Top Stories

  • Sanofi SA and GlaxoSmithKline PLC said they will receive up to $2.1 billion through the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed program to develop their joint COVID-19 vaccine, which will be tested on humans in September, and deliver 100 million doses. The agreement includes an option for the United States to purchase an extra 500 million doses, while Sanofi and GSK said they’re aiming to produce 1 billion doses per year. (Stat News)
  • Moderna Inc., the drugmaker behind an experimental coronavirus vaccine that began phase 3 human trials this week, was targeted by hackers connected to China’s government in an effort to steal the company’s data, according to a U.S. security official monitoring Chinese hacking. Moderna, which has partnered with the National Institutes of Health in developing the vaccine and has received hundreds of millions of dollars in federal government support, confirmed to a media outlet that the Federal Bureau of Investigation had informed it of a hacking group’s “information reconnaissance activities,” while China denied involvement in the alleged hacking. (Reuters)
  • New research published in JAMA Pediatrics found that children infected with COVID-19 have at least equivalent amounts of the virus in their upper respiratory tract as adults who contracted the disease, further complicating the national debate over reopening schools. The small study, which did not identify the race or sex of participants or note if they had underlying medical conditions, also found that in children younger than 5, their noses and throats could host 100 times as much of the coronavirus as adults. (The New York Times)
  • Citing pandemic-induced disruptions to health care systems that led to a reduction in the prescribing of its drugs, Gilead Sciences Inc. reported a second-quarter loss of $3.34 billion, compared with $1.88 billion in profit during the year-ago period, as revenue fell 10 percent to $5.14 billion. But Gilead expects sales of its coronavirus treatment remdesivir to boost 2020 revenue by up to $2.8 billion, with the company now projecting full-year earnings of $23.3 billion to $25 billion, a rise from its earlier forecast of $21.8 billion to $22.2 billion. (The Wall Street Journal)

Chart Review

Events Calendar (All Times Local)

07/31/2020
Fauci, Redfield, Giroir testify before House’s special select committee investigating Trump administration’s response to pandemic 9:00 am
View full calendar

New Report – Most Loved Brands of 2020: What Drives Brand Love In A Year Like No Other

This week, we launched the fourth edition of Most Loved Brands, the definitive ranking of the brands defining American culture and commerce.

Download the special report to learn how Brand Love is evolving and what brands can do today to build long-lasting relationships that extend far past this pandemic to usher in a new era of brand-led business growth.

Coronavirus

FDA says it would clear a coronavirus vaccine so long as it’s safe and at least 50% effective
Will Feuer and Berkeley Lovelace Jr., CNBC

The Food and Drug Administration would authorize a coronavirus vaccine so long as it is safe and at least 50% effective, the agency’s commissioner, Dr. Stephen Hahn, said Thursday.

Remdesivir Gets Lukewarm Endorsement From Experts in Covid Fight
Jade Wilson, Bloomberg

Gilead Sciences Inc.’s remdesivir is worth prescribing for patients with severe Covid-19 though evidence of its benefits remains inconclusive, according to a panel of international experts convened by the British Medical Journal.

Tobacco-Based Covid Vaccine May Start Clinical Trials in Weeks
Corinne Gretler, Bloomberg

An experimental Covid-19 vaccine developed that’s produced in tobacco plants may start clinical trials within weeks as the race for immunization intensifies. British American Tobacco Plc, the maker of Lucky Strike cigarettes, expects a response from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration any day now, Chief Marketing Officer Kingsley Wheaton said in an interview.

Trump urges people who have recovered from covid-19 to donate blood plasma
Carolyn Y. Johnson, The Washington Post

President Trump issued a national call to action Thursday, exhorting people who have recovered from covid-19 to donate blood plasma to help others fight the disease and boost the nation’s supply.

