Goldman Sachs Reiterates Sell Rating, $5 Price Target
Saturday, March 20, 2021
Nurix to collaborate on novel drug discovery for pediatric cancers
Nurix Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: NRIX), a biopharmaceutical company developing targeted protein modulation drugs, today announced that it is part of a collaboration sponsored by Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation (ALSF), a leading funder of pediatric cancer research, to develop a drug to potentially treat aggressive childhood cancers including neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. Nurix will provide its extensive expertise in E3 ligases and use its proprietary DNA-encoded library to help identify small-molecule degraders of MYCN, a target previously considered undruggable. The program is one of four that are being supported by an $18.5 million grant from Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation’s Crazy 8 initiative, which is designed to bring together world-class research talent to accelerate the pace of new cure discovery in childhood cancer. For more information on this initiative see this morning’s statement from ALSF.
“We believe that discovering and developing drugs that target the MYCN oncoprotein has the possibility to make a major difference in the lives of children suffering from neural derived cancers,” said Gwenn M. Hansen, Ph.D., Nurix’s chief scientific officer. “Bringing forward therapeutics that address difficult to drug targets like MYCN is aligned with Nurix’s mission, and we are motivated by the clear unmet need in this pediatric patient population.”
Nurix will collaborate with a pre-eminent global research team to bring drug discovery technology and development expertise to the effort. The program’s goal is to identify and evaluate small molecules that promote targeted protein degradation of the transcription factor MYCN to potentially drive tumor destruction. MYCN is a known driver of aggressive pediatric cancers such as neuroblastoma and medulloblastoma. The scientific challenges of targeting MYCN and the approach of this collaboration are outlined in a recent review article: “Drugging the 'undruggable' MYCN oncogenic transcription factor: Overcoming previous obstacles to impact childhood cancers” published online ahead of print edition of Cancer Research (doi: 10.1158/0008-5472.CAN-20-3108).
ObamaCare still desperately needs fixing
The American Rescue Plan injects new life into ObamaCare with more generous subsidies, expanded eligibility and premium limits that make insurance more affordable.
Unfortunately, the stimulus proposal just passed by Congress does nothing to correct the most serious problems of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). And since the latest reforms last only two years, every ObamaCare problem will be up for resolution in short order.
The worst problem with ObamaCare insurance is that it is second rate. Look around the country. In market after market, top-quality ACA plans have exited the market. Those left provide no in-network access to the area’s premier hospitals and doctors. Dallas-Fort Worth is typical. There’s not a single ACA plan left that offers in-network coverage at the premier area hospitals.
This problem is the predictable outcome of ObamaCare’s design. The ACA doesn’t compensate providers properly for covering those with pre-existing conditions. As a result, providers protect themselves financially by providing cheaper and, thus, lower quality care. Indeed, today’s successful ACA providers offer plans that look a lot like Medicaid with a high deductible. No wonder they aren’t popular.
The uninsured appear to understand the difference between ACA’s rhetoric and reality. Before COVID-19 struck, six million Americans who qualified for ACA subsidies chose to remain uninsured instead. Moreover, ACA enrollment was steadily falling. Yes, the Trump administration reduced ACA marketing. But even the arguably better informed, unsubsidized part of the market – with 40 percent of potential participants – was jumping ship. Enrollment of this segment dropped by almost half between 2016 and 2019.
The needed ACA fix is clear by comparing it with another government health care program — Medicare Advantage (MA) or Medicare Part C. Almost four in 10 Medicare participants are currently enrolled in MA. The Congressional Budget Office projects that the MA share will grow to more than 50 percent by the end of this decade.
ACA and MA have lots in common. Both cover tens of millions of Americans who might otherwise be uninsured. Participants in both choose among competing health plans. And in both, the government’s help is progressive — higher-income enrollees pay more.
So why, COVID and ARP aside, is MA participation expanding while ACA’s is shrinking?
