In a research note published by Emmanuel Papadakis, Deutsche Bank advises its customers to Sell the stock. The target price continues to be set at GBX 1150.
Tuesday, February 16, 2021
ASTRAZENECA Gets a Buy rating from Deutsche Bank
In a research note published by Emmanuel Papadakis, Deutsche Bank advises its customers to buy the stock. The target price is unchanged at GBX 10000.
43% of patients check pharmacy comparison app for prescription savings
Americans are becoming increasingly curious about ways to lower their prescription drug costs, according to recent survey results released by healthcare software company CoverMyMeds.
CoverMyMeds surveyed patients, providers and pharmacists during September and October. One thousand patients, 400 providers and 328 pharmacists participated in the survey, the results of which were released Jan. 25.
- Sixty-two percent of patients seek information from their provider about medication costs and affordability options.
- Forty-three percent of patients said they checked a pharmacy comparison app to find cheaper medications prices, up from 28 percent the previous year.
- More than a third of pharmacists said they saw patients use prescription price shopping tools on a daily basis.
Several states are proposing laws to cut drug prices
Several states are proposing legislation to lower drug prices in light of a lack of federal policy changes, Kaiser Health News reported.
Eighty-seven percent of Americans favor federal action to lower drug prices, according to a survey by Politico and Harvard University released last month, making it the public's second-highest policy priority, according to Kaiser Health News.
But bipartisan bills proposed by Congress last year that would have punished drugmakers for raising prices above inflation rates and capped out-of-pocket costs for Medicare Part D beneficiaries were never passed, Kaiser Health News reported Feb. 12.
"If we waited for Congress, we'd have moss on our backs," Washington state Sen. Karen Keiser, told Kaiser Health News.
Lawmakers in Hawaii, Maine and Washington have recently introduced bills that would impose an 80 percent tax on drug price increases that the Institute for Clinical and Economic Review determines aren't supported by evidence of improved clinical outcomes. The states would require drugmakers to report total in-state sales of their drugs and the price difference since the previous year to assess the tax on the drugmaker, according to Kaiser Health News. The revenue generated by the tax would be used to fund programs to help people afford their medications.
Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker recently proposed a penalty on price hikes for a range of drugs as part of a new budget proposal, and estimated the penalty would bring in $70 million in the first year, Kaiser Health News reported.
Lawmakers in Hawaii, Maine, North Dakota, Oklahoma and Rhode Island have proposed bills that would tie the costs paid by state-run and commercial payers to the costs paid by the four most populous Canadian provinces for up to 250 of the costliest drugs, according to Kaiser Health News. That could reduce drug prices by an average of 75 percent, according to the National Academy for State Health Policy.
Drugmakers largely oppose such measures, and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, the drug industry's largest lobbying group, told Kaiser Health News: "The outcomes of these policies would only make it harder for people to get the medicines they need and would threaten the crucial innovation necessary to get us out of a global pandemic."
NJ reports outages with Microsoft COVID-19 vaccine management system
New Jersey will provide extra training for its COVID-19 vaccine hotline agents and is working out software issues with its vendor Microsoft after weeks of outages with its online registration system, NJAdvance Media reports.
Since deploying its Microsoft-powered state vaccine website Jan. 5, the software has booked thousands of appointments but also blocked users, lost registrations, double booked appointments and has crashed for minutes to days at a time, according to a Feb. 12 Bloomberg report.
In a statement shared with Becker's Hospital Review Feb. 15, a Microsoft spokesperson said, "We are working with the state of New Jersey to deliver vaccinations as quickly, safely and efficiently as possible, and that includes addressing some technical issues."
The company added that each implementation is unique, which requires adapting to evolving circumstances and individual customers' needs. The state is also considering increasing the number of system staffers, which is now at about 250 people.
On top of bookings, the system can also give out information and help people pre-register for appointments.
Warp Speed's Slaoui joins newly formed drug developer as lead scientist
Moncef Slaoui, formerly the chief scientific adviser for the U.S. government’s Operation Warp Speed COVID-19 vaccine development program, has joined newly formed Centessa Pharmaceuticals as its chief scientific officer.
He will oversee and advise Centessa on its drug development programs, which focus on areas including hemophilia, cancer and kidney disease. Slaoui has been a partner since 2017 at Medicxi, the investment firm that founded Centessa by merging 10 of its portfolio companies.
Slaoui resigned from his role as the chief adviser for Operation Warp Speed in January but stayed on for about a month to help the incoming Biden administration, media reports say.
He managed the Trump administration’s efforts to identify, fund, and develop COVID-19 vaccine candidates. U.S. regulators have so far authorized two vaccines for use and are expected to authorize more in the coming months.
Slaoui previously headed research and development at GlaxoSmithKline Pharmaceuticals Ltd and served as chairman of its vaccines division.
Centessa will be led by Chief Executive Officer Saurabh Saha, who has previously a senior vice president for research and development at Bristol Myers Squibb Co.
Centessa will maintain independent research teams for its various drug development programs, which Slaoui says will speed progress and cut back wasted time and funding.
The approach creates “more depth, more focus, and more attention on the part of the scientists involved in the sense that they have nowhere to hide,” Slaoui said.
Novavax Expands Links with SK Bioscience for 40M Doses of COVID-19 Vax for South Korea
Existing partnership for manufacture of NVX-CoV2373 expanded to increase production capacity and supply vaccine to the Korean Government
Novavax, Inc. (Nasdaq: NVAX), a biotechnology company developing next-generation vaccines for serious infectious diseases, and SK Bioscience, a vaccine business subsidiary of SK Group, today announced an expanded collaboration and license agreement. In addition to the already existing manufacturing arrangement, SK Bioscience has obtained a license to manufacture and commercialize NVX-CoV2373, Novavax’ COVID-19 vaccine, for sale to the Korean government. SK Bioscience will add significant production capacity under this new agreement. Novavax recently reported positive interim efficacy results for the vaccine candidate in an ongoing Phase 3 clinical trial in the United Kingdom and is also currently conducting a Phase 3 trial in the U.S. and Mexico.
The agreement expands on an existing manufacturing arrangement between Novavax and SK Bioscience and calls for technology transfer related to the manufacturing of Novavax’ protein antigen, supply of Matrix MTM adjuvant, and support to SK Bioscience as needed to secure regulatory approval. Concurrently, SK Bioscience has finalized an advance purchase agreement with the Korean government to supply 40 million doses of NVX-CoV2373 to the Republic of Korea beginning in 2021.
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