Was the HHS secretary’s genetic advisory panel scrapped prematurely?

By Kelly Rae Chi In September, Steven Teutsch received word that the expert panel he chaired, which advised the US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) on how genetic technologies could be best integrated into health care, was to be abruptly disbanded in two weeks’ time. “We didn’t anticipate the committee would end,” says Teutsch, chief science officer of the Los Angeles County Health Department. “We were a bit surprised, because we had planned to continue this work that we had started.” Since its inception in 2002, the US Secretary’s Advisory Committee on Genetics, Health and Society (SACGHS) helped  … Read more

Attention, drug companies — not all biosimilars are created equal

By Stu Hutson The Biologics Price Competition and Innovation Act, signed into US law last March, gave the country’s drug regulators the authority to establish a pathway to approving ‘generic versions’ of biologic drugs. Now the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) must take the next step and set guidelines for evaluating these large, complex organic molecules that are almost—but not quite—copies of some of modern medicine’s most important drugs. As the FDA held a public hearing about the abbreviated pathway for these biosimilars earlier this month, many industry analysts were examining the agency’s recent favorable decisions regarding generic versions  … Read more

DARPA thrill-seeker goes to the mountaintop to find COPD and altitude sickness treatments

DARPA thrill-seeker goes to the mountaintop to find COPD and altitude sickness treatments

By Brendan Borrell New medications to fight the altitude sickness suffered by mountain climbers promise to aid peak performance. But the same drugs could also yield new treatments for people with breathing disorders. Brendan Borrell meets one man at DARPA, the US Defense Department’s research agency, who’s trying to move mountains for a new therapy. Michael Callahan was racing south on California’s Highway 395 in a rented Chevy station wagon. It was early one morning in late August this year, and the night before he had faced down thunderstorms on his way back from Colorado’s Maroon Bells, two peaks that  … Read more

Comparison of hepatitis drugs zeros in on null responders

Comparison of hepatitis drugs zeros in on null responders

The current standard-of-care treatment for hepatitis C is interferon treatments, which aim to inhibit the ability of cells to host the virus. Studies have shown that certain ethnic groups like African-Americans and Hispanics are less likely to respond to interferon treatments.  Read more

‘Secret’ rebates for Lucentis get a closer look

'Secret' rebates for Lucentis get a closer look

Today, the New York Times reports on a secret rebate program that Genentech is using to apparently encourage doctors to prescribe Lucentis for macular degeneration instead of the less costly Avastin. The program, which started on 1 October, could potentially earn tens of thousands of dollars for participating practitioners. Lucentis, which recent studies have shown performs no better than Avastin at treating vision loss, costs about $2,000 per dose. Avastin, which was originally developed by Genentech to treat colon and lung cancers, costs less than $100 per dose.  Read more

Bleeding-heart liberal? Die-hard conservative? It’s in the genes… maybe

Bleeding-heart liberal? Die-hard conservative? It’s in the genes… maybe

US voters head to the polls today in a midterm contest that most number-crunchers believe will result in Republicans taking control of at least one house of Congress. Messages have been calibrated in order to snare that mythical election-season beast: the “swing voter”. But no amount of campaigning might sway some members of the electorate, because it turns out that how voters pull the lever today is written, in part, in their DNA.  Read more

US government says genes shouldn’t be patented

US government says genes shouldn't be patented

On Friday, the US Department of Justice said that genes should not be patentable, a significant reversal of longstanding policy. The opinion was delivered in an amicus brief filed in an ongoing legal battle that kicked off when the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) challenged the validity of patents held by Salt Lake City-based Myriad Genetics and the University of Utah on the breast cancer-linked genes BRCA1 and BRCA2. (The ACLU won the first round when a federal court ruled in its favor in March.) The new brief opines that isolating a gene does not fundamentally change its nature, much like extracting coal from the earth does not change the material.  Read more

I got (circadian) rhythm

I got (circadian) rhythm

This weekend, clocks in the UK will ‘fall back’ one hour; a week later, the US will follow. This sudden change might leave you feeling slightly discombobulated, but chances are, your internal clock will soon adjust to compensate. Some people aren’t so lucky; perturbations of circadian rhythm are thought to be a factor in sleep disorders and some psychiatric conditions like bipolar disorder, according to a study published last month in PLoS One.  Read more

Breast isn’t always best

Breast isn't always best

Yesterday, the New York Times reported that while items like acne creams and denture adhesive are eligible for tax breaks under the new US health care law, breast pumps are not. Breast-feeding boosters like La Leche League are, naturally, up in arms, but the US Internal Revenue Service says that the pumps do not fall under the umbrella of preventative medicine, since breast milk is primarily nutrition.  Read more