Up to 15 former Wallabies captains unite to raise questions about the leadership of the current administration, with some predicting new management within a fortnight.

As pools, gyms and sports facilities shut down to comply with physical-distancing rules, Olympic and Paralympic athletes are coming up with creative ways to ensure their training programs can continue.

Australia's four football codes make a big show of investing in their women's teams and competitions, but their commitment to the cause is under the spotlight amid the coronavirus pandemic, writes Amanda Shalala.

There might be no crowds at the start and finish lines, and drivers would get Zoom briefings, but Targa Australia says it hopes to still deliver its Far North Queensland tarmac rally in September if some restrictions are lifted.

The head of the Australian Olympic Committee says the Gold Coast has a key role to play in south-east Queensland's 2032 bid.

Rugby Australia is prepared to hold crisis talks with a group of disgruntled retired Wallabies captains, who have penned a letter to the governing body claiming the game has "lost its way", while demanding a change in leadership.

Raelene Castle's position as Rugby Australia chief executive is not under review in the wake of the no-confidence letter issued by a group of former Wallabies captains, but the governing body can't guarantee it won't hold discussions down the track.

Raelene Castle says "the sport is bigger than any one individual", resigning after the Rugby Australia board told her it wanted "clear air" without her as chief executive.

Despairing the lack of sport around the globe, Adelaide man Shane Robinson and his mates stumbled upon a Belarus football team, FK Slutsk. Little did they know that just weeks later they would be helping the struggling club to survive.

Rugby Australia chairman Paul McLean defends Raelene Castle's tenure as chief executive, as he calls out the bullying she received from "faceless people" during her time in the job.

The French Grand Prix cancelled its race scheduled for June 28 rather than postponing it, making July 5 the targeted start date at the Austrian GP in Spielberg.

St Kilda's new cult hero Caitlin Greiser is one of 11 first-time selections in the 2020 AFLW All-Australian team after topping the league's goal-kicking chart.

The experienced Test batsman is left without a Cricket Australia men's contract, while Tahlia McGrath is added to the women's list following a lengthy absence from the national team.

The New Zealand Warriors will take part in the NRL season, after receiving permission to travel to Australia.

The NRL has declared its intention to come back in four weeks, but the Government wants you to beat them onto the park, court, even bowling green.

The New Zealand Warriors, minus two players, touch down in Australia on a charter flight from Auckland to prepare for the resumption of the NRL season.

With many families getting priced out of junior football, one club in Perth is waiving fees, and it could signal a new direction for grassroots sport in Australia, writes Samantha Lewis.

Rugby's embattled governing body makes a key short-term appointment, as it continues to search for a full-time replacement for Raelene Castle, who stepped down as chief executive last month.

With the recent flurry of changes in Rugby Australia leadership, confusion increases for those involved with a game already in crisis as concerns continue that an expected loan won't be large enough to help.

‘Gamergate’ controversy shines spotlight on the ugliest part of gaming culture.

The highly distinctive and mostly endemic Australian land mammal fauna has suffered an extraordinary rate of extinction (>10% of the 273 endemic terrestrial species) over the last ∼200 y: in comparison, only one native land mammal from continental North America became extinct since European settlement. A further 21% of Australian...

By Suzan Onel and Vanessa Fulton On March 19, 2020, FDA issued a guidance document communicating its policy regarding postmarket adverse event reporting during a pandemic (“Guidance”).  The Guidance provides recommendations that affect adverse event reporting obligations for drugs, biologics, medical devices, combination products, and dietary supplements. To summarize, FDA states in the Guidance that

The post FDA Waives Certain Adverse Event Reporting Deadlines Across Product Industries During Pandemics appeared first on Kleinfeld Kaplan & Becker LLP.

Maurits Lugard, a partner, Josefine Sommer, a senior associate, and Anouchka Hoffman, an associate, at Sidley Austin, examines the consequences that come with the delay of the application of EU Medical Devices Regulation by one year.

Munich-based software start-up Climedo Health has published a whitepaper assessing the "Impact of Covid-19 on the medtech industry".

Get the inside information on what industry does and does NOT want from their academic counterparts: Join us June 16, 3-4 p.m. EDT for Insider’s Guide to Effective Partnering at BIO 2011, a FREE AUTM webinar to help you prepare for the BIO convention in Washington, DC, June 27-30.

BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics, a firm developing cellular therapies to tackle neurodegenerative diseases, has named industry Big Pharma veteran Dr David Setboun as its new Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer.

Dr Setboun has served for two decades at some of the biggest names in pharma. His most recent role was Vice President of Corporate Development, Strategy & Business at Life Biosciences, where he helped drive development of a range of vital commercial, operating and funding milestones.

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It’s a unique and troubling time. We are all of course concerned about the coronavirus and its disruption to our personal and professional lives.

I presume that life will return to normal later this year. But what happens then? Will there be long-term changes to how the drug channel operates? Will we see permanent changes in behavior, policy, and industry structure?

