New Covid vaccines | Biden chooses CDC chief | Lilly on Medicare negotiations

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Another year, another Covid vaccine. 

The Food and Drug Administration has recommended that manufacturers update the Covid shots to target the XBB.1.5 variant ahead of the fall. 

This is the second time the agency pushed for a strain switch for the shots. 

Last year, the FDA backed a bivalent vaccine that targeted two variants, the original Covid strain and omicron BA.5. It was a somewhat controversial decision at the time, with some scientists arguing it made more sense to just target one strain.

The new shots would target the single dominant strain, XBB.1.5 

It is unclear if the U.S. is in for annual updates to the vaccines, Annika reports for us. The FDA advisors were skeptical of such a policy because it is unclear if Covid really is becoming a seasonal virus like the flu, they said. 

As we get ready for new vaccines, the CDC will soon have a new leader. 

President Joe Biden is appointing Dr. Mandy Cohen to lead agency. Cohen will take over the CDC as the agency undergoes a restructuring to address criticisms that it moved too slowly during the pandemic.

Feel free to send any tips, suggestions, story ideas and data to the team at spencer.kimball@nbcuni.com.

FDA recommends that updated Covid shots target omicron subvariant XBB.1.5 this fall

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recommended that Covid vaccine manufacturers make single-strain shots for the fall that target omicron subvariant XBB.1.5, the dominant strain of the virus nationwide.

The FDA’s decision is consistent with what an advisory panel to the agency recommended on Thursday.

The agency’s selection is also a decisive victory for Pfizer, Moderna and Novavax. The three companies have already been developing updated versions of their shots that target XBB.1.5.

– Annika Kim Constantino

Biden to appoint Mandy Cohen to lead the CDC

President Joe Biden on Friday said he will appoint Dr. Mandy Cohen to lead the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.

Cohen served as the head of North Carolina’s Department of Health and Human Services during the worst days of the Covid-19 pandemic.

CDC directors do not currently require Senate confirmation, though that will change in January 2025 due to recent legislation passed by Congress.

Cohen will take over a CDC that’s undergoing a restructuring to address criticisms that the agency acted too slowly during the pandemic and often gave health guidance that confused the public.

– Spencer Kimball

Eli Lilly CEO says Medicare price negotiations could harm drug development

Eli Lilly CEO David Ricks on Tuesday said Medicare price negotiations, which aim to cut costs for older Americans, could potentially harm drug development.

He’s the latest pharmaceutical executive to publicly blast the provision of the Inflation Reduction Act.

Ricks said the “biggest problem” with the provision stems from a difference in timeline for negotiating prices on small-molecule drugs — meaning drugs made of chemicals that have low molecular weight — versus biologic medicines, or those derived from living sources such as animals or humans.

His criticism comes after Merck and the U.S. Chamber of Commerce sued the Biden administration last week over the price negotiations. 

– Annika Kim Constantino, Bertha Coombs

Medicare insurers warn of higher surgery costs

The nation’s largest Medicare insurers say they’re seeing pent-up demand for elective surgical procedures like knee and hip replacements among their members. 

Humana echoing comments by UnitedHealth Group, earlier in the week, says health care costs will be near the high end of guidance this year. 

For UnitedHealth, being able to steer patients to its own outpatient surgical centers can offset the potential hit to the bottom line. 

For all of the Medicare players, the silver lining in the spring surge is that they are able to factor in a return to pre-pandemic levels of demand into their 2024 Medicare plan rates.

– Bertha Coombs

One million people have lost Medicaid coverage since pandemic protections expired

At least 1 million people have been kicked off Medicaid since coverage protections implemented during the Covid-19 pandemic expired in April, according to data published by the Kaiser Family Foundation on Monday.

The total number of people kicked off Medicaid is likely higher because only 20 states are making those figures publicly available, according to KFF.

Many people are losing Medicaid even though they likely remain eligible.

– Spencer Kimball

Walmart’s HIV specialty pharmacy to expand

Walmart launched an HIV specialty program in communities that remain highly affected by the virus, even as new cases of HIV have fallen more than 10% in recent years.

The company’s pharmacy chief tells us they’ve targeted areas where virus infections are high, as part of the public-private health equity partnership that aims to get more people on life-saving, virus-suppressing drugs. 

This month, the retail giant will begin to broaden the HIV program to more than five dozen of its pharmacies.

– Bertha Coombs

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