Here’s why. MA pays providers differently. It uses a time-tested, sophisticated actuarial, risk-adjustment system to compensate health care providers for their participants’ pre-existing conditions. If, for example, you have diabetes or develop it, your MA insurer is paid more, in real time, to care for you. This makes diabetics as profitable to insure as those with no chronic problems.
Thus, it’s no surprise that MA providers have established centers of excellence that specialize in specific chronic conditions. If you have heart disease, you surely want to choose a health care plan that handles heart problems 24/7. ObamaCare plans aren’t directly reimbursed based on each individual participant’s pre-existing condition. Nor are they allowed to tell, say, a diabetic, “You’re better served by the ‘Diabetics Specialty Plan.’ We’re the ‘Arthritis Specialty Plan.’” Instead of being allowed to specialize, they’re forced to try to meet every need imaginable, regardless of their competency.
Yes, the ACA has risk adjustment. But the adjustment is limited, leading to the market’s predictable unraveling. By analogy, suppose apple stands were paid a fixed amount per person to hold All You Can Eat apple sales. Assume the amount paid was set based on typical apple preferences, i.e., no individual preference adjustment. Apple addicts, who eat 20 at a go, would be first in line. And apple stands, anticipating this adverse selection, would have one recourse to save their financial skins — deliver cheap, i.e., rotten apples. This, in turn, would dissuade those with standard preferences from joining the line. The result is what we see in ObamaCare — people in decent health preferring no insurance to insurance that locks you into rotten care.
Another problem involves first-dollar coverage. ACA deductibles can be as high as $8,550 for an individual and $17,100 for a family. In return the family gets unlimited catastrophic coverage. Lower middle-class families rarely choose such converge, preferring first-dollar over last-dollar protection. For these families, sky-high deductible insurance is little better than no insurance at all. Yet if these families undergo a costly illness, the bills are often paid directly or indirectly by the government.
A better approach is for a government-funded safety net to cover costs per insured above, say, $1 million. In exchange, ACA plans would need to provide, for free, a minimum amount of primary care — say $1,000 for an adult and $500 for a child. These services could be covered directly or by means of a monthly fee to a primary care provider or by deposits to a Health Savings Account. With this design in place, we could auto-enroll all otherwise uninsured into at least this minimalist ACA plan.
Being able to talk to a doctor by phone, text or email at night and on weekends used to be called “concierge care,” available only to the rich. Today, such service is called “direct primary care.” It’s widely available at low cost. Take Atlas MD in Wichita. For $50 a month for a mother and $10 per child, it provides 24/7 primary care, inexpensive medical tests and generic drugs. ACA plans need to be allowed to offer this type of care to all participants.
By adopting a risk adjustment system that is already working for seniors, by structuring coverage so that people are encouraged to seek care in the early stages of illness – before problems become more severe and more costly – and by permitting inexpensive care delivery via modern technology, ObamaCare’s most serious problems can be solved in a bipartisan way, without spending more taxpayer dollars.
John Goodman is president of the Goodman Institute and author of “New Way to Care.” Laurence Kotlikoff is a professor of economics at Boston University and author of “The Healthcare Fix.”
https://thehill.com/opinion/healthcare/543221-obamacare-still-desperately-needs-fixing
Biden under pressure to ease abortion restrictions with morning-after pill rule
President Biden’s administration is mulling an order that could take the clinics out of the abortion equation in early pregnancy — and bring Roe v. Wade into the home.
Biden is facing mounting pressure from abortion-rights organizations to loosen federal restrictions on the morning-after pill, including a longstanding FDA rule requiring patients to pick up abortion-causing prescriptions in person.
“Burdensome restrictions on medication abortion … are not based in medical evidence,” a coalition of more than 50 groups, spearheaded by the American Civil Liberties Union, wrote in a letter to the president on Thursday.
Their demand to expand the use of telemedicine for abortion came just hours after outspoken abortion advocate Xavier Becerra won Senate confirmation as Biden’s Secretary of Health and Human Services on a 50-49 vote.
