For NASA, a cancer space odyssey

Presented by Novavax: Delivered daily by 10 a.m., Pulse examines the latest news in health care politics and policy.

Jan 08, 2024 View in browser   By Ben Leonard and Chelsea Cirruzzo Presented by Novavax With Alice Miranda Ollstein and Carmen Paun  Driving The Day NASA Administrator Bill Nelson says we're on the cusp of major new developments in cancer treatment. | Win McNamee/Getty Images CANCER TREK — NASA astronauts aboard the International Space Station are using microgravity, or weightlessness, to unlock cancer’s secrets. It’s part of President Joe Biden’s cancer moonshot — a plan to cut the cancer death rate in half over 25 years, a goal that would be easier to hit with the rapid development of new drugs. Why a space lab? POLITICO’s Erin Schumaker explains why scientists are enthused about cancer research in space: They’re using the atmosphere on board where cells age faster in the absence of gravity to conduct experiments that could speed treatment development. “We're right on the cusp of some major new developments,” NASA Administrator and former Senator Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) told Erin. “They've got a full-time laboratory with all of the instruments and dedicated crew time.” Even so: Supporters, including NASA, must convince a cost-conscious Congress to back research by funding public-private partnerships and to help a transition to commercial space stations. NASA plans to retire the aging space station in 2030 and rely on the private sector to provide facilities for research beyond Earth. Congress has to decide what to do about NASA’s budget by Feb. 2, when the current spending bill expires. Biden proposed ramping up opportunities for public-private collaboration aboard the space station in his fiscal 2024 budget, but both the Republican-controlled House and Democratic-controlled Senate want to cut NASA funding. Why it matters: Today's space station researchers include the biotech startup MicroQuin and Bristol Myers Squibb, as well as Merck, whose cancer immunotherapy drug Keytruda has emerged as a blueprint of where space-based cancer research is heading. Merck’s work on the space station suggests the potential to revolutionize the experience of getting a Keytruda treatment. Instead of being attached to an IV in the hospital, a patient could get a shot in a doctor’s office. "That just blows your mind," Nelson said. WELCOME TO MONDAY PULSE. Working on getting health provisions on a spending bill? Reach us at bleonard@politico.com or ccirruzzo@politico.com. Follow along @_BenLeonard_ and @ChelseaCirruzzo. Listen to today’s Pulse Check podcast   A message from Novavax: Novavax is committed to helping ensure vaccine access. Novavax is working to make safe, effective vaccines available worldwide, including an authorized vaccine for COVID-19 that’s currently available in the U.S. You can help protect yourself, loved ones and colleagues by getting your COVID-19 vaccine. Because protecting one of us can help protect all of us.   In Congress Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (l) and House Speaker Mike Johnson negotiated a budget funding deal, which was announced Sunday afternoon. | Francis Chung/POLITICO PLENTY TO DO — Congress returns this week with a to-do list that includes avoiding a government shutdown and vying to add major health provisions to government funding measures. The Senate returns today, and the House comes back Tuesday. Lawmakers have until Jan. 19 to avert a partial government shutdown, which includes the FDA and the VA, and until Feb. 2 to grapple with the Labor-HHS package and the rest of the government. Congressional leaders said Sunday they have agreed to a topline spending deal that will amount to a less than 1 percent cut from current non-defense funding. House Speaker Mike Johnson predicted clashes over controversial policy riders like those related to abortion. The deal also includes $6.1 billion in cuts from what Johnson called "COVID-era slush funds." There’s also a push to get health transparency measures into the Jan. 19 package, though the Senate and House would have to agree. The House overwhelmingly passed legislation increasing reporting requirements for insurers, hospitals and pharmacy benefit managers last month. Telehealth advocates are also eyeing the package as a vehicle for one of their top priorities, and lawmakers are seeking to reauthorize the Support for Patients and Communities Reauthorization Act to deal with the opioid crisis. Several lawmakers are pushing to reauthorize PEPFAR — the United States’ global HIV/AIDS relief work — and the Pandemic and All-Hazards Preparedness Act after those lapsed in the fall. FAUCI IN THE HOT SEAT — Dr. Anthony Fauci will be on Capitol Hill today and Tuesday for a combined 14 hours of closed-door testimony before the House Select Committee on the Coronavirus Pandemic. Fauci, who stepped down late last year after decades as a top federal health official under several presidents, has also pledged to appear at a not-yet-scheduled hearing sometime this year. Fauci declined to comment ahead of his appearance. The committee’s GOP majority has had its sights on Fauci since before the committee first formed a year ago, and its Republican members have signaled that they want to grill him on a range of Covid-19 state and national policy decisions, many of which weren’t under his direct control. “Americans demand and deserve explanations for any pandemic-era failures,” committee Chair Brad Wenstrup (R-Ohio) said in a statement, adding that members have more than 200 pages of questions. The committee’s Democrats, meanwhile, cast the interview as “politically motivated” and a waste of time that could be better spent on “pursuing solutions that we all agree will advance our nation’s biosafety, biosecurity, and pandemic preparedness.” In a statement, committee ranking member Rep. Raul Ruiz (D-Calif.) accused the majority of “politicizing the