NBC News, 12/20: FDA approves first Ebola vaccine in the United States
Ervebo, the vaccine from BIO member Merck, was found to be 100% effective in preventing the disease during the 2014-2016 outbreak.
New York Post, 12/22: Hospitals, not drugs, are the big driver of health care costs
“Hospitals represent a third of total US health-care spending, drugs just a tenth," says the newspaper's editorial board. "And a new analysis in the journal Health Affairs shows that over the past four years, hospital spending jumped 15.2 percent while retail prescription-drug spending rose just 5.7 percent, less than the overall Consumer Price Index."
STAT 12/23: The debate over America’s drug-pricing system is built on myths. It’s time to face reality
H.R. 3 isn’t the way to reduce drug prices, because “cutting drug prices will mean companies spend less money on research and development. The result will be fewer new drugs," explains one STAT medical innovation reporter.
The New York Times, 12/25: Crisis looms in antibiotics as drug makers go bankrupt
“Experts say the grim financial outlook for the few companies still committed to antibiotic research is driving away investors and threatening to strangle the development of new lifesaving drugs at a time when they are urgently needed.”
STAT, 01/02: 3 drug pricing policy experiments to watch in 2020
This year, expect policymakers to work to end hepatitis C, crack down on pharmacy benefit managers, and make insulin more affordable.
