Replies to post #231126 on Biotech Values

[biocqr]

What needs to be done to get testing ramped?

some answers...

Why America is still failing on coronavirus testing

https://www.vox.com/2020/4/10/21214218/trump-coronavirus-testing-social-distancing

“All of the talking points about how we have made massive progress has let everybody say that okay, this problem has been solved,” Ashish Jha, the faculty director of the Harvard Global Health Institute, told me. “But it hasn’t.”

While many of the initial problems with testing were linked to strict criteria around who could get a test, the problems today are predominantly about supplies. Complaints vary, but labs say they don’t have enough swabs, test kits, reagents, personal protective equipment (PPE), staff, or machines to run the specific tests required.

“Any one link in the chain of supply, any restriction in the chain of supply, can suddenly create a bottleneck,” Louise Serio, a spokesperson for the American Clinical Laboratory Association (ACLA), which represents the private labs, told me. “No labs have, really, the predictable, consistent access to all the supplies we need, from reagents to test kits to PPE.”

Labs face a couple of major problems in fixing these issues. First, private and public health insurers tend to have fairly low reimbursement rates for Covid-19 tests — they aren’t willing to pay labs very much for testing — which makes it more difficult to recoup the investment required to scale up.

Second, labs have lost the bulk of their revenue flow as fewer elective tests come in, while they’ve had to pick up more costs with an influx of uncompensated Covid-19 tests. So as labs are being asked to do more, they have less money to do it.

Policymakers could step in and address some of these shortfalls. The ACLA called for stimulus funds and better reimbursements for labs — though not exactly a surprising proposal from a trade association for private labs, it’s an idea with which outside experts agreed. Jha backed more federal oversight and coordination to fix the various chokepoints, making sure labs, cities, and states are getting the funds and supplies they need to run tests.

So why aren't stimulus funds, subsidies and better reimbursement being done? This is another failure of leadership by this administration. WHAT ARE WE WAITING FOR???

[jbog]

Has the Fed gov't offered incentives to increase domestic manufacturing to compensate for higher mfg costs

There's an enormous effort to move things back home right now. Enormous. No the only thing the Manufacturers are seeking is rapid FDA clearance.

Pfizer's betting the farm that if they have an xxx approved process in Ireland for example, can we create the exact same configuration stateside and run with it or get immediate approval. Chances are the Sloth in the room (fda) would move at their normal pace which means 3 -5 years.