The House of Representatives and the Senate to continue to be engaged in Committee business and floor voting this coming week.
From the omicron and siblings front, Bloomberg Prognosis reports
People who are vaccinated and then get infected with omicron may be primed to overcome a broad range of coronavirus variants, early research suggests.
A pair of studies showed that infection produced even better immune responses than a booster shot in vaccinated patients. Teams from Covid-19 vaccine maker BioNTech SE and the University of Washington posted the results on preprint server bioRxiv in recent weeks.
The researchers have found the silver lining in the Omicron cloud.
In other encouraging healthcare news, BioPharma Dive informs us
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved Eli Lilly’s diabetes drug Mounjaro, a first-of-its-kind treatment that can help control patients’ blood sugar and, potentially, help them lose weight as well.
Mounjaro, also known as tirzepatide, expands Lilly’s diabetes business, which includes insulins as well as other types of therapies. The company recorded $9 billion in diabetes drugs sales last year.
Mounjaro works by stimulating two hormones, called GLP-1 and GIP, that control insulin production. In clinical testing, the drug outperformed several other diabetes medicines, including one made by rival drugmaker Novo Nordisk that only acts on one hormone. Mounjaro was more effective in controlling blood sugar than two types of insulin as well. * * *
The drug’s approval will heighten competition between Lilly and Novo, which have battled for market share in the U.S. for years. Novo, for instance, has recently had success by launching a similar, once-weekly shot to Lilly’s top-selling drug Trulicity, as well as a daily pill that works the same way.
Novo is testing a dual-acting competitor to tirzepatide, but it’s only in Phase 2 testing, well behind Lilly’s drug. Both companies are also trying to develop a once-weekly insulin shot, with similar programs in Phase 3 development.
The next frontier for both companies is in obesity, where they are working to prove their drugs’ worth as weight loss treatments. Novo has already won approval for a drug called Wegovy, while Lilly reported promising data for Mounjaro last month.
The article adds that Lilly did not disclose pricing for its newly approved drug on Friday.
The FEHBlog also noticed that Katie Keith’s latest article on the Affordable Care Act delves into the recent guidance on posting three machine reading pricing files on health plan websites by July 1. The discussion may be found in the closing paragraphs of the article.