Meanwhile, the abortion rights group All* Above All took to social media to boost the lobbying effort.
“Outdated and unnecessary restrictions? No thanks,” the organization tweeted over the hashtag #SafeButStillObstructed.
Mifepristone, commonly known as the morning-after pill, has been legal in the U.S. for two decades — with restrictions. It cannot be legally obtained by mail order, and 32 states require a doctor’s prescription to get it.
Eighteen of those states mandate an in-person checkup as well, stressing the risks of taking the medication any later than the first 10 weeks of pregnancy.
“Expanding telemedicine abortion removes necessary health oversights that protect women, for example, an ultrasound ruling out a deadly ectopic pregnancy or determining the gestational age,” Jeanne Mancini, president of March for Life, told The Post.
The Supreme Court slammed the door on mail-order mifepristone prescriptions in January, after a district court judge in Maryland loosened the FDA’s restrictions due to the COVID-19 pandemic. But a regulatory change would make that decision — along with many state laws on chemical abortions — moot.
https://nypost.com/2021/03/20/biden-under-pressure-to-ease-abortion-restrictions-with-new-rule/
Miami Beach imposes 8 p.m. curfew to control spring break crowds
The City of Miami Beach imposed an 8 p.m. curfew in its busiest entertainment district on Saturday in an effort to control hordes of spring break vacationers who have become unruly in recent days.
Under the new order, police will block off the Art Deco historic district in South Beach at 8 p.m. and all businesses within the blocked-off area will be forced to close, Interim City Manager Raul Aguila told reporters on Saturday. Officials will also shut down the highways leading in and out of the city overnight.
“This is not an easy decision to make, and we are doing that to protect the public’s health and safety,” Aguila said. “As we hit the peak of spring break, we are quite simply overwhelmed in the entertainment district.”
The crackdown comes as partiers from across the state and country have flocked to Miami Beach for its warm weather, famed party scene and loose COVID-19 restrictions compared to other states.
A restaurant brawl on the city’s Ocean Drive on Thursday prompted police to use pepper balls in order to break it up, NBC reported.
“I think the volume is clearly more than it’s been in previous years and that, I think, is in part due to the fact that there are very few places open elsewhere in the country,” Miami Beach Mayor Dan Gelber said.
The curfew measures are in effect for at least 72 hours. City officials were scheduled to hold a meeting on Sunday to decide whether to extend them.
IPO FIlings Last Week--Life Sciences
| Filings During the Week of March 15th, 2021 | |||
|---|---|---|---|
| Issuer Business | Deal Size | Sector | Lead Underwriter |
| Reneo Pharmaceuticals (RPHM) | $100M | Health Care | Jefferies |
| Phase 2 biotech developing therapies for rare genetic mitochondrial diseases. | |||
| Spindletop Health Acq. (SHCAU) | $200M | SPAC | Barclays |
| Blank check company targeting the US healthcare industry. | |||
| VectivBio Holding (VECT) | $100M | Health Care | BofA |
| Swiss Phase 3 biotech developing therapies for rare gastrointestinal disorders. | |||
| agilon health (AGL) | $100M | Health Care | JP Morgan |
| Provides a senior-focused value-based care platform for primary care physicians. | |||
| Healthcare Merger II (HCXXU) | $300M | SPAC | Cantor Fitz. |
| Blank check company led by Steven Shulman and William Sanger targeting the healthcare industry. | |||
| https://www.renaissancecapital.com/IPO-Center/News/79727/US-IPO-Weekly-Recap-The-IPO-market-heats-up-in-an-11-IPO-week | |||
AstraZeneca vaccine: Therapy for rare cerebral vein thrombosis found
Professor Andreas Greinacher hung in and it was worth it. The complications following vaccination with the AstraZeneca vaccine have been researched and a therapy has been developed. So nothing stands in the way of a further vaccination.
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