Research indicates that weight loss can enhance testosterone levels because excess body fat contains the enzyme aromatase, which converts testosterone into estrogen. "While it is well-known that weight loss from lifestyle changes or bariatric surgery increases testosterone levels, the impact that anti-obesity medications may also have on these levels has not been widely studied," says Shellsea Portillo Canales, MD, an endocrinology fellow at SSM Health St. Louis University Hospital in Missouri.
CVS says the decision to cover Wegovy and exclude Zepbound is 'forcing the drug manufacturers to compete with one another' and will encourage both Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk to lower prices for their products in the U.S.
The U.S. Supreme Court has declined to review an appeals court ruling that struck down key parts of an Oklahoma law regulating the retail networks created by pharmacy benefit managers, a victory for the controversial middlemen in the pharmaceutical supply chain that may create uncertainty across the country. The law, which was enacted in 2019, was designed to ensure that pharmacy benefit managers maintain access to a large number of pharmacies and do not steer patients to favored outlets, among other things. The move came amid increased concern that opaque business practices were raising prescription drug costs for consumers and health plans, often by squeezing independently owned pharmacies.
Louisiana filed several lawsuits accusing pharmaceutical giant CVS of abusing customer information and using its dominant market position to drive up drug costs and unfairly undermine independent pharmacies, the state's attorney general says. Attorney General Liz Murrill began investigating CVS after the company sent out mass text messages to thousands of residents on June 11 to lobby against legislation that took aim at its business structure. The texts warned that medication costs could go up and all CVS pharmacies in the state would close.
Novo Nordisk is pulling the plug on its partnership with Hims & Hers Health over claims that the telehealth company sold fake versions of the pharmaceutical firm's weight-loss drug, Wegovy. The Danish drugmaker said Monday that Wegovy will no longer be available on Hims & Hers and that it is ending the collaboration because the San Francisco-based online health company sold 'illegitimate, knockoff versions of Wegovy that put patient safety at risk.'
A drug with the potential to drastically curb the HIV epidemic just cleared its first regulatory hurdle. On Wednesday, the Food and Drug Administration approved lenacapavir for the prevention of HIV. Clinical trial data from last year suggest just two injections a year provide near-complete protection against an HIV infection.