Maia Lura Anderson on LinkedIn: How AbbVie is faring with Humira’s loss in exclusivity (2024)

We're hiring for another reporter over here at Healthcare Brew! Hit me up if you have any questions! Job description + app: https://lnkd.in/g2kQqas2

54

4 Comments

Pharma giant AstraZeneca is faring well in a post-Covid world. Despite a steep sales decline for its Covid products (including a vaccine and antibody therapy), the drugmaker posted a 19% increase in revenue in its most recent earnings. Last year, I reported on some lofty goals AstraZeneca set for itself to pivot its strategy as the Covid-19 pandemic entered its endemic phase. Here's an update on how those goals are going so far:

1

I spoke with Hal Andrews, CEO of healthcare analytics firm Trilliant Health, about Walmart's recent decision to close down its Walmart Health initiative, and he told me he finds it "unbelievable" that the retail giant couldn’t make money operating its 51 primary care clinics. More likely, Walmart made the choice because executives realized there was more money in other facets of the healthcare industry, like specialty pharmacy. “I think [Walmart] made an economic decision and said, ‘We can generate massive margins and massive revenue in specialty pharmacy that we can’t in primary care. The juice isn’t worth the squeeze,’” he said.Read more: #walmart #walmarthealth #primarycare #healthcare #health

13

Not much great news about private equity-owned healthcare companies lately...A recent report from the Private Equity Stakeholder Project found that at least 21% of the 80 healthcare companies that filed for bankruptcy last year were owned by a private equity firm. That number has gone up significantly since 2019, which saw just 8 PE-owned healthcare company bankruptcies. “PE’s excessive use of debt and aggressive financial strategies put healthcare companies at risk, and in turn threaten the stability of critical healthcare resources across the country,” Eileen O'Grady, research and campaign director at PESP, wrote in the report.Read more: #privateequity #healthcare #health

11

1 Comment

Another big news item from yesterday was that the Biden administration is reportedly planning to reclassify cannabis to a Schedule III drug, meaning the federal government will acknowledge that cannabis has potential medical benefits.The move would clear the way for pharmaceutical companies to sell and distribute medical cannabis. Read more: #cannabis #health #healthcare

7

Big retail health news today: Walmart is shutting down its Walmart Health initiative, closing all 51 of its clinics and its virtual care services. The news comes just a few weeks after the retail giant announced it would open 22 new clinics in Texas and Missouri by the end of 2024. It's unclear how many people will lose their jobs due to the closures. A Walmart spokesperson told me the company is “still determining the exact number based on business needs.”Read more: #walmart #walmarthealth #health #healthcare

27

2 Comments

People living in rural areas face a number of health disparities, like traveling farther to access care and a scarcity of resources like pharmacies.The Senate introduced legislation in March aimed at addressing some of those disparities—the bill would increase the number of med school clinical rotations in rural and medically underserved areas. “Research shows that training in these rural and underserved communities leads to practice in those communities,” David Bergman, SVP of government relations and health affairs at the American Association of Colleges of Osteopathic Medicine (AACOM), told me. “The legislation is designed to actually facilitate training in areas that currently either don’t have physicians, or that can use more infrastructure to grow that physician workforce.”Read more:#ruralhealthcare #ruralhealth

12

3 Comments

The Medicaid unwinding process has hit community health centers hard, costing them an average of $600,000 each, according to data from thetrade group the National Association of Community Health Centers (NACHC). The group estimates that 23% of community health center Medicaid patients have lost coverage, and of those, more than 50% have discontinued or postponed treatments, missed an appointment, or lost access to specialty and/or hospital care. “Medicaid is the lifeblood of community health centers and their ability to serve high-need urban, rural, frontier, and island communities,” Kyu Rhee, MD, MPP, president and CEO of NACHC, said in a statement. “Both coverage and access to affordable primary care services are essential to achieving health equity, improving population health, and lowering healthcare costs.”Read more: #medicaid #medicaidunwinging #health #healthcare

25

2 Comments

Drug shortages have hit an all-time high. There are 323 drugs in shortage, beating out the previous record of 320 in 2014, according to data from the American Society of Health System Pharmacists. The most “worrying” shortages include chemotherapy drugs, generic sterile injectable drugs, and emergency drugs found in hospital crash carts, ASHP CEO Paul Abramowitz wrote in a letter to the organization’s members.Read more: #drugshortages #health #healthcare

5