🎯Today's Healthcare Pulse
Updated 2h agoWhat's happening: FDA places Regeneron's anti‑activin A antibody garetosmab under priority review
The agency has granted priority review to Regeneron's garetosmab for the rare disease fibrodysplasia ossificans progressiva, with a decision expected by August. Phase 3 OPTIMA results showed a 94% reduction in new heterotopic ossification lesions at the lower dose and a 90% reduction at the higher dose, alongside a >99% drop in lesion volume.
Also developing:
- •Nanozyme‑aptamer colorimetric array achieves 100% accuracy in Staphylococcus aureus strain identification
- •UK firm Biocomposites ramps up production of Synicem bone cement to mitigate NHS supply shortage
- •Novartis to sell majority stake in its India generics business to a private‑equity‑led consortium for $159 million
By the numbers: Hims & Hers acquires Eucalyptus in $1.15B deal
News•Feb 13, 2026
SMART Toolkit Helps Map Healthcare Cyber Risk
Intermountain Health’s chief information security officer Erik Decker unveiled the SMART toolkit, a framework that maps an organization’s critical clinical and administrative functions to assess cyber‑risk exposure. The tool helps leaders identify which services must remain operational during a breach and prioritize protective measures accordingly. By visualizing dependencies, SMART enables scenario‑based continuity planning that aligns IT safeguards with patient‑care priorities. The rollout is part of a broader HIMSS26 preview aimed at standardizing cyber‑resilience practices across health systems.
By MobiHealthNews (HIMSS Media)
News•Feb 13, 2026
The Medical Device Industry: The Real Effects of Tariffs
The medical device sector is grappling with a wave of new and proposed tariffs that have lifted costs for metals, electronics, and finished components throughout global supply chains. Manufacturers must decide whether to absorb these higher expenses, pass them to...
By Medical Economics
News•Feb 13, 2026
Aveanna CEO: Hospice Multiples Still Too High
Aveanna Healthcare Holdings CEO Jeff Shaner warned that hospice acquisition multiples remain excessively high, often exceeding 10x and sometimes reaching 15x‑17x. The company, which is evaluating growth options, says it will not pursue hospice deals unless valuations fall into the...
By Hospice News
News•Feb 13, 2026
Immunic's Private Placement; Vertex's Cystic Fibrosis Data in Young Kids
Immunic announced an oversubscribed private placement raising up to $400 million to fund its shift toward a commercial‑stage biotech. The capital injection will support late‑stage development programs and accelerate the search for a new chief executive officer. Meanwhile, Vertex Pharmaceuticals disclosed...
By Endpoints News
News•Feb 13, 2026
Drugs
The FDA’s consumer‑updates page aggregates more than 60 articles that explain how the agency regulates prescription and over‑the‑counter drugs and communicates risks and benefits to the public. Topics range from hormone‑replacement therapy and antibiotic stewardship to product recalls, safe disposal,...
By FDA – U.S. Food & Drug Administration (RSS Feeds)
News•Feb 13, 2026
Simplified Psoriasis Severity Measure Shows Strong Correlation With PASI
A new psoriasis severity tool, G2‑PASE, combines Physician Global Assessment and body surface area with a nonlinear weighting to approximate the Psoriasis Area and Severity Index. In a Canadian registry of 1,803 patients, it demonstrated a Pearson correlation of 0.83...
By AJMC (The American Journal of Managed Care)
Blog•Feb 13, 2026
The CMS ACCESS Model Update and Payment Rates
The episode breaks down CMS’s new ACCESS Model, which replaces fee‑for‑service chronic care payments with a per‑beneficiary Outcome‑Aligned Payment (OAP) that is partly withheld until specific clinical and patient‑reported outcomes are met. It explains the four clinical tracks—early and advanced...
