Good morning. Read it now or save this closer look for later: Damian Garde's profile of the "godfather" of biotech.

Rollout of monkeypox vaccine gets closer to goal

Here's an update from Helen Branswell: The U.S. is nearing the point where it will have distributed enough monkeypox vaccine to vaccinate all people deemed to be at highest risk, federal health officials said on Friday during a White House briefing. The target, they said, has been to vaccinate about 1.6 million Americans believed to be most likely to contract the virus.

As of Aug. 23, nearly 208,000 doses of Bavarian Nordic’s Jynneos vaccine have been administered across the country, said CDC Director Rochelle Walensky. Most have gone to men who have sex with men; 6% of the doses have been administered to women. Most of the doses have been first doses and many people are now eligible for their second, she noted, urging jurisdictions that have been using a delayed second-dose approach to schedule those appointments. Walensky said based on data from 19 jurisdictions, 47% of doses have been given to white people, 22% to Hispanic people, and 10% to Black people.

Moderna's suit against vaccine rivals Pfizer and BioNTech has a familiar ring

Even if you haven't been keeping track of the various intellectual property disputes surrounding development of mRNA vaccines, the most recent one seems like a blockbuster. Late last week Moderna sued its Covid vaccine rivals Pfizer and BioNTech, alleging the partners had infringed on its patents in two ways: in the chemical modifications the companies made to the mRNA in their Covid vaccine, and in the decision to deliver the vaccine via a lipid nanoparticle, a bubble-like coating that both the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines use to get the mRNA into cells. Pfizer and BioNTech each said it would vigorously defend against the allegations of the lawsuit.

But in a commentary on the dispute, STAT’s Matthew Herper says we should first take a deep breath, and then recall the patent fight around CRISPR. “The result of these suits is unpredictable. And even the party that prevails doesn’t always benefit as you’d think.”

Fed-up doctors find another route to recertification

If you check to see if your doctors are board-certified in their specialties, be sure to read Tara Bannow’s story on what it looks like on the other side. Doctors are so frustrated by the onerous process to renew their credentials — complaining that test questions aren’t always relevant to their expertise — they’re gravitating to an alternative route. The recertification option, called the National Board of Physicians and Surgeons, doesn’t require testing and costs less.

The California not-for-profit board has been around since 2015, but in July the Joint Commission gave its blessing. Instead of requiring doctors to take tests to prove they’re still knowledgeable in their respective specialities, the board requires 50 hours every two years of accredited continuing medical education. Many doctors already do that and more to maintain their state licenses. “It’s still a high bar,” psychiatrist Scott Monteith told Tara. Read more.

Closer look: For the ‘godfather’ of biotech, saving Biogen is one more challenge

(MIKE REDDY FOR STAT)

In biotech, there has been only one godfather. That’s how STAT's Damian Garde begins his profile of Stelios Papadopoulos, who at 74 is the living embodiment of biotech’s institutional memory. The Greece native was inspired by Richard Feynman to pursue physics in the U.S., then disgusted by the Vietnam War and physics underlying the military-industrial complex. Intrigued by biotech before it grew into a banner industry, he became the rare Ph.D. scientist on Wall Street who understood base pairs and basis points in equal detail.

And he became more: the wise sage who entices hand-picked guests to a retreat in Greece that is “equal parts baccalaureate and bacchanal.” Yet, as Biogen's board chair, he faces the challenge of the company’s mounting reversals of fortune. A note: Papadopoulos declined requests to be interviewed. “I have flaws,” he wrote to Damian, “but vanity is not one of them.” Read much more.

Poliovirus detected in another New York county

The news on polio is not getting better. Health officials in New York state sounded the alarm that community spread of the polio virus may be expanding, the Associated Press reports. The virus has now been detected in a third country in the state, based on four samples found in Sullivan County. That’s several dozen miles northwest of Rockland County, where in July the first case of paralytic polio was reported in nearly 10 years. The virus has also been found in wastewater in Orange County and in New York City.

Hundreds of people may be infected with polio but not know it, possibly passing it on to others for up to weeks. “The polio in New York today is an imminent threat to all adults and children who are unvaccinated or not up to date with their polio immunizations,” state Health Commissioner Mary Bassett said in a statement Friday.

As medical device companies vie for Medicare dollars, it's buyer beware

I kept thinking about the expression “seeing how the sausage is made” when reading today’s story by STAT’s Bob Herman about medical device companies and other players looking for higher payments from Medicare. It’s an unsavory metaphor, but it gets at how pricing decisions are made — and how much we all pay for health care. The occasion was a meeting last week convened by Medicare’s Advisory Panel on Hospital Outpatient Payment. That drew medical device executives, lobbyists, and physicians who pitched Medicare on the value of their devices and services, ranging from drugs that get inserted into the eye to hernia repairs.

It’s a forum for companies to argue that Medicare’s payments aren’t keeping up with costs or improvements in their products. But it also puts a critical onus on federal officials to wade through financial interests — not always disclosed — and ensure taxpayer dollars aren’t misplaced. Bob has more here.

What to read around the web today

A son’s mistake, a family’s grief, and the cruel lessons of the fentanyl epidemic, Chicago Tribune
Opinion: Maternal instinct is a myth that men created, New York Times
Philip Morris misleading the public about nicotine in heated tobacco, The Bureau of Investigative Journalism
The world is moving on from the pandemic. Not these Covid long-haulers, Washington Post
Opinion: Amazon and One Medical: Minding the data gaps, STAT