Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, especially since the middle of the week is upon us. After all, we have made it this far, so we are determined to hang on for another couple of days. And why not? The alternatives — at least those we can identify — are not particularly appealing. And what better way to make the time fly than to keep busy. So grab that cup of stimulation and get started. Our flavor today is salted caramel, a proverbial whiff of the famed Jersey shore. After all, summer is not officially over just yet. Now, though, the time has come to get busy. So please grab your own cup and dig in to the items of interest assembled below. We hope you have a smashing day, and please do keep in touch. …
In an unprecedented move, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration published about 100 warning letters sent to pharmaceutical companies and health care providers, ordering them to stop or alter ads or other promotions the government considered misleading, STAT writes. The letters went to major drugmakers like Novartis and Eli Lilly, and to telehealth firms like Hims & Hers, shortly after the Trump administration announced what it called an advertising crackdown. But experts questioned whether the agency has the resources to prosecute this aggressive campaign after laying off many of the experienced staff who would lead the effort. In explaining why FDA released the letters, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said “radical transparency” is required because drug companies have failed to properly disclose side effect information in television ads. But instead of banning the ads, which he once suggested, Kennedy now plans to rescind a 1997 FDA rule that loosened requirements for disclosing risk information.
The U.K. science minister says the government is determined to resolve its standoff with the pharmaceutical industry and reverse a 10-year decline in National Health Service spending on medicines, after a string of drugmakers cancelled projects worth more than $2.4 billion, The Guardian writes. Patrick Vallance, who is also a former executive at GSK, said the country needed to increase spending on medicines and reverse a decade of declining investment. Parliament called an emergency session in response to last week’s decision by Merck to scrap its plans for a $1.4 billion London research center and lay off 125 scientists partly based at the capital’s Francis Crick Institute. The company blamed “the challenges of the U.K. not making meaningful progress towards addressing the lack of investment in the life science industry.” AstraZeneca announced on Friday that it was putting a $273 million new laboratory in Cambridge on hold after abandoning a $615 million investment in its Speke vaccine site in January, citing a cut in government support. Vance noted that NHS spending on medicines is in decline as a proportion of total health care spending since 2015, but said this would increase from the current 9%.
This article is exclusive to STAT+ subscribers
Unlock this article — plus in-depth analysis, newsletters, premium events, and news alerts.
Already have an account? Log in
To read the rest of this story subscribe to STAT+.
