AstraZeneca PLC and GlaxoSmithKline PLC have teamed up with the
University of Cambridge to combat shortages of Covid-19 tests, the
companies said Tuesday.
The British drug companies said they would set up a laboratory at the
university to develop “alternative chemical reagents for test kits in
order to help overcome current supply shortages.”
“While diagnostic testing is not part of either company’s core
business, we are moving as fast as we can to help where possible,” the
companies said.
In late March, GSK joined a coalition of drugmakers who agreed to
share their “proprietary libraries of molecular compounds” for screening
with the Covid-19 Therapeutics Accelerator, which was launched by the
Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Mastercard Inc. and U.K.-based
nonprofit Wellcome.
That effort could result in human or animal trials in as little as two months, the Gates Foundation said at the time.
https://www.marketscreener.com/ASTRAZENECA-PLC-4000930/news/AstraZeneca-GSK-AstraZeneca-Partner-to-Tackle-Covid-19-Test-Shortages-30378815/
Tuesday, April 7, 2020
African Americans may be bearing brunt of Covid-19, but access to data limited
Stark
statistics are coming to light only now and only in piecemeal fashion
showing that African Americans are disproportionately affected by
Covid-19. The racial divide in who gets infected, who gets tested, and
who dies from Covid-19 is emerging from the few cities and states whose
data are public.
African Americans in Illinois, for example, accounted for 29% of confirmed cases and 41% of deaths as of Monday morning, yet they make up only 15% of the state’s population, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, one of just a handful of government agencies sharing information on who is hardest hit by the virus. Michigan mirrors Illinois, with 34% of Covid-19 cases and 40% of deaths striking African Americans, even though only 14% of Michigan’s population is Black. The story is similar in Wisconsin, where Pro Publica first reported that African Americans number nearly half of the 941 cases in Milwaukee County and 81% of its 27 deaths while the population is 26% Black.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention distributes data on age, gender, and location of Covid-19 patients but not their race or ethnicity. (The CDC did not respond to a request for comment made on Monday.) That posture has set off challenges from legal and medical professionals to release that data so resources can be better allocated to the people who need them the most.
The Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law
and nearly 400 medical professionals have demanded that the U.S.
Department of Health and Human Services release daily racial and ethnic
demographic data on Covid-19 tests, cases, and outcomes. They cited both
the 1964 Civil Rights law and the Affordable Care Act, which prohibit
discrimination in health care services. The absence of data amounts to
denial of appropriate care, the group argues.
“We are deeply concerned that African American communities are being hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and that racial bias may be impacting the access they receive to testing and healthcare,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the committee, said in a conference call with reporters on Monday.
The grim reality reflected in those limited statistics fits with
longstanding research on the social determinants of health as well as
the very specific risk factors that come into play for the spread of the
coronavirus.
Lisa Cooper, an internal medicine physician and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said she’d have to speculate, given the dearth of data, but she listed multiple reasons why as a group African Americans of lower income are more likely to become ill: People working for an hourly wage don’t have the luxury of being able to shelter at home or the means to buy two weeks’ worth of healthy food. They may work in jobs deemed essential, such as in public transportation, public safety, or health care. If they quit, they would lose their health insurance, if they have it, and access to health care. If they continue working, they risk exposure to the coronavirus. And they are more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma, chronic conditions that put them at higher risk for more serious Covid-19 illness.
“African Americans in many large cities began to practice social distancing behavior much later than whites, largely due to the fact [whites] could stay at home to work,” Cooper told STAT.
Like dominoes, one risk factor topples into another, said Brian Williams, a trauma surgeon, intensive care doctor, and associate professor at University of Chicago Medicine. He was shocked when he learned that in his city, 70% of the people who died from the virus were African American, according to data analyzed by WBEZ.
“I’m disheartened because the disparity is so great and I wish I could do more, although I’m a doctor with a certain skill set that is useful right now,” he said in an interview. “I wish I could do a lot more.”
If there were more complete information, more could be done to help people who are sick and stanch the spread of disease, he said.
“We need to have a demographic breakdown of who will be impacted and how we as a health care system can deploy all our resources and personnel in the most efficient and effective manner to ensure the safety and well-being of the entire American public,” Williams said. “Now we’re flying blind because we don’t know.”
