telehealth
Pharma vs Congress: The latest in virtual care talks
Eli Lilly and Pfizer have responded to senators who pressed them to share the details of their online platforms LillyDirect and PfizerForAll, seeking to determine whether the pharma giants are violating the federal anti-kickback statute when they direct patients to select telehealth platforms that may prescribe their drugs, my colleague Katie Palmer tells us.
Both companies largely ducked detailed questions about their online platforms' financial and data-sharing terms, as well as the the providers patients can reach through the sites. Instead, they reiterated that linked telehealth providers on the platforms are not paid or influenced to prescribe their specific medications.
In its response, Pfizer explained how it pays companies UpScriptHealth and Populus Health Technologies fixed monthly fees. Much of Lilly's response focused not on its own platform, but on calling out other telehealth companies that prescribe compounded versions of GLP-1 drugs like Lilly's tirzepatide. "The potential problems with their operations go well beyond the concerns about financial relationships that you raise in your letter," read its response.
Stay tuned for more as the back-and-forth unfolds. Meanwhile, if you want to get up to speed on the broader context, read the story Katie wrote not too long ago: How drugmakers are turning telehealth into a marketing gold mine.
drug development
Using AI to design small molecule drugs is tough. Here's who's vying to crack the code
My colleague Brittany Trang has a deep dive into the world of small molecule drugs, which she compares to an "endless, pick-your-own-toppings frozen yogurt bar" instead of the "boutique ice cream shop" offered by the typical antibodies that are drugs constrained by the amino acid alphabet.
That abundance of possible combinations also means it's difficult to demonstrate to AI models enough kinds of molecules and interactions with biologically relevant receptors for the machine to generalize beyond what it's already seen. And foundation models for small molecule drug design are still evolving, according to Pat Walters, chief data officer at Relay Therapeutics. "These models, for the most part, understand syntax, but they don't really understand chemistry," he says. "One of the things that you'll find is that they'll produce a lot of silly molecules, which an organic chemist would look at and say, 'That is not chemically stable.'"
That hasn't stopped a fresh crop of startups from raising hundreds of millions of dollars to try to nudge AI to suggest or design small molecule drugs. In her latest, Brittany introduces us to five of them.
In case you forgot, this is part of the new Who to Know series that STAT kicked off a few months ago to give you a a closer look at key influencers in modern health care, from research and academia to pharma execs, startups and investors.
venture theses
Where exactly are we in AI's drug discovery arc?
Speaking of AI in drug discovery, this week we heard from Bison Ventures' investor Caleb Appleton who questions whether it's the beginning of the end for AI drug discovery companies — especially after a series of trials that failed to demonstrate significant efficacy. "I am already seeing significantly waning appetite in backing platform-based discovery companies taking big swings at the space and a resurgence of more narrowly defined asset companies," Appleton writes. "There's a long history of an early failure setting a field back substantially: Investors pull back, talent looks elsewhere, and timelines begin to slip massively." When you've had a chance to read Appleton's First Opinion piece, let me know where you fall in the debate.
climate
Doctors warn of health data's environmental impact
A trio of physicians writes into STAT about a brewing environmental disaster brought on by digitized medical data, spanning from notes to radiological imaging. While that data might be useful both clinically and for billing, storing it casts a staggering carbon footprint; and e-waste is a public health hazard, they argue. "With the relentless growth of health care data in electronic health records worldwide, we as a health care community must take substantive steps toward preventing the environmental damage caused by massive data storage and management," they write.
Read more.
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