Know What's Happening in Healthcare
Know What's Happening in Healthcare
FDA approves first CIRM‑funded gene‑editing therapy for rare immune disorder
The FDA has granted approval to KRESLADI, a gene‑editing therapy from Rocket Pharmaceuticals that treats severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency‑I in children without a matching bone‑marrow donor. It is the first product directly funded by California’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), highlighting the agency’s impact on translational research.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Syneron Bio raises $150M Series B
Syantra, a Calgary‑based biotech, is preparing to launch Onco‑ID, a breast‑cancer blood test that detects the body’s immune response rather than circulating tumor DNA. Using machine‑learning analysis of gene‑expression biomarkers, the test aims to identify cancer earlier than mammography and at a cost comparable to existing stool‑based screenings ($350‑$500). The company has secured a $2.4 million U.S. Department of Defense grant and plans a summer 2024 early‑access rollout in Canada, the United States and Europe. Clinical trial data are slated for release in May, positioning Onco‑ID for reimbursement discussions with insurers.
This is probably just the surface and it goes much deeper. The official journal of the Canadian Paediatric Society has just acknowledged that more than 100 of its case reports are fabricated. Incredible reporting from @RetractionWatch: https://retractionwatch.com/2026/03/03/canadian-pediatric-society-journal-correction-case-reports-fictional-paediatrics-child-health/
Genelux Corporation’s President and CEO Thomas Zindrick discussed the company’s oncolytic virotherapy programs targeting ovarian cancer and non‑small cell lung cancer on the Xtalks Life Science Podcast. The interview highlighted the therapeutic potential of engineered viruses to stimulate anti‑tumor immunity...
The United States is confronting a health‑care affordability crisis, with one‑third of citizens postponing care and 41 percent burdened by medical debt. Federal spending reached $5.3 trillion in 2024—about 18 % of GDP—and is projected to climb to $8.6 trillion by 2033. Public polls...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration granted Bayer 510(k) clearance for its MEDRAD MRXperion injector, extending the device’s approved magnetic field compatibility to include 7‑Tesla MRI scanners. The clearance also adds Imaging Scanner Interface 2 (ISI2), enabling direct communication between...
The FDA is reportedly reconsidering its stance on peptide compounds, a shift potentially driven by officials linked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., which could broaden research and bio‑hacking applications. Meanwhile, ivermectin has re‑entered public discourse after high‑profile media mentions, prompting...
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has opened a competitive window for an eight‑year contract to deliver a unified, commercial‑off‑the‑shelf software platform called ClaimsCore. The system must consolidate four legacy claim‑processing applications, support over 2 million active users and...
The FDA’s Over‑The‑Counter Monograph Drug User Fee Program (OMUFA) will assess an annual facility fee of $36.467 million for FY 2025, payable by June 2, 2025. All owners of OTC monograph drug facilities, including contract manufacturing organizations (CMOs), are subject to the fee, with...
Board‑certified emergency physician Vikas Patel proposes the evolutionary mismatch framework to rebuild patient trust. He argues that modern chronic diseases stem from a gap between ancient human biology and today’s lifestyle, not from a broken body. By reframing illness as...
The rapid rise of generative AI is outpacing medical education in Canada, leaving most students without formal AI training. A 2022 survey found 85% of Canadian medical students reported no AI curriculum, while recent initiatives at schools such as U...
A randomized trial of the Support, Educate, Empower (SEE) glaucoma coaching program showed a significant rise in medication adherence and a reduction in glaucoma‑related distress compared with mailed education. Six‑month electronic adherence averaged 77.6% in the coached group versus 58.0%...
UnityAI announced an $8.5 million Series A round led by Third Prime, bringing its total capital to $15 million. The startup deploys an agentic AI workforce that autonomously manages patient scheduling, referrals, and staff shift coordination across hundreds of care sites. It already...
Leading autism researchers and advocates have launched the Independent Autism Coordinating Committee (I‑ACC) to provide a science‑centered counterweight to the federal Interagency Autism Coordinating Committee (IACC) reshaped by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. The federal IACC guides roughly $2 billion in annual autism...
Magentus announced the creation of a UK Advisory Board composed of senior NHS figures such as Dame Barbara Hakin and Professors Ian Abbs and Erika Denton. The board will provide independent insight to shape product direction, align with NHS priorities...
