Hello, everyone, and welcome to the middle of the week. Congratulations on making it this far, because it is an accomplishment, after all. The next step, of course, is to forge ahead. And why not? Just consider the alternatives. On that optimistic note, please join us for a needed cup or three of stimulation. Our choice today is caramel crème brulée. Meanwhile, here are some items of interest to get you going. Have a wonderful day, and do drop us a line when you hear something juicy. …
The U.S. Supreme Court justices seemed to question the plaintiffs’ right to sue the U.S. Food and Drug Administration to reinstate restrictions around a commonly used abortion pill, a line of questioning that suggests they are unlikely to restrict access, STAT explains. Justices Elena Kagan and Ketanji Brown Jackson repeatedly asked lawyers for anti-abortion doctors and organizations for examples of when physicians were forced to assist with abortion or its complications as a direct result of relaxed prescribing restrictions. At issue is whether the FDA acted appropriately in expanding access in 2016 and again in 2021 by allowing doctors to prescribe it through telemedicine and send pills by mail.
The FDA approved a Merck drug to treat a rare cardiovascular disorder called pulmonary arterial hypertension, or PAH, making available a new class of treatment for a deadly condition that’s long been challenging to treat, STAT tells us. The disease is estimated to occur in 15 to 50 per million people, mostly in women. Merck will sell the drug, called sotatercept, under the brand name Winrevair, which will be priced at $14,000 per vial, which is injected every three weeks. The drug is seen to be a key driver of growth for Merck, and JP Morgan analysts predict sales could approach $5 billion by 2030.