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Coronavirus Vaccine? Two Pharmaceutical Giants Collaborating To Develop One

Nurses and health care workers mourn and remember their colleagues who died during the outbreak of the novel coronavirus during a demonstration outside Mount Sinai Hospital in New York. Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images hide caption

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Johannes Eisele/AFP via Getty Images

Coronavirus Updates

Coronavirus Vaccine? Two Pharmaceutical Giants Collaborating To Develop One

Pharmaceutical companies GSK and Sanofi are partnering to work on several vaccine candidates to fight the coronavirus.

Might The Experimental Drug Remdesivir Work Against COVID-19?

Gilead Sciences, headquartered in Foster City, Calif., makes remdesivir, one of the experimental drugs now being investigated as a possible treatment for COVID-19. David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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David Paul Morris/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Might The Experimental Drug Remdesivir Work Against COVID-19?

It's too soon to know if the antiviral compound tested in 2014 as a potential Ebola treatment will hobble the coronavirus. Lab tests show promise, but studies in people with COVID-19 have only begun.

Might The Experimental Drug Remdesivir Work Against COVID-19?

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Canada's Decision To Make Public More Clinical Trial Data Puts Pressure On FDA

Already, Health Canada has posted safety and efficacy data online for four newly approved drugs; it plans to release reports for another 13 drugs and three medical devices approved or rejected since March. Teerapat Seedafong/EyeEm/Getty Images hide caption

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Teerapat Seedafong/EyeEm/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Canada's Decision To Make Public More Clinical Trial Data Puts Pressure On FDA

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration treats most data it gets on the development of new drugs and medical devices as confidential to companies. Critics say making the data public would help patients.

Professional 'Guinea Pigs' Can Make A Living Testing Drugs

Putting experimental drugs to the test can be a way of life. Glow Wellness/Glow RM/Getty Images hide caption

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Glow Wellness/Glow RM/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Professional 'Guinea Pigs' Can Make A Living Testing Drugs

One man died and five others were injured in a clinical trial in France this year. Trials like those depend on healthy people willing to take experimental medications in return for cash.

Professional 'Guinea Pigs' Can Make A Living Testing Drugs

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Another Old Drug About To Get A Supersized Price
Bull's Eye/Imagezoo/Getty Images

Shots - Health News

Another Old Drug About To Get A Supersized Price

Jacobus Pharmaceutical freely gives its experimental drug to patients with a rare disease. Now a rival wants FDA approval to sell its own version — and expects to charge at least $37,500 per year.

Another Old Drug About To Get A Supersized Price

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Senate Questions 'Egregious' Price Hikes For Specialty Medicines

AIDS activists poured cat litter on an image of Turing Pharmaceuticals CEO Martin Shkreli during an October protest in New York. Craig Ruttle/AP hide caption

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Craig Ruttle/AP

Shots - Health News

Senate Questions 'Egregious' Price Hikes For Specialty Medicines

Some companies have bought the patents for old drugs, then abruptly upped the prices — from $13 per pill to $750 in one case. Irate senators call it price gouging.

Senate Questions 'Egregious' Price Hikes For Specialty Medicines

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Multiple Sclerosis Patients Stressed Out By Soaring Drug Costs
Maria Fabrizio for NPR

Shots - Health News

Multiple Sclerosis Patients Stressed Out By Soaring Drug Costs

The cost of medication to treat multiple sclerosis has risen much faster than inflation, even for older drugs. Patients and insurers say manufacturers' subsidy programs have helped, but not enough.

Multiple Sclerosis Patients Stressed Out By Soaring Drug Costs

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FDA Decision Signals New Competition For Some Of The Costliest Drugs

A look inside the factory in Kundl, Austria, where Sandoz, a unit of Novartis, makes biosimilar drugs. Novartis hide caption

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Novartis

Shots - Health News

FDA Decision Signals New Competition For Some Of The Costliest Drugs

WHYY

Drugs made from proteins or antibodies are difficult for rival manufacturers to copy. The Food and Drug Administration just approved a copycat drug for cancer patients that shows it can be done.

FDA Decision Signals New Competition For Some Of The Costliest Drugs

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