The article argues that professional environments mistakenly equate contribution, credentials, and service with safety, exposing a systemic failure that spans health care, academia, law enforcement and corporate sectors. It uses the tragic case of Alex Pretti to illustrate how conditional...
WCRI’s preliminary study links the 2023 Medicaid work‑requirement policy to a 2‑3% rise in medical payments per workers‑comp claim, especially for lower‑wage, male employees in construction, manufacturing and leisure. About 12% of the labor force lost Medicaid coverage, prompting higher...
OneDose has launched eMACC, an electronic Medication Administration Cross‑Check app tailored for EMS clinicians, in partnership with University Hospitals’ EMS Institute. The tool digitizes cross‑checks, pushes protocol updates instantly, and aims to cut medication errors by more than 40 %. Early...
The FDA’s Oncologic Drugs Advisory Committee will meet virtually on October 5, 2023 to evaluate Amgen’s supplemental NDA for LUMAKRAS (sotorasib) in KRAS G12C‑mutated non‑small cell lung cancer. The committee will review data from the confirmatory CodeBreaK 200 trial, which could convert the existing...
The Office of the National Coordinator (ONC) announced that interoperability will be its top priority in 2026, with a series of final rules aimed at strengthening health information exchange. Dr. Thomas Keane, HHS’s assistant secretary for technology policy, detailed the...
Stryker unveiled its handheld surgical robot, Mako RPS, at the AAOS meeting, following FDA clearance and its first cases in January. The device is in a limited market release that will run through the first half of the year, with broader...
The FDA has posted a public list of disease areas where external organizations have submitted letters of intent for future Externally‑Led Patient‑Focused Drug Development (EL‑PFDD) meetings. Ten topics ranging from infertility to rare neurological disorders are scheduled between March and...
LeAnne Kennedy highlights a new Oncology Pharmacist Advocacy Toolkit that equips pharmacists with practical scripts, elevator pitches, and virtual Hill Day strategies to influence policy and patient care. She stresses the need for clear communication of the oncology pharmacist role...
Artificial intelligence and virtual reality are poised to transform healthcare education, yet adoption rates remain sluggish. The article argues that the primary barrier is workforce readiness, especially among nurse educators who control training decisions. Without intentional change management, leadership support,...
The 2026 Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections (CROI) highlighted major HIV research breakthroughs while underscoring persistent funding shortfalls. Experts praised advances in antiretroviral therapy, emerging adjunct treatments, and global advocacy, yet warned that reduced U.S. support could limit access...
Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., alongside CMS chief Mehmet Oz, unveiled the “Action for Progress” initiative, framing the U.S. addiction crisis as a "spiritual malaise" that requires faith‑based treatment alongside medical care. The plan dovetails with...
Scientists at Scripps Research have engineered a native‑like, stabilized version of the hepatitis C virus E1E2 glycoprotein complex and displayed it on self‑assembling protein nanoparticles (SApNPs). The nanoparticle vaccine candidate elicited strong, virus‑specific antibody responses in animal models. This breakthrough overcomes...
The APEX Live panel outlined five practical strategies for long‑term care (LTC) pharmacies to improve resident outcomes. Structured medication regimen reviews (MRR/MMR) should trigger repeatable recommendation workflows that address high‑risk drugs, functional status, and preventive gaps. Safer therapeutic defaults—beta‑3 agonists...
Anita Zaidi calls for urgent research to close the knowledge gap in women’s health, highlighting the deadly impact of pregnancy complications like pre‑eclampsia. More than 700 women and 6,500 newborns die daily from these conditions, with the highest toll in...
The CorCMR Trial, discussed by Colin Berry and C. Michael Gibson, investigates the utility of stress cardiac magnetic resonance (CMR) imaging for patients presenting with angina but no obstructive coronary artery disease (CAD). The study compares stress CMR‑derived perfusion data...
Five interdisciplinary teams will receive up to £20 million each from the UK‑US Cancer Grand Challenges, adding £100 million to the programme and raising total investment to £465 million since 2016. The five projects, spanning 34 institutions in nine countries, target unconventional angles...
Able Innovations has installed its ALTA Platform robotic patient‑transfer system at Lahey Hospital & Medical Center, marking the first U.S. deployment of the technology. The system automates lateral moves between beds, imaging tables, stretchers and operating‑room tables, allowing a single...
