CVS drug plans will cover OTC birth control pill Opill

CVS drug plans will cover OTC birth control pill Opill

In this photo illustration, a package of Opill is displayed on March 22, 2024 in San Anselmo, California.  Justin Sullivan | Getty Images CVS Health on Thursday said its drug plans will cover the first over-the-counter birth control pill in the U.S. at no cost for many health plan sponsors, a decision that could open … Read more

Drug similar to Ozempic slowed Parkinson’s disease in small trial

Drug similar to Ozempic slowed Parkinson’s disease in small trial

The coronal view of a human brain of a patient suffering from Parkinson’s disease Sherbrooke Connectivity Imaging Lab | Getty Images A highly popular class of drugs for diabetes and obesity is showing early potential to help patients with Parkinson’s disease, too.  An older diabetes treatment called lixisenatide helped slow the progression of motor disability … Read more

Weight loss, diabetes drug ad spending tops $1 billion

Weight loss, diabetes drug ad spending tops  billion

Boxes of Wegovy made by Novo Nordisk are seen at a pharmacy in London, Britain March 8, 2024.  Hollie Adams | Reuters Think a friend or colleague should be getting this newsletter? Share this link with them to sign up. Good afternoon! Drugmakers spent big on advertisements for weight loss and diabetes treatments last year … Read more

Health insurer stocks slide as Medicare Advantage rates disappoint

Health insurer stocks slide as Medicare Advantage rates disappoint

Signage is displayed on a Humana Inc. office building in Louisville, Kentucky, U.S., on Saturday, Feb. 2, 2019. Humana is scheduled to release earnings figures on February 6. Luke Sharrett | Bloomberg | Getty Images Shares of U.S. health insurers fell on Tuesday after the Biden administration didn’t boost payments for private Medicare plans as … Read more

Walgreens (WBA) earnings Q2 2024

Walgreens (WBA) earnings Q2 2024

A person rides past a Walgreens truck, owned by the Walgreens Boots Alliance, Inc., in Manhattan, New York City, U.S., November 26, 2021.  Andrew Kelly | Reuters Walgreens on Thursday reported fiscal second-quarter sales that beat Wall Street’s expectations, but lowered the high end of its full-year adjusted earnings outlook in part due to a … Read more

Drugmakers are capping inhaler prices at $35

Drugmakers are capping inhaler prices at

A woman using an inhaler.  BSIP | Universal Images Group | Getty Images Think a friend or colleague should be getting this newsletter? Share this link with them to sign up. Good afternoon! Inhalers will soon get a whole lot cheaper for some Americans.  Three of the world’s largest inhaler makers have agreed to cap the … Read more

Altimmune weight loss drug minimized muscle mass loss in trial

Altimmune weight loss drug minimized muscle mass loss in trial

Altimmune on Wednesday said its experimental drug helped patients shed weight but also minimized the loss of muscle mass in a midstage trial, a finding that could set it apart in a potentially crowded market. Altimmune is one of several smaller biotech companies that are pushing to compete directly with Novo Nordisk and Eli Lilly … Read more

Moderna moves three vaccines into final stage trials

Moderna moves three vaccines into final stage trials

Nikos Pekiaridis | Lightrocket | Getty Images Moderna has more to offer beyond its Covid vaccine. The biotech company Wednesday announced positive clinical trial data on three experimental vaccines against other viruses. The company is moving those shots to final stage studies, it said. The update brings Moderna a step closer to having multiple products … Read more

Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic can be made for less than $5 a month: study

Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic can be made for less than  a month: study

A box of Ozempic and contents sit on a table in Dudley, North Tyneside, Britain, October 31, 2023.  Lee Smith | Reuters The blockbuster diabetes drug Ozempic could be manufactured for less than $5 a month, even as Novo Nordisk charges close to $1,000 per month for the injection in the U.S. before insurance, a … Read more

FDA approves Merck drug sotatercept for rare, deadly lung condition

FDA approves Merck drug sotatercept for rare, deadly lung condition

The Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday approved a drug from Merck designed to treat a progressive and life-threatening lung condition in a win for both the drugmaker and for patients suffering from the rare disease. The agency greenlighted the therapy, which will be marketed as Winrevair, for adults with pulmonary arterial hypertension. The decision … Read more