By Health Tech Happy Hour
News•Feb 13, 2026
Extensively Drug-Resistant Salmonella Outbreak Linked to Moringa Powder Capsules
The CDC announced a multistate outbreak of extensively drug‑resistant Salmonella linked to Rosabella brand moringa powder capsules, with seven confirmed illnesses across seven states and three hospitalizations. The strain’s resistance means standard antibiotics may be ineffective, requiring alternative treatments. Listeners...
By CDC Newsroom – Press Materials
News•Feb 13, 2026
The One Thing Physicians Can Do to Reduce Disparities in Virtual Care
Virtual care has shifted from a convenience to a core delivery model, prompting physicians to rethink how they build trust through a screen. Small adjustments in communication style, workflow, and technology can deepen patient connections and mitigate the risk of...
By Medical Economics
News•Feb 13, 2026
AI Can’t Improve Healthcare if Clinicians and Staff Aren’t Trained to Use, Orchestrate It
Healthcare systems are rapidly deploying AI for diagnosis, documentation, scheduling and patient communication, but many clinicians and support staff lack the training to use these tools effectively. The article argues that one‑time, checkbox‑style training creates risks such as automation bias...
By MedCity News
Podcast•Feb 13, 2026•32 min
Women in Science, Robotics, Automation, SLAS, and Lilly Updates
The episode opens with a celebration of Women in Science Day, highlighting the historic origin of the term “scientist” and the push for greater female leadership in biotech. Medra CEO Michelle Lee discusses how the company is merging robotics with...
By Touching Base (GEN Podcasts)
Social•Feb 13, 2026
CMPS Leads Psychedelic Push; HELP Gains Momentum
$CMPS first-in-line for potential psychedelic approval for Treatment Resistant Depression (TRD) . Likely war between "Old School FDA" and MAHA movement. Will be exciting to see the outcome. $HELP with strong data for Major Depressive Disorder (MDD) and Breakthrough Therapy Designation. New...
By BowTiedBiotech
Social•Feb 13, 2026
AAP Leads Fight to Reverse RFK Jr.'s Vaccine Policies
The American Academy of Pediatrics has become a leader in the effort to reverse RFK Jr.'s vaccine policies. The success — or failure — of the group's approach will have consequences for kids' health nationwide. Inside the AAP's plan for the MAHA...
By Daniel Payne
News•Feb 13, 2026
Ovid Takes Another Big Swing in Neuroscience Under a New CEO
Ovid Therapeutics, under new CEO Meg Alexander, is re‑orienting its neuroscience pipeline toward first‑in‑class KCC2 modulators while advancing a drug‑resistant epilepsy candidate toward Phase 2. The company’s earlier flagship, soticlestat, failed in Phase 3, eliminating $600 million in potential milestones, prompting a strategic...
By PharmaVoice
News•Feb 13, 2026
All Eyes on Vertex’s Kidney Franchise, as Painkiller Journavx Tops Half a Million Scripts
Vertex Pharmaceuticals reported that its late‑stage RAINIER trial of povetacicept in IgA nephropathy is proceeding without safety concerns, with primary data expected in the first half of 2026. The company is leveraging a priority‑review voucher for the upcoming FDA filing...
By BioSpace
News•Feb 13, 2026
Startup Organotics Fast Tracks Personalized Brain Drug Trials
Organotics, a new biotech startup, is leveraging patient‑derived brain organoids to accelerate early‑stage testing of neuropsychiatric drugs. By reprogramming a patient’s blood or skin cells into induced pluripotent stem cells, the company creates vascularized, multi‑region mini‑brains that reflect individual genetics....
By Forbes – Healthcare
News•Feb 13, 2026
India’s Computer Vision Health Startup Krigat Wins Supernova AI MEA in Cairo
India‑based health‑AI startup Krigat captured the Supernova AI MEA Champion title in Cairo, outpacing 74 finalists from over 30 countries. The win includes a $10,000 equity‑free cash prize and heightened visibility at the AI Everything MEA summit. Krigat’s platform leverages...