A year after the Trump administration’s stop‑work orders halted U.S. development assistance, Kenya is feeling the loss of roughly $470 million per year that USAID had funneled into its economy, 80 % of it earmarked for health. The abrupt funding gap coincides...
A federal research team found that AI diagnostic tools are being applied to patients they were never designed for, often scoring cases before a doctor even enters the room. The study labeled the resulting errors as “catastrophic,” especially for patients...
The FDA issued a final rule establishing a uniform 12‑digit National Drug Code (NDC) format effective March 7, 2033, replacing the current 10‑digit variants. A seven‑year window (2026‑2033) gives manufacturers, distributors, pharmacies and payors time to upgrade systems and labeling, followed by...
I spent years teaching neurology residents that once cognitive decline begins, nothing can reverse it. A 20-year NIH trial just proved me wrong. The ACTIVE study — the largest cognitive training RCT ever conducted — found that just 10 hours of "speed...
When every state regulates consent differently, scale breaks. Mariann Yeager shares why model language and technical standards are critical for nationwide interoperability. 👇 https://t.co/Aa3zjJYTw4 @sequoiaproject #patientadvocates #HITSM https://t.co/I3cN0lmdLk
On November 20, 2020, Verb and Johnson & Johnson unveiled OTTAVA, a six‑armed robotic platform designed for minimally invasive procedures. The system combines advanced haptic feedback with AI‑driven motion planning to enhance surgeon precision. Early trials suggest OTTADA can reduce operative time...
after just one year in the position, FDA COO Butler will retire, and his deputy will take over in April - https://t.co/9qmmIiuWX2
Blackstone puts $400M into Teva, Sanofi gut disease drug https://t.co/CkxPaI6CPr @ByJonGardner $TEVA $SNY $MRK $RHHBY
The FDA issued a complete‑response letter to UniQure, requiring a randomized, double‑blind, sham‑surgery Phase 3 trial for its Huntington’s disease gene therapy, and similarly rejected REGENXBIO’s Hunter syndrome candidate over study design flaws. Regulatory experts warned that the agency’s decision‑making appears...
When your "normal" abdominal CT tells you about the 5-year future risks that can't be seen by radiologists, but can by AI (Merlin) https://t.co/DemC983uKz https://t.co/9jqZyVTD3p
$CTMX, +660% in 12 months, approaches its masked ADC catalyst. Via @ApexOnco -> https://t.co/oQI1iQiV4N ( $JANX -58% in the same timeframe)
The U.S. Department of Education has proposed reclassifying post‑baccalaureate nursing degrees as graduate degrees, slashing the borrowing cap for health‑care students from $200,000 to $100,000 and imposing a $20,500 annual aid limit. The rule also narrows the definition of "professional...
It got me at "across all domains of life" Predicting pathogenicity of non-coding regions, produces sequences at genome scale, and much more Evo 2, open-source, @Nature today @arcinstitute @pdhsu @BrianHie https://t.co/9CZWmPFhjd
Last year, UnitedHealth Group disclosed 3,100 subsidiaries. This year? Just 10. The health care giant is paring back transparency right as its executives say they are embracing it. https://t.co/Wp1TYSUKTa
CMR Surgical’s new CEO, Massimiliano Colella, halted the planned U.S. debut of the first‑generation Versius robot, opting to wait for the upgraded Versius Plus platform. The second‑generation system secured FDA clearance for gallbladder‑removal surgery and is slated for a soft launch later...
Batch effects once caused 162 patients to be misclassified. 28 of them received incorrect or unnecessary chemotherapy. The culprit? Contaminated RNA extraction that introduced technical artifacts into the data. https://t.co/WBBFKgvzVC
Healthcare AI ≠ just LLMs. CognomIQ unveils a semantic data operating system at ViVE 2026. One platform. End-to-end. From #ViVE2026 👇 https://t.co/HatKWPoOWo
In the debut episode of the Healthcare Uncovered Show, hosts Joe Rettino and veteran health‑policy insider Wendell Potter discuss the rapid rise of giant insurance conglomerates like UnitedHealth, CVS/Aetna, and Cigna, describing them as Wall Street‑driven "chameleons" that have taken...
Cancer blood tests for screening? Not the way they've been studied to date (age 50+) A new feature @Nature “I’m confident we’re going to see more accurate tests going forward. In high-risk groups, such as those with a genetic predisposition,...
