AI helps find study participants

Pharma companies are turning to artificial intelligence to speed up the drug-testing process. That’s great … mostly.

They’re using AI to help discover new molecules, of course. And — with the FDA’s OK — to use fewer participants in phase 3 trials. So-called “external control arms” substitute AI-mined patient data for giving some participants a placebo.

Oh, and they’re using AI to find study participants.

Companies such as Amgen, Bayer, and Novartis are training AI to scan billions of public health records, prescription data, medical insurance claims and their internal data to find trial patients.

Wait, what?

Yep. What, you thought your medical records and prescription data were private? Oh you sweet, naïve child, bless your heart.

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The kids are all right

A new study out of the University of Alberta*, finds that, while long Covid affects 10% to 30% of people who get the disease (depending on which data you look at), it seems to spare the children.

Of more than 1,000 Canadian kids, average age about 10½, “just one met the definition for long COVID used by the World Health Organization.”

* Did you know there are no rats in Alberta? Crazy, right?

The mighty falls a few steps

Paxlovid, which once had a 88% chance of preventing serious Covid-19, now seems to be only about 37% effective at preventing hospitalization in high-risk patients. The good news is that it’s still 84% effective in preventing Covid death.

Why the big change? The original clinical trials “were conducted among unvaccinated patients who had limited natural immunity,” so the percentages swung in Paxlovid’s favor.

Welcome new AIP members!

Welcome to AIP Bryan Green, Suzanne Brethamer, and Premier Drugstore of Douglasville! “Bryan and his staff have built a great community pharmacy,” said GPhA VP of AIP Jonathan Marquess. “It was a pleasure hearing about their passion for weight loss and patient care.”

And welcome David Tucker, PharmD, of Wyatt’s Pharmacy in Lithia Springs! Said Marquess, “David and his staff have a passion for patient care, and it shows!”

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Can we do better? I think we can do better

A new WalletHub study ranks Georgia #48 out of the 50 states and DC for overall vaccination rates — that’s everything from basic childhood shots to flu, tetanus, shingles, Covid … you get the idea. Only Arizona, Alaska, and Mississippi did worse.

Medicaid reversals reversed

Some states may be in a hurry to take health insurance away from a lot of people, but HHS isn’t having it.

In part because the vast majority (73%) of post-pandemic Medicaid removals are for procedural reasons, not eligibility reasons, HHS is overruling the states (30 of them!) and reinstating coverage for about half a million people, including something like 210,000 kids. The agency is “Still Assessing” how many Georgians are affected.

[S]ome states were conducting auto-renewals at the family level instead of the individual level, even though different family members will have different eligibility statuses. Children, for example, often have higher eligibility thresholds than adults do and could still be eligible for Medicaid or CHIP even if their parents aren’t.

The Long Read: Why Biosimilars Struggle edition

Another excellent piece on how and why PBMs (and drug companies) are steering insurer dollars to brand-name drugs and not biosimilars, costing Americans billions: “Save billions or stick with Humira? Drug brokers steer Americans to the costly choice”.

Twist: It’s not just the PBMs.

One of AbbVie’s strategies was to warn health plans that if they recommended biosimilars over Humira they would lose rebates on purchases of Skyrizi and Rinvoq, two drugs with no generic imitators that are each listed at about $120,000 a year, according to PBM officials. In other words, dropping one AbbVie drug would lead to higher costs for others.