Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
TrumpRx Adds Three More Medicines As Ninth Drugmaker Joins Platform
The White House said Friday its adding three drugs for diabetes and lung disease to the self-pay platform TrumpRx, as the administration works to expand the site as part of its push to lower drug prices. The drugs, from German drugmaker Boehringer Ingelheim, are Jentadueto and Jentadueto XR, for Type 2 diabetes, as well as the COPD drug Striverdi Respimat. (Lovelace Jr., 3/20)
More on the high cost of medicine
The escalating war in the Middle East so far has not appreciably disrupted global pharmaceutical supply chains, but with no clear end in sight, the potential exists for the conflict to change the calculus for production, shipping, and, ultimately, pricing for different medicines in different countries, according to industry experts. (Silverman and Merelli, 3/20)
The substances, manufactured in China, come in tiny glass bottles with names like Glow Stack and Wolverine Stack. They promise youthful skin and speedy muscle recovery, delivered in injectable form. Influencers, celebrities and everyday people are raving about peptides, unapproved drugs driving a gray-market craze. And they now have an ally in Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., who wants to make peptides easierand legalto buy. (Siddiqui and O'Brien, 3/22)
More pharmaceutical developments
Etranacogene dezaparvovec (Hemgenix), the only commercially available gene therapy for hemophilia B, is temporarily unavailable, according to maker CSL Behring. In a letter addressed to the hemophilia B community, the company said it is experiencing a "temporary global stockout" of the one-time gene therapy that will result in treatment delays for some patients in countries where the product is approved, including the U.S. (Bassett, 3/21)
Her son had been sick for four months when Blanca Morales started asking about a transplant. It had started with a case of strep throat from Mundos first-grade class routine enough, treatable with antibiotics. Then he started having stomach trouble. (Boodman, 3/23)
Abbott Laboratories said Friday it plans to close its acquisition of cancer-screening company Exact Sciences Corp. on Monday. The deal was announced in November, with a total equity value of approximately $21 billion. At the time, the companies said Exact Sciences would become a subsidiary of Abbott and Abbotts total diagnostic sales would surpass $12 billion annually as a result of the purchase. The transaction is anticipated to add about $3 billion of incremental sales in 2026. (Dubinsky, 3/20)