By Indian Express AI
Blog•Feb 13, 2026
From Williams-Sonoma to Medicine: What Retail Taught Me About Difficult Patients
Jason Wilt, an emergency and sports‑medicine physician, recounts his stint at Williams‑Sonoma and how the harsh retail environment taught him to handle difficult patients. He draws parallels between customer aggression and patient hostility, noting that many patients’ frustration stems from...
By KevinMD
News•Feb 13, 2026
Paul Hudson Couldn’t Quite Get Sanofi over the Hump; PROTAC Developer Arvinas Appoints CEO
Paul Hudson has struggled to revitalize Sanofi’s R&D engine despite a series of high‑profile acquisitions since becoming CEO in 2019. The French group’s pipeline has underperformed, and recent buyouts have failed to deliver the expected boost in innovative drug candidates....
By Endpoints News
Blog•Feb 13, 2026
OpenClaw in the Clinic: A Business Plan for HIPAA-Compliant Deployment of Agentic AI at Scale in Payer and Provider Organizations
The episode dissects OpenClaw, an open‑source, agentic AI platform that can autonomously interact with files, commands, and dozens of applications, and evaluates its viability for payer and provider health organizations. It explains why the default, unsecured version violates HIPAA, outlines...
By Thoughts on Healthcare Markets & Tech
News•Feb 13, 2026
Montreal AI Company Secai Raises $6.2M to Automate the Front Desk and the Exam Room
Montreal‑based Secai announced a $6.2 million Series A round to scale its dual AI platform—Voxira, an autonomous voice receptionist, and NoteGen, a real‑time clinical documentation tool. The solutions automate patient intake and EMR entry, directly tackling staffing shortages and physician burnout. Secai...
By HIT Consultant
News•Feb 13, 2026
PTC Pulls File for Duchenne Therapy on FDA Feedback
PTC Therapeutics has withdrawn its FDA filing for Translarna (ataluren) as a treatment for nonsense‑mutation Duchenne muscular dystrophy after the agency indicated the data would not meet the threshold for substantial evidence of effectiveness. The decision ends a decade‑long effort...
By pharmaphorum
News•Feb 13, 2026
Medicare Part B Lab Spending Hits $8.4 Billion as Genetic Testing Captures 43% of Dollars
Medicare Part B lab spending reached $8.4 billion in 2024, up 5 % year‑over‑year. Genetic tests, though only 5 % of test volume, accounted for 43 % of the dollar value, driving a $3.6 billion surge. Utilization of molecular diagnostics jumped 160 % since 2018, while routine...
By Dark Daily
News•Feb 13, 2026
Novo Nordisk Sues Hims & Hers; TrumpRx Is Here; Physicians Are Not ‘Providers,’ Says ACP – Morning Medical Update Weekly...
Novo Nordisk has filed a patent lawsuit against telehealth firm Hims & Hers, alleging illegal compounding of semaglutide after the FDA declared the drug no longer in shortage. The case targets the surge in compounded Wegovy and Ozempic that emerged...
By Medical Economics
News•Feb 13, 2026
Health Care Heartaches: Your Winning Health Policy Valentines
KFF Health News published a Valentine‑themed roundup of reader‑submitted poems and cartoons that lampoon current health‑policy woes. Submissions spotlight upcoding scandals, soaring insurance premiums, the rise of AI‑driven telehealth, and gaps in menopause expertise. The piece blends humor with genuine...
By KFF Health News (formerly Kaiser Health News)
News•Feb 13, 2026
Clinics Sour on CMS After Agency Scraps 10-Year Primary Care Program Only Months In
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services abruptly terminated the Making Care Primary initiative, a ten‑year federal program designed to bolster primary care in rural areas, after just one year of operation. The model had enrolled roughly 700 practices across...
By KFF Health News (formerly Kaiser Health News)
News•Feb 13, 2026
Philips Unveils New InkSpace Snuggle Coil for Paediatric Imaging
Philips has launched the InkSpace Imaging Snuggle, a flexible paediatric body array coil for its 3.0 T MRI platforms. The blanket‑like, lightweight design wraps around children, aiming to reduce anxiety and improve comfort. Its high‑density array delivers sharp, high‑resolution images, cutting...
