Today's Rundown | Welcome to Fierce’s daily coronavirus roundup. In order to bring you the most comprehensive and up-to-date information relating to the pandemic, we are publishing additional stories and all of the day’s coronavirus-related news in a PM edition. If you would prefer not to receive this newsletter, you may opt out at any time by clicking here. | |
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Featured Story | | | Thursday, March 19, 2020 In a much-anticipated press conference Thursday, President Donald Trump said the U.S. has stepped up near-term efforts to advance and make available drugs to help patients with COVID-19 illnesses. |
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Top Stories Thursday, March 19, 2020 A shortage of personal protective equipment is the biggest issue right now for hospitals and healthcare workers around the county, according to the chief healthcare officer at the organization that represents medical schools and teaching hospitals. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Abbott received an emergency use authorization from the FDA for its COVID-19 diagnostic, and announced goals to ramp up U.S. production to 1 million tests per week by the end of March. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Eli Lilly is opening the doors of its Indianapolis headquarters to help the state health department process samples for the novel coronavirus outbreak. Thursday, March 19, 2020 As manufacturers nationwide work to catch up to the skyrocketing demand for coronavirus diagnostics and supplies—and broaden access while limiting person-to-person contact, such as with drive-thru testing—companies are looking next to provide at-home COVID-19 exams, through the mail. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Merck KGaA has donated Rebif supplies to investigators in France for a clinical study. Medtronic and GE Healthcare are bolstering ventilator production. Plus, Trump talked about advancing therapeutics, but FDA chief Hahn said there's still a lot to learn about potential treatments. Thursday, March 19, 2020 FierceHealthcare's ongoing coverage of how the coronavirus is impacting the healthcare industry. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Major hospital and provider groups want Congress to provide $100 billion in direct assistance so they can prepare for the influx of COVID-19 patients. Wednesday, March 18, 2020 Biopharma companies have scrambled to start new R&D projects and repurpose existing medicines amid the COVID-19 crisis. Now, Bayer is donating an older treatment to the U.S. government for potential use. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Without an approved drug to tackle the novel coronavirus, scientists and biopharma companies are busy looking to repurpose existing therapies. But AbbVie's HIV combo drug Kaletra, one of the earliest efforts in that direction, seems to have hit a snag—though one analyst refuses to call it a dead end. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Scammers may be trafficking counterfeit or faulty products from protective masks to disinfectants during the coronavirus pandemic, and physician practices may be particularly vulnerable. Healthcare organizations can take steps to ensure products are reliable, safe and legitimate. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Pfizer is working to help spread education around COVID-19, and it's enlisted Chief Medical Officer Mace Rothenberg to do it. He stars in a new series of short social media videos that launched Saturday. The #KnowtheFacts about COVID-19 campaign, as hashtagged on Twitter, features Rothenberg offering levelheaded facts and personal tips for dealing with the COVID-19 outbreak. Thursday, March 19, 2020 Biogen said some patients being treated with its spinal muscular atrophy drug Spinraza have seen doses postponed by hospitals needing to prioritize COVID-19 patients. The company said it isn't concerned, though it has warned investors that the virus could generally interfere with manufacturing, sales and clinical trials. Thursday, March 19, 2020 With the novel coronavirus continuing its global spread, drugmakers are allocating massive resources into developing targeted therapies and vaccines. Now, a new CDMO from Belgium's Univercells is hoping its expertise can help drugmakers scale up their manufacturing for a successful vaccine. |
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