The Biden-Harris administration today announced a global distribution list for 55 million doses of America’s COVID-19 vaccine supply. Biden pledged to allocate 80 million doses of the COVID-19 vaccine supply belonging to the U.S. by the end of June to aid the global fight against the pandemic. Earlier this month, the administration announced the plan […]
Joe Biden
Senator Manchin asks Biden to oust Woodcock over Aduhelm row
The West Virginia Senator Joe Manchin III (D-W. Va) sent a letter to President Joe Biden expressing his dismay regarding the FDA’s approval of Aduhelm (aducanumab), the controversial Alzheimer’s treatment from Biogen (NSDQ:BIIB). The nonprofit watchdog group Public Citizen sent a broadly similar letter to HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra to “express its outrage” over the approval and to demand […]
Biden administration invests $3B to accelerate development of next-gen COVID-19 treatments
President Joe Biden’s administration will spend $3 billion in American Rescue Plan money to accelerate the discovery, development and manufacturing of antiviral medicines against COVID-19, HHS announced today. Not only will the Antiviral Program for Pandemics seek to boost the availability of medicines to prevent serious COVID-19 illness and save lives, but it will pursue […]
Biden to promise world 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses
President Joe Biden has struck a deal with Pfizer (NYSE:PFE) and BioNTech (NSDQ:BNTX) to provide 500 million COVID-19 vaccine doses to roughly 100 countries over two years. The two companies today confirmed the news, saying that the U.S. government will purchase at a not-for-profit price 200 million doses in 2021 and 300 million in early 2022. Doses […]
Biden administration wants to boost funding for new pharma manufacturing processes
The Biden administration today released findings from 100-day supply chain assessments, determining the need to boost pharmaceutical manufacturing. According to a fact sheet, the administration plans to take immediate action to “address vulnerabilities and strengthen resilience” with its effort to take on near-term supply chain disruptions for four products: semiconductor manufacturing and advanced packaging; large […]
Senate confirms new CMS leader
The U.S. Senate today confirmed President Joe Biden’s selection to lead CMS, Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, with a 55-44 vote in favor. Brooks-LaSure will be the first Black woman to hold the position, according to Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-N.Y.) on Twitter. She previously served in the U.S. Dept. of Health and Human Services during the […]
U.S. to donate 60M doses of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine
The Biden administration announced today that it will begin sharing its store of AstraZeneca’s COVID-19 vaccine following safety reviews. Once the vaccine clears federal safety reviews, 60 million doses of the vaccine are expected to be made available, according to a Tweet from senior White House advisor Andy Slavitt. “BREAKING: U.S. to release 60 million Astra Zeneca […]
MedTech 100 roundup: Small dip keeps industry down
The last month brought a bit of a skid for the medtech industry and after a slight rebound last week, the downward trend has returned. A strong start to 2021 came to an end in late February and carried over into March, with MassDevice‘s MedTech 100 index hitting its lowest point on March 8 (102.16). It […]
Xavier Becerra confirmed as HHS secretary
The U.S. Senate narrowly voted to confirm Xavier Becerra as the U.S. Dept. of Health & Human Services (HHS) secretary today. Becerra received the nomination for the position from President Joe Biden in December 2020. Today, the Senate voted 50-49 in favor of Becerra, who will have to resign his seat as California’s attorney general. […]
Biden to put $12B toward COVID testing
The Biden administration today pledged $10 billion for school COVID-19 screenings and $2.25 billion for screenings and diagnostic testing among underserved populations. The money is part of the $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan Act that Biden signed into law last week. The Department of Health and Human Services will divvy up the $10 billion among […]
AdvaMed brass on Biden administration: So far, so good
In office barely two months, the Biden administration is winning high praise from leaders of the medtech trade group AdvaMed. That applies to the new administration’s use of the Defense Production Act for COVID supplies to its deliberation in choosing someone to lead the FDA. It doesn’t hurt that the $1.9 trillion pandemic relief bill […]