To answer these questions, I want to tap the collective insights of Drug Channels’ 30,000+ audience.


This survey should take 10 minutes or less. I will provide a full review of the results next week on Drug Channels. The survey will close on March 20.

You can respond anonymously. Any information you provide will be kept confidential. Per Drug Channels' long-standing policy, I never publish, release, or disclose any personal data without your permission.

Thanks in advance for sharing your insights.

Regards,
Adam

I hope you are staying healthy and are managing to navigate your work-at-home mandates.

Last week, I tapped the collective insights of the Drug Channels’ audience. Nearly 700 readers shared their perspectives and projections for how the coronavirus pandemic could ultimately affect behavior, policy, and industry structure. Thank you to everyone who took the time to respond.

I will share the results over three articles this week:

• Today, in Part 1, I will review the responses relating to patient behavior, pharmacies, and wholesalers. 
• In Part 2 (tomorrow), I’ll focus on expectations for pharmaceutical manufacturers and third-party payment. 
• In Part 3 (Thursday), I’ll examine how the coronavirus may affect the public perception of the industry’s participants.

P.S. A special shout out to the respondent who hoped that the coronavirus would not impact the quality of Drug Channels memes. Never fear, dear readers: Drug Channels will remain the internet’s top destination for pharmaceutical-related humor!
Read more »

Today’s post is the second in our three-part investigation of the ultimate impact of the coronavirus on the drug channel. Here is a link to the first part of our survey analysis: Coronavirus Industry Impact: Patients, Pharmacies, and Wholesalers (Part 1). That article includes details about the methodology and respondents.

Today, I review how people in the industry think coronavirus will affect:

• Federal drug pricing legislation

• FDA new drug approvals

• Public support for single-payer health insurance

• Third-party payment for prescription drugs

I also highlight survey respondents’ comments on whether the current situation will bring overseas pharmaceutical manufacturing back to the United States.

Tomorrow, I’ll examine survey responses that address how the coronavirus may affect the public’s perception of the industry’s participants. In the meantime, remember that every day is no pants day when you work from home.
Read more »

Today is the final installment of our three-part investigation into the coronavirus’ ultimate impact on the drug channel.

Below, I examine expectations about how the coronavirus will affect the public’s perception of various industry participants. We explore what our survey respondents said about:

• Pharmacies
• Pharmaceutical manufacturers
• Hospitals
• Wholesalers
• Pharmacy benefit managers and plan sponsors
• Insurance companies.

In these early stages of this crisis, my crystal ball is as cloudy as yours. Let’s hope that the country will stabilize within a few months. I may then rerun the survey to determine how (if at all) everyone’s perspective has changed.
Read more »

This May, join Dr. Adam J. Fein, CEO of Drug Channels Institute (DCI) and the author of Drug Channels, for two live video webinars:

• May 1: Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: Retail & Specialty Pharmacies (REPLAY) (12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. ET; $300 per site)

• May 8: Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: PBMs & Payers (REPLAY) (12:00 p.m. to 1:15 p.m. ET; $300 per site)

• Register for replays both events (May 1 and May 8) ($500 per site for both events)

Dr. Fein will help you navigate this challenging time in U.S. drug channels. These 75-minute live events will be broadcast via Zoom from the new Drug Channels Video studio. See details below.


You can sign up for either one of these crucial educational opportunities for only $300 per site per event. We are offering special pricing of $500 if you sign up for both events.

An unlimited number of people may watch at one location. However, we recognize that it may be difficult to gather your team in one location, so we are offering significant discounts for multiple viewing sites. Please contact Paula Fein (paula@drugchannelsinstitute.com) to get special pricing information for 5 or more locations. If you purchase access for multiple sites, we will contact you for the name and email address of a contact person at each location.

Read on for more information about the events.

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To help people affected by COVID-19 and the caregivers who are supporting them , DCI will donate 20% of all profits from these events to The Center for Disaster Philanthropy’s COVID-19 Response Fund. This charity has earned a 4-star Charity Navigator rating and is a trusted philanthropic partner of Google, Coca Cola, UPS, Verizon, and many other organizations. The fund supports preparedness, containment, response, and recovery activities for those affected by the coronavirus and for the responders.

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WHAT YOU WILL LEARN

We will help you and your team better understand key industry dynamics and how COVID-19 may alter the industry.

Dr. Fein will share DCI’s latest market data and trends from The 2020 Economic Report on U.S. Pharmacies and Pharmacy Benefit Managers.

Topics for Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: Retail & Specialty Pharmacies:

• The key trends for retail and specialty pharmacy markets
• The new normal for prescription demand
• How COVID-19 will change the U.S. payer mix
• Will the 340B program be disrupted?
• What’s next for specialty pharmacies
• The outlook for prescription profits
• The future for the drugstores’ front-end profits
• New opportunities for pharmacists as providers
• My reflections on life in a pandemic world and beyond

Topics for Industry Update and COVID-19 Impact: PBMs & Payers:

• The key trends for PBMs
• An update on the latest prescription data
• What the changing U.S. payer mix means for PBMs and insurers
• The outlook for benefit design
• PBMs' role in Managed Medicaid
• More on the 340B Drug Pricing Program
• Disruption to the buy-and-bill channel
• Promise and perils of vertical diversification
• Further reflections on life in a pandemic world

PLUS: Dr. Fein will take your questions during the event. CLICK HERE to submit questions to Dr. Fein in advance of the events.