By Hospital Management
News•Feb 13, 2026
Lyell Doses First Patient in Phase III Trial for LBCL
Lyell Immunopharma has administered the first dose of its investigational CAR‑T therapy, ronde‑cel (LYL314), in the Phase III PiNACLE‑H2H trial for relapsed or refractory large B‑cell lymphoma. The head‑to‑head study randomizes roughly 400 patients to receive either ronde‑cel at 100 × 10⁶ cells...
By Hospital Management
News•Feb 13, 2026
Nurses in England and Wales to Get 3.3% Pay Rise
The UK government announced a 3.3% pay rise for roughly 1.5 million NHS nurses, midwives and allied health staff in England and Wales, effective 2026‑27. The increase outpaces the Office for Budget Responsibility's 2.2% inflation forecast but falls short of the...
By Personnel Today
News•Feb 13, 2026
AMPLY Discovery Receives Investment From Keeps Biomed
AMPLY Discovery, a Belfast‑based AI drug discovery company, secured a strategic investment from Keeps Biomed, the biotech arm of South Korea’s Keeps Biopharma. Although the deal size was not disclosed, the capital will accelerate AMPLY’s oncology research, expand its drug...
By FinSMEs
News•Feb 13, 2026
Using AI to Crack Undruggable Drug Targets
ProPhet, an Israeli AI‑driven startup founded in late 2024, leverages a novel machine‑learning platform that projects proteins and small molecules into a common interaction space. This approach allows the company to screen billions of compounds against targets previously deemed undruggable,...
By Labiotech.eu
Blog•Feb 13, 2026
The FDA: Promoting Quack Nostrums Based on “Incredible Stories” While Rejecting Vaccines Despite Successful RCTs
The U.S. FDA declined to review Moderna's mRNA influenza vaccine, even though two phase‑3 trials involving 43,800 participants demonstrated a 27% efficacy advantage over the standard Fluarix vaccine and a 49% reduction in hospitalizations. FDA officials cited the comparator arm...
By Science-Based Medicine
News•Feb 13, 2026
HealthMark Group Acquires Cloud Imaging Provider Purview to Expand Clinical Data Exchange
HealthMark Group announced the acquisition of Purview, an Annapolis‑based cloud medical imaging platform, to strengthen its clinical information exchange portfolio. The deal targets the persistent reliance on physical discs for radiology image sharing, which still accounts for roughly two‑thirds of...
By HIT Consultant
News•Feb 13, 2026
Novocure Wins FDA Approval to Treat Pancreatic Cancer with Electric Fields
Novocure received FDA clearance for its Optune Pax tumor‑treating‑field device in locally advanced pancreatic cancer, marking the company’s first indication beyond brain tumors. The pivotal trial of 571 patients showed a statistically significant two‑month overall‑survival gain (16.2 vs 14.2 months) when the device was...
By MedTech Dive
News•Feb 13, 2026
Should Healthcare Organizations Transition to Biometric Security?
Biometric authentication is now mainstream in U.S. healthcare, with roughly 78% of organizations deploying fingerprint or facial‑recognition systems. The technology promises stronger identity assurance, faster workflow access, and reduced patient misidentification, directly addressing HIPAA compliance and safety concerns. However, high...
By HIT Consultant
News•Feb 13, 2026
How Data Integrity Enhances Healthcare Payer Efficiency and Member Trust
Healthcare payers are increasingly judged on billing accuracy and financial predictability, making data integrity a strategic priority. Clean, verified data enables faster eligibility checks, claim approvals, and reduces manual interventions, directly improving operational efficiency. By minimizing billing errors, payers lower...