That racial and ethnic demographic data are being collected — it’s just not being reported out to the public, said Uché Blackstock, an emergency physician in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I think it speaks to just how broken our system is,” she said. “We actually have the data in our city. All of the electronic medical records systems collect racial and ethnic demographic data. It’s a matter of getting our Department of Health to disclose what that data shows. ”
Williams is looking beyond the current crisis, beyond the surge of patients he fears is still coming.
“This affects all of us, either directly or indirectly,” he said before returning to the ICU. “And when the pandemic is over, our recovery plan should be one of unity in order to rebuild a better society that recognizes the shared humanity of everyone living within our borders.”
African Americans in Illinois, for example, accounted for 29% of confirmed cases and 41% of deaths as of Monday morning, yet they make up only 15% of the state’s population, according to the Illinois Department of Public Health, one of just a handful of government agencies sharing information on who is hardest hit by the virus. Michigan mirrors Illinois, with 34% of Covid-19 cases and 40% of deaths striking African Americans, even though only 14% of Michigan’s population is Black. The story is similar in Wisconsin, where Pro Publica first reported that African Americans number nearly half of the 941 cases in Milwaukee County and 81% of its 27 deaths while the population is 26% Black.
The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention distributes data on age, gender, and location of Covid-19 patients but not their race or ethnicity. (The CDC did not respond to a request for comment made on Monday.) That posture has set off challenges from legal and medical professionals to release that data so resources can be better allocated to the people who need them the most.
“We are deeply concerned that African American communities are being hardest hit by the Covid-19 pandemic, and that racial bias may be impacting the access they receive to testing and healthcare,” Kristen Clarke, president and executive director of the committee, said in a conference call with reporters on Monday.
Lisa Cooper, an internal medicine physician and a professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health, said she’d have to speculate, given the dearth of data, but she listed multiple reasons why as a group African Americans of lower income are more likely to become ill: People working for an hourly wage don’t have the luxury of being able to shelter at home or the means to buy two weeks’ worth of healthy food. They may work in jobs deemed essential, such as in public transportation, public safety, or health care. If they quit, they would lose their health insurance, if they have it, and access to health care. If they continue working, they risk exposure to the coronavirus. And they are more likely to have diabetes, high blood pressure, or asthma, chronic conditions that put them at higher risk for more serious Covid-19 illness.
“African Americans in many large cities began to practice social distancing behavior much later than whites, largely due to the fact [whites] could stay at home to work,” Cooper told STAT.
Like dominoes, one risk factor topples into another, said Brian Williams, a trauma surgeon, intensive care doctor, and associate professor at University of Chicago Medicine. He was shocked when he learned that in his city, 70% of the people who died from the virus were African American, according to data analyzed by WBEZ.
“I’m disheartened because the disparity is so great and I wish I could do more, although I’m a doctor with a certain skill set that is useful right now,” he said in an interview. “I wish I could do a lot more.”
If there were more complete information, more could be done to help people who are sick and stanch the spread of disease, he said.
“We need to have a demographic breakdown of who will be impacted and how we as a health care system can deploy all our resources and personnel in the most efficient and effective manner to ensure the safety and well-being of the entire American public,” Williams said. “Now we’re flying blind because we don’t know.”
That racial and ethnic demographic data are being collected — it’s just not being reported out to the public, said Uché Blackstock, an emergency physician in Brooklyn, N.Y.
“I think it speaks to just how broken our system is,” she said. “We actually have the data in our city. All of the electronic medical records systems collect racial and ethnic demographic data. It’s a matter of getting our Department of Health to disclose what that data shows. ”
Williams is looking beyond the current crisis, beyond the surge of patients he fears is still coming.
“This affects all of us, either directly or indirectly,” he said before returning to the ICU. “And when the pandemic is over, our recovery plan should be one of unity in order to rebuild a better society that recognizes the shared humanity of everyone living within our borders.”