greatest public health crisis of our time for their own partisan gain.” Key context: Republicans have accused Fauci and other senior health officials of working to cover up a lab-based origin of the coronavirus, a charge they’ve denied. Fauci’s previous appearances at congressional hearings have involved heated clashes with GOP lawmakers, and fireworks are expected again this week. On deck: The committee will interview former NIH Director Francis Collins on Friday. FIRST IN PULSE: SITE-NEUTRAL FIGHT ESCALATES — As government funding deadlines grow closer, the clash over so-called site-neutral payment provisions that could be attached to a spending package is intensifying. Such policies aim to pay the same for services, whether at hospital outpatient facilities or independent doctors’ offices. The House and Senate have signaled interest in them but have different approaches. The Coalition to Protect America’s Health Care, a hospital-tied group, is launching a seven-figure television and digital advertising bid to push back against such policies, saying they would hurt access to care. It comes after the group debuted a seven-figure ad buy last month. “If Washington politicians side with corporate insurers to cut hospital care, they would jeopardize patients’ access to crucial services that only hospitals provide,” the group said in a statement.   POLITICO AT CES® 2024: We are going ALL On at CES 2024 with a special edition of the POLITICO Digital Future Daily newsletter. The CES-focused newsletter will take you inside the most powerful tech event in the world, featuring revolutionary products that cut across verticals, and insights from industry leaders that are shaping the future of innovation. The newsletter runs from Jan. 9-12 and will focus on the public policy-related aspects of the gathering. Sign up today to receive exclusive coverage of the show.     HEALTH DATA PRIVACY AHA: TOSS HHS GUIDANCE — The American Hospital Association is pushing for a December 2022 HHS guidance to be thrown out, which the group said has forced its members to stop tracking visitors to their websites, POLITICO’s Ruth Reader reports. The hospitals’ case: AHA argued that the guidance has prevented hospitals from using technology that allows “healthcare providers’ public webpages [to be] more effective in sharing vital information with their communities.” The group argued in a federal district court filing Friday that the guidance is unlawful since the agency didn’t go through the traditional rulemaking process. View from HHS: The guidance aimed to give patients more control over their data by preventing the sharing of web tracking data with unapproved third parties. In a statement, HHS said it “supports the use of online tracking technology by health care providers, health plans, and other HIPAA-regulated entities when implemented in compliance with the HIPAA Rules.”   A message from Novavax:   Abortion SCOTUS TAKES ANOTHER ABORTION CASE — The Supreme Court has another opportunity to rule on abortion law, Alice reports. The justices will hear arguments later this year about whether the federal government can mandate that emergency room doctors at hospitals that get paid by Medicare must perform abortions when needed to stabilize a patient. The justices’ opinion could come just ahead of the pivotal 2024 election after the high court agreed to hear the arguments Friday. Friday’s order also permits Idaho to go forward with its ban on abortions, even in medical emergencies.   Tune in on Wednesday, Jan. 10, as POLITICO explores Taiwan's upcoming presidential election. Hear from our panel on the potential outcomes to the race and the profound implications for U.S.-China relations depending on who wins. REGISTER HERE.     ELECTION 2024 TRUMP’S OBAMACARE IRE — Former President Donald Trump isn’t letting go of his pushback against Obamacare. “If it weren’t for John McCain, we’d have something better than Obamacare,” Trump said Saturday in Iowa, ABC’s Ben Siegel reported. The late Arizona Republican senator’s 2017 thumbs-down ended Trump’s repeal efforts. He also threw a barb at McCain — a Vietnam veteran who wasn’t able to raise his arms above his head due to injuries sustained as a prisoner of war — saying McCain “couldn’t get his arm up that day.” Trump shook up the campaign in late November when he said he was “seriously looking at alternatives” to the Affordable Care Act. President Joe Biden’s reelection campaign quickly lit into Trump over his comments, saying Trump threatens Americans’ health care. WHAT WE'RE READING Joëlla W. Adams argues in STAT that diversion of buprenorphine, an opioid use disorder treatment, can reduce harm. KFF Health News reports on older adults feeling trapped in Medicare Advantage plans. Endpoints News reports on Alphabet’s AI startup signing deals with Eli Lilly and Novartis.   A message from Novavax: Novavax is a global leader in vaccine development and research. The company is working to make safe and effective vaccines available to help protect those who need them around the world. This includes an authorized vaccine for COVID-19 that’s currently available at major retail pharmacies across the U.S. Heading into the New Year, it is a critical time to learn about your vaccine options to safeguard your health against pressing diseases. You can help protect yourself, loved ones and colleagues by getting your COVID-19 vaccine. Because protecting one of us can help protect all of us. Learn more.     Follow us on Twitter Dan Goldberg @dancgoldberg Chelsea Cirruzzo @chelseacirruzzo Katherine Ellen Foley @katherineefoley Lauren Gardner @Gardner_LM Kelly Hooper @kelhoops Robert King @rking_19 Ben Leonard @_BenLeonard_ David Lim @davidalim Megan Messerly @meganmesserly Alice Miranda Ollstein @aliceollstein Carmen Paun @carmenpaun Daniel Payne @_daniel_payne Ruth Reader @RuthReader Erin Schumaker @erinlschumaker Megan R. Wilson @misswilson   Follow us

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