Pharma is no longer bowing down to Trump

President Trump has clashed over pricing with the pharmaceutical industry since the beginning of his term. Now, however, the industry’s taking on a new role: It’s calling the president’s bluff, write STAT’s Nicholas Florko and Lev Facher.

Pharma execs — who historically have kowtowed to the White House — have been emboldened in the wake of Covid-19, now that they’re in the spotlight for something that is not drug pricing. “I don’t think there is a need, right now, for White House meetings,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla told investors on Tuesday. PhRMA has even accused the president of creating a “reckless distraction” from the industry’s primary aim of defeating Covid-19.

“Pharmaceutical executives have realized that giving the president any type of photo opportunity does not preclude him from turning around and stabbing them in the back,” said Peter Pitts, president of the drug industry-backed Center for Medicine in the Public Interest.

A Covid-19 vaccine is on the horizon. But is it too soon?

Scientists have moved at a remarkable pace to develop a Covid-19 vaccine, and we may indeed have one very soon. But Michael S. Kinch, a vaccine researcher and historian, has penned a note of caution — and has a request for regulators. “Hey, Food and Drug Administration: Don’t be rash! Premature approval of a substandard Covid-19 vaccine could have dire implications, and not just for this pandemic,” he writes for STAT. “It could harm public health for years, if not generations, to come.”

Although Kinch is optimistic about an eventual vaccine, he warns that regulators may feel pressured to approve an inoculation that isn’t particularly effective — or safe — in the interest of helping quell public nerves.

Brigham and Women's president resigns from Moderna board

Elizabeth Nagel, president of Boston's Brigham and Women’s Hospital, will be resigning from Moderna’s board of directors, the Boston Globe reports. She’s stepping down after the Globe inquired whether her role at Moderna is a conflict of interest: Brigham and Women’s, after all, is running a large clinical trial of the biotech’s experimental Covid-19 vaccine.

Nabel, notably, owns stock in the company — and on July 15, she sold 73,975 shares, which are worth nearly $6.5 million.

“Despite the management plans that have been put in place to ensure the Covid-19 vaccine study is not compromised due to my connection with Moderna, I have come to realize that those who do not know me, or how such trials are conducted, may perceive a conflict of interest,” Nagel said in a statement.

Despite revenue dip, Gilead raises guidance $2 billion

Gilead has raised its yearly guidance by $2 billion during its second quarter earnings call — expecting now to bring in $25 billion in product sales, as opposed to $23 billion. This looks like a remdesivir-sized increase: Gilead said that it plans on distributing 1 million to 1.5 million doses of the antiviral this year. The drug has been priced at $390 per vial. The company plans on selling the drug in the U.S. primarily this year, and then will expand to other countries in the fourth year and beyond.

Meanwhile, Gilead’s second quarter product sales actually dropped notably: The company brought in $5.1 billion this quarter, as compared to $5.7 billion during the same period last year. This is largely because of Covid-19 fallout, the company said: They saw quarter-over-quarter decreases in HIV and hepatitis C revenues, because patients have been reticent to visit their physicians and get standard health screenings. The company said it expects this to recover in Q3.

How much should a Covid-19 vaccine cost?

What can basketball teach us about pandemic safety? And just how lucrative is venture capital?

We discuss all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. We start with a lightning round covering the cost of Covid-19 vaccines, the latest from billionaire entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong, and a DIY coronavirus prevention effort. Then, Boston Globe basketball reporter Gary Washburn joins us to discuss life inside the NBA’s Florida bubble and what it might mean for professional sports in the U.S. Finally, STAT’s Kate Sheridan calls in to discuss her work uncovering the financial performance of big-name biotech venture funds.

Listen here.