IMPORTANT STUFF TO KNOW

• After you register, you will receive an email with the information you will need to access our live video webinar and add it to your calendar. We will also send you reminder emails one day and one hour before the event.

• Watch and listen via any device with a web browser (computer, iPad, iPhone/Android, etc.)

• We will use Zoom technology for this webinar. You will be able to watch the live video event with your browser or by downloading the Zoom client software/app.
  

• After each event, you’ll receive a downloadable PDF with the event slides.

• If your plans change and you can’t make it on May 1 or May 8, we will provide an opportunity to watch a replay of the live video events. Unfortunately, we are unable to offer refunds.

• Pembroke Consulting clients receive free access to the webinar. Contact Tamra Feldman (admin@drugchannels.net) for details. We will automatically refund payments from anyone at a Pembroke client who purchases access using their corporate email account.

The Association of Clinical Research Organizations (ACRO) highlights contributions to health and economy (Leeds, UK) – Facing unprecedented challenges associated with Brexit,...

Exclusive: St Vincent’s in Sydney is the only confirmed location so far, as NSW Health negotiates with US pharmaceutical giant Gilead

• Remdesivir: the antiviral drug is being touted as a possible coronavirus treatment – but will it work?
• Sign up for Guardian Australia’s daily coronavirus email
• Download the free Guardian app to get the most important news notifications

The US pharmaceutical company Gilead is finalising the location of five hospitals in Australia to receive the highly sought-after experimental coronavirus drug remdesivir.

The only confirmed location is St Vincent’s hospital in Sydney, a major tertiary hospital and the centre of many of the New South Wales outbreak areas. A NSW Health spokeswoman confirmed the health department “has been engaging with Gilead on gaining access to the drug for Covid-19 patients”.

Related: Remdesivir: the antiviral drug is being touted as a possible coronavirus treatment – but will it work?

Continue reading...

Scott Morrison, the Australian Prime Minister, has called for an investigation into the origins of the COVID-19 coronavirus, as Australia becomes one of China’s most vocal critics of its response to the pandemic.

India continues to be on the 'Priority Watch List' of the US Trade Representative (USTR) for lack of…

The Department announced today that it has filed a lawsuit on behalf of Kevin Stenger, an Indiana National Guard member, against Wagner Industrial Electric Inc. (Wagner), alleging violations of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA). USERRA was enacted in 1994 to protect service members from being disadvantaged in their civilian careers due to serving in the uniformed services.

A Middlesex, N.J., industrial pipes, valves and fittings supply company and its co-owner pleaded guilty today to participating in a fraud conspiracy at two U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA)-designated Superfund sites in New Jersey. The sites are Federal Creosote, located in Manville, N.J., and Diamond Alkali, located in Newark, N.J.

A former Nazi concentration camp guard who settled in Racine, Wis., after World War II and acquired U.S. citizenship, has been removed to Austria due to his participation in Nazi-sponsored acts of persecution during World War II. Josias Kumpf, 83, served as an armed SS Death’s Head guard at the Nazi-run Sachsenhausen Concentration Camp in Germany and at the Trawniki Labor Camp in Poland.

The Department has entered into a consent decree with Wagner Industrial Electric Inc. that, if approved by the court, will resolve the Department’s complaint the company failed to properly reemploy Indiana Army National Guard Reservist Kevin Stenger in violation of the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 (USERRA).

The former director of sales and marketing for Pacific Consolidated Industries LP (PCI) pleaded guilty today to charges related to the bribery of a U.K. Ministry of Defense (UK-MOD) official in order to obtain lucrative equipment contracts with the U.K. Royal Air Force, in violation of the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA).

The all-day workshops, which will begin in March 2010, will be held in Alabama, Colorado, Iowa, Washington, D.C. and Wisconsin.

Scott Anthony Walker, 36, of Australia, pleaded guilty in the Eastern District of Virginia to one count of conspiracy to solicit a kickback.

The United States filed two major Clean Air Act settlements to reduce air emissions from container glass and Portland cement plants throughout the country.

The goals of the workshops are to promote dialogue among interested parties and foster learning with respect to the appropriate legal and economic analyses of these issues, as well as to listen to and learn from parties with experience in the agriculture sector.

An immigration judge in Philadelphia has ordered the removal of Anton Geiser, a resident of Sharon, Pa., who served as an armed SS guard at three Nazi concentration camps in Germany during World War II.

“Secretary Vilasck and I are committed to improving our understanding of how particular agricultural markets function,” said Attorney General Holder.

The workshop explores the appropriate role for antitrust and regulatory enforcement in the dairy industry.