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COVID tests get $560M boost

Today's Rundown

Top 10 drug launch disasters
Alexa is finding a voice in healthcare. Cedars-Sinai, Boston Children's sign on for new Amazon smart hospital service
Biden admin infuses $560M more to buttress COVID-19 testing supply chain
EMA starts rolling review of Merck's molnupiravir, continuing rapid regulatory response to COVID-19 antiviral data
Erytech shifts focus to leukemia as lead drug flunks late-stage pancreatic cancer trial
Microsoft integrates healthcare cloud service with Cerner EHR for smoother telehealth visits
Guardant’s liquid biopsy detects 96% of early-stage colorectal cancer cases with a single blood draw: study
Novartis looks for silver lining in $2B canakinumab repurposing after 2nd lung cancer failure
AstraZeneca veteran takes up CEO post at Medivir, becoming 4th person to hold the post in quick succession
Doomed Next Gen ACO program saved Medicare $637M last year
What would Medicare price negotiations bring to the US? Look to Europe, Lilly CEO Ricks says
Roche, Foundation Medicine start global launch of cancer genomic profiling kit for labs worldwide

Featured Story

Top 10 drug launch disasters

By Angus Liu

An estimated 40% of drugs approved between 2004 and 2016 underperformed, according to Wall Street’s prelaunch sales forecasts. That's a lousy track record, given that a strong launch is critical to a drug's success. Here, we list 10 drug launches from the past five years that suffered the most noteworthy failures.

Alexa is finding a voice in healthcare. Cedars-Sinai, Boston Children's sign on for new Amazon smart hospital service

By Heather Landi

Amazon launched a new service for hospitals that will embed its voice technology deeper into clinical settings at scale. As part of Alexa Smart Properties, the service will simplify how hospitals deploy and manage Alexa-enabled devices. An Amazon executive said the new service is just the tip of the iceberg for using ambient technology in healthcare.

Biden admin infuses $560M more to buttress COVID-19 testing supply chain

By Emmy Lucas

In a continued effort to improve the availability of COVID-19 tests, the U.S. government is making its third investment in less than two months. This time, the focus is on shoring up the supply chain of materials needed to make the diagnostic kits and perform the tests including at-home tests.

EMA starts rolling review of Merck's molnupiravir, continuing rapid regulatory response to COVID-19 antiviral data

By Nick Paul Taylor

Merck has opened another front in its campaign to get molnupiravir to market, kicking off a process that could lead to the approval of the oral COVID-19 antiviral in the European Union.

Erytech shifts focus to leukemia as lead drug flunks late-stage pancreatic cancer trial

By Annalee Armstrong

After seeing an overall survival benefit in a mid-stage study of eryaspase in pancreatic cancer, Erytech Pharma likely thought a phase 3 would be in the bag. But the results are out and the phase 3 trial did not confirm the earlier result.

Microsoft integrates healthcare cloud service with Cerner EHR for smoother telehealth visits

By Rebecca Torrence

Microsoft's Cloud for Healthcare service, announced in October 2020, will now allow providers to schedule and conduct virtual visits using Cerner's EHR directly through Microsoft's patient portal.

Guardant’s liquid biopsy detects 96% of early-stage colorectal cancer cases with a single blood draw: study

By Andrea Park

Guardant's Lunar-2 liquid biopsy test is designed to catch colorectal cancer in its earliest stages and requires only a standard blood draw, offering a less invasive and time-consuming alternative to the current standards for screening.

Novartis looks for silver lining in $2B canakinumab repurposing after 2nd lung cancer failure

By Angus Liu

Is autoinflammatory disease treatment Ilaris a potential new therapy for non-small cell lung cancer? After two pivotal trial failures, the answer seems to be no, but Novartis is still seeing a glimmer of hope.

AstraZeneca veteran takes up CEO post at Medivir, becoming 4th person to hold the post in quick succession

By Nick Paul Taylor

And the next person to hold the CEO post at Medivir is … Jens Lindberg. The AstraZeneca veteran will become the fourth person to hold the post, on an interim or permanent basis, in quick succession when he takes up the position.

Doomed Next Gen ACO program saved Medicare $637M last year

By Robert King

A new study shows Next Gen ACOs collectively saved Medicare $637 million in 2020. CMS has decided not to continue the program after this year.

What would Medicare price negotiations bring to the US? Look to Europe, Lilly CEO Ricks says

By Kevin Dunleavy

In an interview, Eli Lilly CEO and PhRMA chairman David Ricks warns that if Congress adopts changes to Medicare to negotiate drug prices, the pharma industry in the U.S. would start to resemble the landscape in Europe, where investment and innovation is stunted.

Roche, Foundation Medicine start global launch of cancer genomic profiling kit for labs worldwide