken drug price law Illustration: Gabriella Turrisi/Axios   Pharmaceutical companies are trying to defang the new drug pricing law without declaring open war on the same congressional Democrats who crafted it and will continue to have powerful sway over the industry's fortunes, Axios' Caitlin Owens and Peter Sullivan report. Why it matters: Most of pharma's options call for strategic maneuvering rather than scorched-earth politicking — especially since the industry's wish list extends far beyond the recently enacted Medicare drug price negotiations. Between the lines: Manufacturers have a multi-pronged strategy that calls for follow-on legislation to soften the financial blow, shaping regulations that spell out how the law will be implemented and even filing lawsuits challenging the government's authority to control prices, industry sources say. The first two require at least some cooperation with Democrats, unless Republicans recapture control of both Congress and the White House. The lawsuit option would take years to play out and could face long odds of success, legal experts say. What they're saying: Industry sources say they need to be realistic as they try to manage the fallout. "We are not going to walk into a bunch of Democratic Senate offices and say, 'Hey, repeal what you just voted for.' That's silly," said one industry source. The intrigue: Drug industry sources argue that their relationship with Democrats is one of mutual dependence, not just one-sided. "We are an industry of well-educated people ... so blowing up this industry is unhelpful to Democrats in that regard, but they clearly haven't connected those dots," one source said. The bottom line: The drug industry will undoubtedly continue to publicly rail against the law and highlight any adverse effects they say stem from it, but behind the scenes, sources acknowledge that their options are likely limited. Go deeper.     2. 90K lives, $56.5B could be saved with boosters About 90,000 lives would be saved and more than 936,000 hospitalizations could be prevented if 80% of Americans eligible for the latest COVID-19 boosters get vaccinated by year's end, according to a new paper from The Commonwealth Fund and Yale School of Public Health. Even uptake matching 2020–2021 flu vaccine levels of closer to 50%–55% could save about 75,000 lives and prevent about 745,000 hospitalizations. Why it matters: The U.S. is on track for a far lower rate. Only 36% of adults older than 50 have gotten second boosters. "If vaccination continued at its current pace through the end of March 2023, a potential winter surge in COVID-19 infections could result in a peak of around 16,000 hospitalizations and 1,200 deaths per day by March 2023," the researchers said. Between the lines: The low booster rate could weigh heavily on government health programs. Getting 80% of eligible Americans boosted could save $56.3 billion in direct medical costs, including $13.5 billion in Medicare spending and $4.5 billion in Medicaid spending. Yes, but: Comments Tuesday by White House COVID adviser Anthony Fauci threw cold water on any COVID predictions, as he warned of the possibility of new vaccine-evading variants this winter.     3. Global optimism around defeating malaria grows The emergence of a new vaccine and another that's on the way have researchers increasingly entertaining the possibility that malaria will be eradicated, the New York Times reports. Why it matters: Malaria kills over 400,000 people a year, more than half of whom are under the age of 5. Many are in sub-Saharan African countries. Malaria parasites have started to show more resistance against insecticides and drug treatments in recent years. What's happening: As Axios' Bryan Walsh previously reported, the World Health Organization's recommendation last year of Mosquirix, the first vaccine against malaria for widespread use for children, was seen as a "game-changer." But another malaria vaccine, which has shown an 80% efficacy in clinical trials, maybe within a few years of reaching the market and "may transform the fight against malaria," per the Times. There are also additional tools under development including an mRNA vaccine from BioNTech, the report said. Yes, but: As we've seen with COVID vaccines, it's not just the availability of vaccines, but the ability to distribute them that's critical. There are other challenges, like limited resources, public mistrust and competing public health priorities.     A message from Johnson & Johnson MedTech Advancing scientific innovation     Johnson & Johnson MedTech delivers accessible and efficient medical technology to address the needs of patients, HCPs and health systems. Looking ahead: We're building a digital surgery ecosystem with the goal of making medical intervention smarter, safer and more personalized. Learn more.     4. Data du jour: Racism's impact on health care Data: California Health Care Foundation; Chart: Simran Parwani/Axios Nearly a third of Black Californians reported being treated unfairly in the health care system because of their race, according to a report from the California Health Care Foundation, Axios' Sabrina Moreno reports. The big picture: The report — which also found more than one in four Black Californians avoided getting medical care because they were worried about unfair or disrespectful treatment — shows the impact of racial disparities in the most highly populated state in the country. The findings stem from a survey released Tuesday of more than 3,300 Black Californian adults and interviews with 100 Black people statewide by the California Health Care Foundation and EVITARUS, a Black-owned research firm.     5. Catch up quick 💲Juul Labs is beginning talks regarding entering a potential Chapter 11 bankruptcy, sources tell Bloomberg. (Bloomberg) 🏛 Anthem must face a Medicare Advantage fraud lawsuit after a judge denied its requests to dismiss the case. (Modern Healthcare) 👉 The Department of Veterans Affairs has joined the national tempest over abortion by starting to perform the procedure in red states. (The Hill)     A message from Johnson & Johnson MedTech Advancing scientific innovation     Johnson & Johnson MedTech delivers accessible and efficient medical technology to address the needs of patients, HCPs and health systems. Looking ahead: We're building a digital surgery ecosystem with the goal of making medical intervention smarter, safer and more personalized. Learn more.   Thanks for reading, and extra thanks to senior editor Adriel Bettelheim and senior copy editor Bryan McBournie for all the edits. Please ask your friends and colleagues to sign up. Why stop here? Let's go Pro. Join the thousands of professionals reading Axios Pro: Health Tech Deals to better understand the forces shaping their industry.   Axios thanks our partners for supporting our newsletters. If you're interested in advertising, learn more here. Sponsorship has no influence on editorial content. 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