Industria

FDA commissioner decries drug industry oligopoly Dive Brief: In a speech earlier this week, FDA Commissioner Scott Gottlieb called out pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs), drug manufacturers, wholesalers and pharmacies to "stop the shell games" in the drug supply chain. He pointed out that despite the fact cheaper, generic drugs are more often prescribed and promoted to patients rather than the more expensive, branded drugs, "generic drugs make up only 26% of prescription drug costs. That’s real savings for patients and our healthcare system overall." The overall tone of the speech was one of concern, with Gottlieb highlighting the fact that when...

FBI chief asks tech industry to build crytpo-busting not-a-backdoor FBI director Christopher Wray has addressed a cyber-security conference and again called for technologists to innovate their way around strong cryptography. Wray spoke at the Boston College / FBI Boston Conference on Cyber Security on March 7. He told the audience the issue of crypto can be solved because the industry's created cloud platforms users can access from anywhere. No, really: the speech is here, and here's the relevant excerpt: "For one thing, many of us in this room use cloud-based services. You’re able to safely and securely access your e-mail,...

How To Disrupt An Industry: Lessons Learned From An Overlooked Market Over the last few years, there has been a growing trend in the U.S. financial technologies (or fintech) market as investment pours into such point-of-sale solutions as peer to peer, money transfer, Face ID, digital wallets and more. Companies like Paypal, Apple, Facebook, Intuit and beyond have all made recent announcements on apps and platforms that enable people to pay one another with ease. We're in an exciting time, as the fintech world is evolving on an almost constant basis with technology presenting traditional finance with new and exciting...

What’s Driving the Bipartisan Push to Deregulate the Financial Industry? Senate Republicans—joined by more than a dozen Senate Democrats—have passed a bill to loosen banking rules enacted after the financial collapse of 2008. From the NYT: “The Senate took a key step on Tuesday toward loosening rules imposed after the 2008 financial crisis as some Democrats joined with Republicans to vote to begin debate on legislation that would roll back restrictions on large parts of the banking industry. In a rare demonstration of bipartisanship, the Senate voted 67 to 32 to allow the bill to proceed, setting the stage for...

Australian melon industry to review packaging after listeria outbreak The Australian melon industry will review how it packs its fruit after a national listeria outbreak linked to rockmelon led to the death of two people in NSW.The New South Wales Riverina rockmelon grower linked to the contamination has ceased production and crisis talks were held between the Australian Melon Association and retailers across the country on Thursday. Following the meeting, growers currently supplying rockmelon were asked to supply evidence their fruit was uncontaminated, association industry development manager Dianne Fullelove said.“They [retailers] were very supportive of the industry,” Fullelove told the...