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Today's Rundown

Eli Lilly faces FDA crackdown for manufacturing issues at plant handling COVID-19 antibody
Cue Health nets $481M DOD contract to deliver hand-held coronavirus tests
Google, Optum, Microsoft team up on $13M challenge to prevent next pandemic
The pandemic boosted interest in new payment models. This startup developed tools to help manage those complex contracts
Biopharma roundup: Roche plots antigen lab test launch, rounding out diagnostics arsenal
Healthcare roundup: Blue Shield of California offering $50M in premium relief
Hey investors, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing partner Emergent won't suffer from AZ, J&J trial holds: analysts
Did oral COVID-19 vaccine maker Vaxart exaggerate Warp Speed role to benefit insiders? DOJ wants to find out
Cytiva tasked with COVID-19 vaccine work as part of $31M U.S. government grant
Another day, another delay: NIH halts phase 3 study of Lilly's COVID-19 antibody

Featured Story

Eli Lilly faces FDA crackdown for manufacturing issues at plant handling COVID-19 antibody

By Kyle Blankenship

Just days after Eli Lilly sent its COVID-19 antibody ahead for FDA scrutiny, the drugmaker's immediate chances were halted by a damaging trial stop for the therapy. Now, the FDA has knocked Lilly for its manufacturing controls at a New Jersey site handling production of the antibody.

Cue Health nets $481M DOD contract to deliver hand-held coronavirus tests

By Conor Hale

After raising $100 million this year, Cue Health has received another $481 million from the U.S. Department of Defense to dramatically ramp up production of its hand-held diagnostic test for COVID-19, with plans to deliver 6 million tests to the federal government over the next six months.

Google, Optum, Microsoft team up on $13M challenge to prevent next pandemic

By Heather Landi

Google, Optum and Microsoft are teaming up with leading universities and foundations on a new initiative that aims to use data and analytics to learn from the global response to COVID-19. The goal is to better prepare the world for the next pandemic. Here's how the collaboration plans to do it.

The pandemic boosted interest in new payment models. This startup developed tools to help manage those complex contracts

By Heather Landi

As interest in value-based care models grows, Optum Ventures-backed startup Apervita told Fierce Healthcare first about its new technology tools to help providers and payers better manage the complex contract arrangements of these payment models. Here's how it's technology solution helps to solve a major pain point for payers and providers.

Biopharma roundup: Roche plots antigen lab test launch, rounding out diagnostics arsenal

By Eric Sagonowsky, Angus Liu, Kyle Blankenship, Conor Hale, Fraiser Kansteiner

Vaxart faces lawsuits for allegedly overstating its Operation Warp Speed involvement. Emergent's contract protections should see it profit despite vaccine trial holds, analysts figure. Roche aims to launch a lab-based antigen test later this year. And Relief Therapeutics' drug RLF-100 boosted survival and recovery rates in severely ill patients, an open-label study showed.

Healthcare roundup: Blue Shield of California offering $50M in premium relief

By Healthcare Staff

Follow along with the latest COVID-19 news straight from the Fierce Healthcare team.

Hey investors, COVID-19 vaccine manufacturing partner Emergent won't suffer from AZ, J&J trial holds: analysts

By Arlene Weintraub

Emergent BioSolutions quickly became a pandemic manufacturing linchpin as vaccine makers Johnson & Johnson and AstraZeneca both conscripted its services. But that very role sent investors scurrying when first AZ, then J&J put their phase 3 trials on hold. After analysts crunched the numbers on the vaccine contract with J&J, though, they found little cause for worry.

Did oral COVID-19 vaccine maker Vaxart exaggerate Warp Speed role to benefit insiders? DOJ wants to find out

By Angus Liu

On Tuesday, California biotech Vaxart unveiled that it had dosed the first subject in a phase 1 study of its oral tablet COVID-19 vaccine candidate. But the good news was clouded with investigations and investor lawsuits around its disclosure of its involvement in Operation Warp Speed.

Cytiva tasked with COVID-19 vaccine work as part of $31M U.S. government grant

By Kyle Blankenship

With the U.S. working at a rapid clip to scale capacity for a range of COVID-19 vaccines and therapeutics, stateside manufacturers are snagging big down payments on the taxpayers' dime. Now, the government is cutting a check to a former General Electric business to help chip in.

Another day, another delay: NIH halts phase 3 study of Lilly's COVID-19 antibody

By Amirah Al Idrus

The National Institutes of Health is hitting pause on a phase 3 study testing Eli Lilly and AbCellera’s COVID-19 antibody treatment in hospitalized patients. The reason? “An abundance of caution,” the company says.

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