agencies

Medicare bets big on Leqembi uptake

My colleague Bob Herman got a hold of Medicare’s spending projections for the new Alzheimer’s drug Leqembi, and they’re way, way bigger than estimates the drug’s manufacturers themselves have made, we report this morning.

The numbers aren’t just idle guesses — they will factor into Medicare beneficiaries’ premiums for the next couple of years. And Medicare will be the largest payer for the Eisai and Biogen drug, as most people with Alzheimer’s are over the age of 65. 

If the agency’s estimates hold, Leqembi could become one of the most costly physician-administered drugs to the Medicare program. But the numbers are nowhere near the budget-busting, catastrophic estimates of what an Alzheimer’s treatment could cost. More here. 

influence

BIO parts ways with top lobbyist

Nick Shipley, who was until Friday BIO’s top lobbyist, has exited the organization, my colleague John Wilkerson and I reported yesterday. And there are indications that new CEO John Crowley may have more ideas for change up his sleeve. 

Shipley was one of the few top executives to survive the bloodbath of turnover under former CEO Michelle McMurry-Heath’s tenure, and his exit was sudden — he immediately packed up his office and left the building, three sources told us. Shipley was purged from the group’s website by Wednesday morning. His departure comes following a dramatic shift in lobbying strategy following congressional pressure to get U.S. biotech companies to stop doing business with the Chinese biotech behemoth WuXi AppTec.

Shipley’s exit may not be the end of the upheaval in an organization that’s had four CEOs in as many years. Read the full details, including an exclusive internal email that indicates Crowley may be eyeing a bigger restructuring of the organization. 

capitol hill

Sanders floats long Covid moonshot

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) released a draft proposal this week that would devote $10 billion to studying long Covid and finding potential treatments. The proposal calls for a decade of mandatory funding — at $1 billion per year — for a new long Covid research program at NIH, STAT’s Isabella Cueto reports. This money would be in addition to, and more secure than, funding recently set aside to continue the RECOVER studies. 

While the draft legislation still has a ways to go, it could give long Covid researchers more runway to find therapies and fast-track treatment trials. The NIH would need to give grant applicants a final decision within 120 days, per the proposal. Patients have been pressing federal leaders to act with a sense of urgency — and allocate more research funding — since the pandemic began. 

Sanders’ proposal has the fingerprints of patient advocates. For example, researchers who have support from long Covid patient organizations would have an advantage in the streamlined NIH grant system. Plus, patients would be part of both a “centralized coordinating entity” to oversee long Covid research at the NIH, and an independent advisory board. The legislation would also require the NIH to make a database of de-identified information about patients involved in federally funded trials in order to spread the research wealth. Isabella has more.