ALS is a fatal neurodegenerative condition that affects chewing, talking, and walking, progresses to paralysis, and culminates in respiratory failure, typically within three to five years. An estimated 30,000 Americans live with ALS, sometimes called Lou Gehrig’s disease. On Sept. 29, the Food and Drug Administration approved Relyvrio from Amylyx Pharmaceuticals. It’s the first ALS medication to be approved in five years and only one of three currently prescribed to patients to slow the progression of the disease, but should it have been approved?
Social media is going through its product life-cycle and reinventing itself to stay relevant. Lilly’s terrible experience on Twitter is a clear message to pharma to ignore social media, which has become a bulletin board for harmful health misinformation.
Scientists are arguing about the causes of obesity, which affects more than 40 percent of U.S. adults and costs the health system about $173 billion yearly. The meeting resulted in an implicit understanding of what obesity is not: a personal failing. That is ridiculous and means that we’re going to continue to experience high healthcare costs.
Healthcare is too damn profitable for Amazon to ignore. It’s investing in telehealth and gambling that younger healthcare customers want a faster and more efficient system than the current one filled with appointments and tests.
Data indicates that physicians have less time to meet with pharma salespeople as they deal with an influx of patients after COVID. Some agencies have suggested videos to clients, but that takes time that HCPs don’t have. So what do they want, and how do you get them talking?
The purpose of any business is to make money, but can a corporation satisfy Wall Street and benefit the public it serves? Big oil, for example, has prioritized profits resulting in high gas prices. Medical expenses often hinder patients long after they have left the hospital. Why do prescription drugs need to cost so much?
Many people, on social media, are saying that they’re losing weight on the new diabetes drug Ozempic. This drug works by lowering blood sugar and spurring insulin production, but insurers are reluctant to cover it, and it can cost $900 or more a month. However, some people who have tried the drug seem to have serious side effects.
As the cost of capital increases, Silicon Valley venture capitalists will be busy amidst a period of consolidation and transformation of healthcare startups. Venture capital firms will dictate investor-friendly terms to companies that find themselves in the unfortunate position of raising capital in this environment to launch new drugs.