Pfizer will list its COVID-19 treatment Paxlovid at a price of $1,390 per five-day course when it soon hits the commercial market, the drugmaker confirmed to Axios.
Why it matters: Paxlovid's new listed price, first reported by the Wall Street Journal, will be more than twice the $529 paid by the federal government, which until now has maintained the entire U.S. supply of the key antiviral medication.
Years after it first broached delivering drugs by drone, Amazon is poised to launch a service in College Station, Texas, that it says will airlift certain common medicines to homes within 60 minutes.
Why it matters: It's the latest move by the online retail giant to disrupt health care delivery — and a convenience that could help patients start treatments faster and adhere to prescriptions.
More people are getting prescribed highly effective HIV preventive medications, but there's still a sharp disparity in who's receiving the drugs, new federal data show.
Driving the news: 36% of those believed to be eligible for HIV pre-exposure prophylaxis, or PrEP, were prescribed it last year, up from 30.2% in 2021, according to preliminary CDC data released Tuesday.
Insurers and some employers contend the Biden administration's recent proposal to bolster coverage of mental and behavioral care could actually backfire and make it more difficult for patients to access quality care.
The big picture: The health care payers are urging the administration to drop major features of its plan, including a new formula to determine whether insurers are improperly limiting patient access to mental health care. And a leading health insurer trade group called on the administration to scrap the whole thing.
After five months of waiting, President Biden's pick for National Institutes of Health director, Monica Bertagnolli, today will get a confirmation hearing before the Senate health committee. And drug development and pricing is likely to loom large.
The big picture: Chairman Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) relented on holding up the nomination over his concerns about the Biden administration's lack of action on drug prices.
The average cost of workplace health insurance premiums for family coverage reached nearly $24,000 this year, jumping 7% from 2022, according to the latest annual KFF survey of employer-sponsored coverage.
Why it matters: After a few years of largely flat growth, inflation appears to be driving a steady uptick in health care costs. Employers, facing a tight labor market, are trying to limit how much of those costs they pass on to workers.
Children who grow up in different environments tend to have distinct physical health, mental health and cognitive outcomes, according to a new study in JAMA Pediatrics.
Why it matters: The study offers a comprehensive view of how dozens of social determinants of health interact with one another and affect a child's development — and also could serve as a guide for policymakers to better target policies to address glaring health disparities.
A smaller, smarter Rite Aid could emerge from restructuring after the pharmacy retail chain filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection late Sunday, experts tell Axios.
Why it matters: The smallest of the top three U.S. pharmacy chains has been plagued by declining sales, operational challenges and the hefty cost of opioid lawsuits, all while struggling to keep pace with larger competitors Walgreens and CVS.
