In 2016, then-Vice President Joe Biden announced a Cancer Moonshot initiative to speed the development of new therapies to treat cancer. Biden is now launching a new initiative committed to improving the cancer survival rate by at least 50% by 2047. The plan also aims to improve the quality of life for patients with cancer. […]
Joe Biden
Biden announces plans to buy, distribute 500M at-home, rapid COVID-19 tests
The White House today announced a COVID-19 response plan that includes a major effort to increase at-home rapid testing. President Joe Biden’s plan includes opening new federal testing sites to increase capacity and the distribution of 500 million at-home, rapid tests to Americans. The Biden administration plans to purchase a half-billion rapid tests this winter […]
White House allocates 55M COVID-19 vaccine doses for global distribution
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 […]
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. […]
