In this week’s edition of InnovationRx, we look at the price cuts for blockbuster weight-loss drugs, the Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare list, the coming barriers to getting vaccines, and more. To get it in your inbox, subscribe here.
More people may be able to afford GLP-1 weight-loss drugs following a flurry of recent announcements to cut prices and increase insurance coverage.
On Monday, Eli Lilly dropped prices for single-dose vials of its blockbuster weight-loss drug Zepbound for cash-paying customers on its direct-to-consumer website, LillyDirect. Its new prices range from $299 to $449 per month, depending on dosage, down from $349 to $499.
The announcement came after Lilly made a deal with the Trump Administration to cut prices of some of its most popular drugs for U.S. consumers, and after its biggest competitor Novo Nordisk rolled out discounts on cash prices for its own popular GLP-1 drugs, Ozempic and Wegovy, for diabetes and obesity. Earlier this month, the White House announced that it would expand Medicare coverage for GLP-1 medications, including for obesity–an about-face from its policy earlier this year.
“It’s all being driven by consumer demand,” Michelle Davey, founder of telehealth platform Wheel, told Forbes.
The CDC estimates that some 40% of all adults in the United States are obese, and the demand for GLP-1 injections has been through the roof since they were introduced. Yet their cost–thousands of dollars per year–puts them out of reach for many who would gain health benefits from taking them. “Far too many people who need obesity treatments still face coverage and cost barriers,” Ilya Yuffa, executive vice president president of Lilly USA and global customer capabilities, said in Monday’s announcement.
Obesity pills, which are now in development, could increase access and lower prices further–especially as the big companies jockey to gain market share in advance of their approval. Novo’s obesity pill is expected to be approved this month, while Lilly plans to submit its pill for regulatory approval for obesity before the end of the year. Neither company has announced a price for their pills, but the Trump Administration has said that if they are approved the initial dose would be $150 per month on TrumpRx.
Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare: Using AI To Improve Care And Cut Administrative Burdens
When Eunice Wu, 26, worked as a pharmacist, she was frustrated by the endless and endlessly tedious data entry and administrative work her job entailed. So with Can Uncu, 25, who she met in a Canadian accelerator program, she started Asepha, which uses AI software to process handwritten prescriptions and verify medical codes, expediting the work that many pharmacists would say is the worst part of the job. The two-year-old startup has now raised more than $4 million in venture funding.
“Probably 90% of my day was being wasted on manual work instead of actually seeing patients,” she told Forbes. “We give pharmacists back their time so they can focus on patients instead of paperwork.”
Wu, who is this year’s featured entrepreneur, and Uncu are just two of the rising stars on this year’s Forbes 30 Under 30 Healthcare list, a batch of honorees all working to solve some of the industry’s biggest challenges. They’re improving clinical care, increasing access and reducing administrative burdens, often helped by technology.
Read more here, and for the full 30 Under 30 healthcare list see here.
FDA And CDC Poised To Clamp Down Harder On Vaccines
The CDC’s committee on immunization will meet to vote on recommendations for childhood vaccination schedules this week, with Thursday devoted to infant hepatitis B vaccines, which have reduced chronic infections in children by 99% since they began being given routinely. They may face new restrictions. Kirk Milhoan, a pediatric cardiologist with no experience in immunization or epidemiology, has been named the new committee’s chair. At the height of the COVID-19 pandemic, Milhoan urged that mRNA vaccines against the disease be pulled from the market.
The CDC vaccine meeting follows a memo that CBER Director Vinay Prasad reportedly sent to FDA staff that the agency plans to put more stringent regulatory requirements on vaccines because of 10 deaths in children from COVID-19 vaccines. The memo provided no evidence for these supposed fatalities, which usually have to be confirmed with an autopsy. Public health experts suggest that the new standards Prasad proposes could make flu and pneumonia shots–which save thousands of lives every year–a thing of the past, and also could make it virtually impossible to approve vaccines for pregnant women.
These moves against vaccines come as cases of vaccine-preventable disease, such as measles, are rising. The state of Kentucky, for example, is currently facing an outbreak of whooping cough among unvaccinated children that has caused the death of three infants.
Deal of the Week
Regeneron will pay Tessera Pharmaceuticals $150 million upfront as part of a gene-editing partnership for a rare liver and lung disease, known as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. The first payment will be split between direct payment and equity investment in the company, though the ratio of the split was not disclosed. Cambridge, Mass.-based Tessera is a Flagship Pioneering company that has raised $630 million in venture funding, according to VC database Pitchbook. It is developing a one-time treatment for the disease, and will lead the first in-human clinical trial as part of the deal. Regeneron, which has a market cap of $77 billion, will be in charge of future development and any commercialization of the gene therapy. Tessera is also eligible for an additional $125 million in milestone payments under the deal.
What We’re Reading
Richard Pazdur, the FDA’s top drug regulator, will retire at the end of this month–just a few weeks after taking the job–in part over a dispute about the legality of a new drug review program. Pazdur is the fourth person in the role this year.
How female heart and lung surgeons are working to unlock the stronghold that men have on that field.
A KFF investigation found widespread gaps in getting (and paying for) ventilators among patients left breathless by strokes, neurological diseases or pulmonary diseases.
The Department of Veterans Affairs sent more than 40 letters to dozens of claims consulting companies, warning them about potential illegal activities. But that hasn’t stopped many of them.
Health insurance startup Curative, which encourages customers to seek preventive care, raised $125 million, led by TED Chairman Chris Anderson’s Upside Vision Fund, at a valuation of $1.3 billion.