‘We’re flying blind’: African Americans may be bearing the brunt of Covid-19, but access to data are limited
NOVO NORDISK Gets a Buy rating from Goldman Sachs
In a research note published by Keyur Parekh,
Goldman Sachs advises its customers to buy the stock. The target price
remains unchanged at DKK 475.
https://www.marketscreener.com/NOVO-NORDISK-A-S-1412980/news/NOVO-NORDISK-Gets-a-Buy-rating-from-Goldman-Sachs-30362552/?countview=0
https://www.marketscreener.com/NOVO-NORDISK-A-S-1412980/news/NOVO-NORDISK-Gets-a-Buy-rating-from-Goldman-Sachs-30362552/?countview=0
Mallinckrodt shares halted pending news
The NYSE has suspended trading in Mallinckrodt (NYSE:MNK) pending the release of news. Anxious longs are hoping it is not a bankruptcy filing.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3558949-mallinckrodt-shares-halted-pending-news
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3558949-mallinckrodt-shares-halted-pending-news
FDA accepts Merck application for expanded use of Keytruda
Under Priority Review status, the FDA accepts Merck’s (NYSE:MRK)
supplemental marketing application seeking approval to use Keytruda
(pembrolizumab) to treat adult and pediatric patients with unresectable
or metastatic solid tumors with tissue tumor mutational burden-high
(TMB-H) ≥10 mutations/megabase, as determined by an FDA-approved test,
who have progressed following prior treatment and who have no
satisfactory alternative treatment options.
The agency’s action date is June 16.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3558870-fda-accepts-merck-application-for-expanded-use-of-keytrudaSyneos Health pulls back guidance amid COVID-19
Citing COVID-19 disruptions, Syneos Health (NASDAQ:SYNH) is withdrawing its financial guidance for the year ending December 31, 2020.
The Company expects its Q1 financial results to be in line with previously issued guidance.
Syneos will release Q1 results on April 30, prior to its earnings call at 8:00 a.m. ET.
https://seekingalpha.com/news/3558874-syneos-health-pulls-back-guidance-amid-covidminus-19India allows limited anti-malaria drug exports after Trump warns of retaliation
India, the world’s main supplier of generic drugs, said on Tuesday it
will allow limited exports of the anti-malaria drug hydroxychloroquine
that U.S. President Donald Trump has touted as a potential weapon in the
fight against the coronavirus.
The Indian government had put a hold on exports of hydroxychloroquine
as well as on the pain reliever, paracetamol, saying stocks were
depleting because of the hit to global supply chains after the
coronavirus emerged in China late last year.
But Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the weekend seeking supplies and on Monday said India may face retaliation if it didn’t withdraw the ban on exports.
India’s neighbours, including Nepal, have also sought the anti-malaria drug.
“It has been decided that India would licence paracetamol and HCQ in
appropriate quantities to all our neighbouring countries who are
dependent on our capabilities,” said Indian foreign ministry spokesman
Anurag Srivastava.
“We will also be supplying these essential drugs to some nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic,” he said.
Use of hydroxychloroquine has soared as the United States has quickly become the epicentre of the pandemic, though doctors prescribing it have no idea whether it works.
U.S. fatalities from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, hit 10,902 on Monday, rapidly closing in on Italy and Spain, the countries with the greatest loss of life to date, according to a Reuters tally of official data.
In addition, the Indian government said it was lifting curbs on the
export of 24 pharmaceutical ingredients and medicines made from them
that includes several antibiotics, such as tinidazole and erythromycin,
the hormone progesterone and Vitamin B12.
“After having confirmed the availability of medicines for all possible contingencies currently envisaged, these restrictions have been largely lifted, “ foreign ministry spokesman Srivastava said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-drugs/india-allows-limited-exports-of-anti-malaria-drug-after-trump-warns-of-retaliation-idUSKBN21O34B
But Trump spoke to Prime Minister Narendra Modi over the weekend seeking supplies and on Monday said India may face retaliation if it didn’t withdraw the ban on exports.
India’s neighbours, including Nepal, have also sought the anti-malaria drug.
“We will also be supplying these essential drugs to some nations who have been particularly badly affected by the pandemic,” he said.
Use of hydroxychloroquine has soared as the United States has quickly become the epicentre of the pandemic, though doctors prescribing it have no idea whether it works.
U.S. fatalities from COVID-19, the respiratory disease caused by the virus, hit 10,902 on Monday, rapidly closing in on Italy and Spain, the countries with the greatest loss of life to date, according to a Reuters tally of official data.
“After having confirmed the availability of medicines for all possible contingencies currently envisaged, these restrictions have been largely lifted, “ foreign ministry spokesman Srivastava said.
https://www.reuters.com/article/us-health-coronavirus-india-drugs/india-allows-limited-exports-of-anti-malaria-drug-after-trump-warns-of-retaliation-idUSKBN21O34B
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