By HIT Consultant
News•Feb 13, 2026
Medicomp Launches AI Validation Tools to Stop Clinical Hallucinations
Medicomp Systems unveiled a Model Context Protocol (MCP) that links generative AI models to its 45‑year clinical knowledge graph, filtering hallucinations before data enters electronic health records. The suite enables safe AI APIs for diagnostic prompting, chart summarization, quality‑measure evaluation,...
By HIT Consultant
Blog•Feb 13, 2026
Organoids and Artificial Intelligence 🫐
The episode explores the rapid convergence of organoid technology and artificial intelligence, highlighting how AI-driven image analysis, multidimensional data integration, and high‑throughput screening are transforming organoid research. It introduces the emerging field of Organoid Intelligence, where brain organoids act as...
By Metaphysical Cells
News•Feb 13, 2026
Achieving Independence: Navigating the Landscape of Advanced Mobility and Recovery Support
Specialized mobility restoration providers are increasingly judged on multidisciplinary expertise, advanced prosthetic technology, and measurable outcomes. The article outlines key components such as individualized assessments, integrated rehab services, and continuous patient education that signal high‑quality care. It also highlights the...
By HIT Consultant
News•Feb 13, 2026
The Million-Dollar Cool-Down: Why 'Thermal Drift' Is the Silent Killer of Hospital Revenue
Insights from Mark Molinaro, founder and CEO of SkySpigot
By HCB News (dotmed) – Healthcare Business News
News•Feb 13, 2026
Philips Adds Flexible Pediatric MR Coil to 3T Portfolio
Snuggle body array coil from InkSpace Imaging was recently FDA cleared
By HCB News (dotmed) – Healthcare Business News
News•Feb 13, 2026
USF and Tampa General Expand Partnership with GE HealthCare to Advance Surgical Training
The University of South Florida installs Allia Moveo image-guided therapy system
By HCB News (dotmed) – Healthcare Business News
News•Feb 13, 2026
British Airways Cabin Crew Rushed To Hospital After Consuming Cannabis-Laced Gummies From Passenger
British Airways cabin crew members were hospitalized after unknowingly consuming cannabis‑infused gummies presented by a passenger following a London‑Los Angeles flight. The edibles contained a high 300 mg dose of THC, causing panic, disorientation and intense anxiety before the crew recovered...
By Live and Let’s Fly
News•Feb 13, 2026
Enhabit, Encompass Health Collect $43.1M From VitalCaring Case
Encompass Health and its spin‑off Enhabit have secured a $43.1 million award in attorneys’ fees and mitigation damages from VitalCaring. A Delaware federal judge ordered that 43% of VitalCaring’s future profits and any exit proceeds be placed in trust and split...
By Home Health Care News
News•Feb 13, 2026
Antigen Orientation Boosts HPV Cancer SNA Vaccine, Slows Tumors in Models
Northwestern researchers engineered a spherical nucleic acid (SNA) vaccine in which the HPV16 E7 peptide is displayed at the nanoparticle surface via its N‑terminus. This N‑terminal orientation (N‑HSNA) generated up to eight‑fold higher interferon‑γ secretion and 2.5‑fold greater cytotoxicity than...
By GEN (Genetic Engineering & Biotechnology News)
News•Feb 13, 2026
Vaccine Play Iliad Draws Nine-Digit B Round; Denmark’s Gubra Launches Venture Creation Unit
Iliad Biotechnologies announced a $115 million Series B round, the largest venture deal of the week, led by RA Capital Management. New investors Janus Henderson and BNP Paribas Asset Management Alts also participated. The funding will accelerate Iliad’s intranasal vaccine program targeting pertussis...
By BioCentury
News•Feb 13, 2026
“Costco of Healthcare” Makes Hong Kong Debut with Trust at Its Core
Chinese‑founded Distinct Healthcare debuted on Hong Kong’s main board, branding itself as the “Costco of healthcare.” The company posted a compound annual growth rate above 30% from 2022‑2024, driven by a trust‑centric, referral‑only model that keeps marketing spend near 1%...
By KrASIA