Aboard the Diamond Princess, a Case Study in Aerosol Transmission
Benedict Carey and James Glanz, The New York Times

In a new report, a research team based at Harvard and the Illinois Institute of Technology has tried to tease out the ways in which the virus passed from person to person in the staterooms, corridors and common areas of the Diamond Princess. It found that the virus spread most readily in microscopic droplets that were light enough to float in the air, for several minutes or much longer.

Families File First Wave of Covid-19 Lawsuits Against Companies Over Worker Deaths
Janet Adamy, The Wall Street Journal

In responding to the lawsuits, employers have said they took steps to combat the virus, including screening workers for signs of illness, requiring they wear masks, sanitizing workspaces and limiting the number of customers inside stores. Some point out that it is impossible to know where or how their workers contracted Covid-19, particularly as it spreads more widely across the country.

Drugmakers Race to Build Covid-19 Vaccine Supply Chains
Elaine Chen, The Wall Street Journal

Pharmaceutical companies that are racing to develop vaccines for the coronavirus are already working behind the scenes to build the supply chains needed to deliver their drugs to billions of people as rapidly as possible.

Coronavirus testing still can’t keep up with demand
Caitlin Owens, Axios

Testing is once again becoming a critical weakness in the America’s response to the coronavirus pandemic, and experts say we may need to revive tighter standards about who can get a test.

U.S. officials see ‘signs of progress’ in Sun Belt coronavirus outbreaks, though deaths remain high
Berkeley Lovelace Jr. and Will Feuer, CNBC

The Department of Health and Human Services said Thursday that it is seeing “signs of progress” in Southern states fighting the coronavirus pandemic, though the number of deaths remains high. 

AstraZeneca to be exempt from coronavirus vaccine liability claims in most countries
Ludwig Burger and Pushkala Aripaka, Reuters

AstraZeneca has been granted protection from future product liability claims related to its COVID-19 vaccine hopeful by most of the countries with which it has struck supply agreements, a senior executive told Reuters.

U.S. government to launch ‘overwhelming’ COVID-19 vaccine campaign by November
Carl O’Donnell, Reuters

The Trump administration anticipates launching a far-reaching promotions campaign by November to encourage Americans to get vaccinated against the coronavirus, contingent on evidence that a successful vaccine will be available roughly by year end, a senior administration official said.

How Jared Kushner’s Secret Testing Plan “Went Poof Into Thin Air”
Katherine Eban, Vanity Fair

This spring, a team working under the president’s son-in-law produced a plan for an aggressive, coordinated national COVID-19 response that could have brought the pandemic under control. So why did the White House spike it in favor of a shambolic 50-state response?

Payers

Don’t Count on Lower Premiums Despite Pandemic-Driven Boon for Insurers
Bernard J. Wolfson, Kaiser Health News

When COVID-19 smacked the United States in March and April, health plans feared medical costs could skyrocket, jacking up premiums drastically in 2021, when millions of the newly unemployed might still be out of work.

Medicare coverage for Alzheimer brain scans in question
Marilynn Marchione, The Associated Press

The results announced Thursday are from a $100 million study of more than 25,000 Medicare recipients. It’s been closely watched by private insurers too, as the elderly population grows and more develop this most common form of dementia, which currently has no cure.

Providers

Fewer than 10% of primary care practices have stabilized operations amid COVID-19 pandemic
Heather Landi, FierceHealthcare

Nearly 9 in 10 primary care practices continue to face significant difficulties with COVID-19, including obtaining medical supplies, meeting the increasing health needs of their patients, and finding sufficient resources to remain operational, according to a recent survey of close to 600 primary care clinicians in 46 states.

Pharma, Biotech and Devices

The drug industry’s new tactic in Washington: calling Trump’s bluff
Nicholas Florko and Lev Facher, Stat News

The most brazen move came this week: Unlike most CEOs, who jump at the chance to visit the White House, pharmaceutical executives — newly empowered by their high-profile efforts to respond to the coronavirus and fed up with President Trump’s repeated threats — responded to his latest invitation with open contempt.

