The COVID-19 Report is a compilation of coronavirus news, analysis, and insights from around the world to help life sciences and health care companies stay current in this challenging time.

In Tuesday's Report: New U.S. coronavirus relief legislation, remdesivir study data, and an analysis of HHS drug importation policies.

Tuesday, 13 October 2020

• The Hogan Lovells Government Relations and Public Affairs group is tracking all of the latest developments in the U.S. Congress and relevant news stories. President Trump and his aides on Friday offered House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA) a $1.8 trillion coronavirus relief package, sources said, as the president urged the negotiators to “go big.” On a conference call Saturday, Senate Republicans relayed their objections to another enormous coronavirus relief package to party leaders and top Trump officials. Members cited that Republican voters have “no appetite” for the leading proposals’ trillion-dollar price tags. President Trump said Sunday that he was ready to begin campaigning after declaring himself "immune" following his treatment for COVID-19. "I'm immune," Trump said in an interview on Fox News Sunday Morning Futures. Dr. Anthony Fauci, the U.S. government's top infectious disease expert, told CNN on Monday that the Trump campaign should stop airing an ad that uses comments he made without his permission and allegedly out of context. Final data from a study of remdesivir showed the Gilead Sciences treatment cut COVID-19 recovery time by five days compared with patients who got a placebo, one day faster than indicated in preliminary data. Read about these and other updates here: Oct. 8, Oct. 9, Oct. 12. (Authored by Ivan Zapien)

• Recently, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) announced policies intended to permit the importation of, and Medicaid reimbursement for, certain foreign prescription drugs that under current law cannot be imported for U.S. distribution and that are not eligible for coverage under Medicaid. Despite the fanfare, it’s not at all clear that the changes will actually result in any additional importation of drugs, let alone meet the expressed goal of materially reducing the cost of prescription drugs. We've analyzed these policies online here. (Authored by David Horowitz and Chris Schott)

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