Moderna board member resigns to avoid conflict of interest during coronavirus vaccine trial
Noah Higgins-Dunn, CNBC

A member of Moderna’s board of directors resigned to avoid any “potential or even apparent conflict of interest” during the company’s phase three trial for its potential coronavirus vaccine, the company announced Thursday. 

Merck quarterly sales fall 7.6% as pandemic cuts doctor visits
Manas Mishra, Reuters

Merck & Co Inc (MRK.N) reported a 7.6% fall in second-quarter sales on Friday as a drop in visits to doctors’ offices because of the COVID-19 pandemic hurt sales of several important drugs.

Stryker posts loss as COVID-19 delays procedures
Kimberly Chin, MarketWatch

Stryker Corp. swung to a loss in the fiscal second quarter as the company’s sales were dented by the postponement of deferrable medical procedures amid measures to contain the spread of the coronavirus.

Health IT

Teladoc’s second-quarter revenue climbs 85% with 2.8 million visits
Jessica Kim Cohen, Modern Healthcare

Teladoc Health posted $241 million in revenue for this year’s second quarter, up 85% from $130.3 million posted in the same period last year.

Shafer says COVID-19 pandemic has driven ‘burst of innovation’ at Cerner
Heather Landi, FierceHealthcare

Cerner generated $134.7 million in profit during the second quarter, up 6% from $127 million in the same period in 2019. The health IT company reported a profit of 44 cents per share. That reflects an improvement from its earnings of 39 cents per share in the second quarter 2019.

Opinions, Editorials and Perspectives

Now Is Price Transparency’s Moment
Richard G. Harris, Morning Consult

In recent years Americans have become familiar with the quote, “Never let a good crisis go to waste” — and for the nation’s largest hospital systems, many of which are sitting on billions of dollars of financial reserves, the challenges brought on by the coronavirus are no different. Through active lobbying of Congress and the administration, hospitals have received more than $175 billion in bailouts to date with more requested. But, in an effort to flip the script as hospitals lobby for additional funds, Congress should not let this crisis go to waste: now is the time for the federal government to push its price transparency agenda. 

How Our Indian Country Flattened the Curve
Annette Saunooke Clapsaddle, The Atlantic

The Eastern Band of Cherokee Indians has for centuries practiced the Booger Dance to ward off illnesses and other malevolent forces. As night descends, men selected as “boogers,” or evil entities, appear in tattered clothing and absurd masks made from gourds, wood, or hornets’ nests. They mimic outsiders (typically Euro-Americans) and exaggerate lewd behavior as they dance. I was taught growing up that the dance stemmed from the tribe’s experiences with devastating sickness such as smallpox, which Europeans brought to American soil. The ceremony is a reminder that we must always work to keep our home and people safe.

Research Reports

Medicare Beneficiaries Speak up on Coronavirus: A Survey
eHealth

This report examines how Medicare beneficiaries are responding to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic after several months of restrictions on everyday life. The findings are based on a nationwide survey of Medicare beneficiaries who purchased Medicare health insurance products through eHealth. The survey was conducted on a voluntary basis between July 20 and 21, 2020, and a total of 2,761 responses were collected. Where appropriate, comparisons are drawn from eHealth’s April, 2020 survey of Medicare beneficiaries.

General

Working In A Male-Dominated Medical Practice Can Cost Female Physicians $90,000—Or More
Maggie McGrath, Forbes

Within healthcare, the gender disparities in pay are as well documented as they are particularly bad: according to Medscape’s 2020 compensation study, there is a 25% wage differential between male and female primary care physicians and a 31% gap among specialists. And according to a new study out of Harvard Medical School Thursday morning, there’s a factor that is exacerbating the existing gaps: medical practices with more than 50% male physicians on staff.

Surprise billing fix faces major hurdles in last-minute push
Rachel Cohrs, Modern Healthcare

Advocates of protecting consumers from surprise medical bills using a market-based payment benchmark are pushing to include their fix in the next COVID-19 relief package, but they face significant hurdles.

Morning Consult