🎯Today's Healthcare Pulse
Updated 8m agoWhat's happening: FDA puts 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 data 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:
By the numbers: Hims & Hers acquires Eucalyptus in $1.15B deal
News•Feb 19, 2026
'Digital Blood Testing' Now at Hand
A collaborative team led by UNSW and Nutromics has demonstrated a wearable patch that continuously measures vancomycin levels using DNA‑based aptamer sensors. Published in Nature Biotechnology, the pilot trial showed the patch can track drug concentration in interstitial fluid, offering a less invasive alternative to traditional blood draws. The researchers claim the core scientific and engineering challenges are solved, shifting focus to large‑scale clinical validation and regulatory approval. Ongoing ICU studies in Australia and a planned U.S. filing aim to bring the technology to market soon.
By MobiHealthNews (HIMSS Media)
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Physicians Must Evolve Leadership Beyond Clinical Skills
What got you here won’t get you there: a physician’s guide to leadership http://dlvr.it/TR3W2k Physician #HealthIT
By Kevin Pho, MD (KevinMD)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Overlooked and Undervalued: Why Novo Nordisk Stock Deserves Attention
Novo Nordisk’s shares have slumped 66% from their 2024 peak, reflecting weak 2026 guidance and fierce competition from Eli Lilly in the GLP‑1 arena. The Danish firm recently introduced the first oral GLP‑1 pill, positioning it ahead of Lilly’s upcoming tablet and...
By Motley Fool Investing
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
In FTC Settlement, Cigna Agrees to Change Some PBM Business Practices, Charge Customers Less for Insulin
The episode examines Cigna’s settlement with the FTC over its Express Scripts PBM, which was accused of inflating insulin prices through opaque rebate deals. Key provisions require Cigna to prioritize lower‑cost drug versions, base patient copays on net prices, increase...
By HEALTH CARE un-covered
News•Feb 19, 2026
New Mexico Hospital Deploys AI Platform Enterprisewide
San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico, has rolled out Wellsheet’s AI documentation platform across its entire enterprise. The solution, already active in more than 100 U.S. hospitals, promises physicians 90‑120 minutes of daily documentation savings and a...
By Becker’s Hospital Review
News•Feb 19, 2026
FDA Issues Early Alert on Trividia Glucometer Issue Linked to 114 Injuries
The FDA issued an early alert after linking Trividia Health’s True Metrix glucometers to 114 injuries and one death. The alert cites an E‑5 error code that appears when blood glucose exceeds 600 mg/dL or when a test‑strip fault occurs, potentially...
By MedTech Dive
News•Feb 19, 2026
Investors Unfazed by Uncertainties Around Tariffs in Med Tech
Investors remain steady in the med‑tech sector despite lingering tariff uncertainties, signaling confidence in long‑term growth. At the same time, research updates highlight the SCAN circuit as a core driver of Parkinson’s disease, TL1A overexpression in hidradenitis suppurativa, and an...
By BioWorld (Citeline) – Featured Feeds
News•Feb 19, 2026
Pembrolizumab-Induced Adrenal Insufficiency: Recognizing and Managing a Diagnostic Challenge in Adjuvant NSCLC Therapy
Pembrolizumab used as adjuvant therapy for NSCLC can cause central adrenal insufficiency, presenting with nonspecific fatigue, nausea, and hyponatremia. In a 67‑year‑old patient, a markedly low morning cortisol and suppressed ACTH confirmed the diagnosis within ten weeks of treatment. Prompt...
By Pharmacy Times
News•Feb 19, 2026
Cetirizine and Levocetirizine Withdrawal Pruritus: What Pharmacists Need to Know About the FDA’s New Safety Warning
The FDA will update labeling for cetirizine and levocetirizine to warn of a rare but serious withdrawal‑related pruritus that can emerge days after stopping long‑term use. More than 200 adverse‑event reports, primarily linked to cetirizine, describe severe itching requiring medical...
By Pharmacy Times
News•Feb 19, 2026
Health Systems Must Connect with Patients in More Meaningful Ways
Health systems are accelerating digital transformation post‑COVID, with HIMSS research showing that hospitals possessing advanced digital maturity are 3.25 times more likely to earn higher safety grades and experience lower infection and adverse event rates. The pandemic also shifted patients from...
By Healthcare IT News (HIMSS Media)
News•Feb 19, 2026
2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccines Provided Moderate Protection Against JN.1 Variants
A recent JAMA Network Open case‑control study of 8,493 hospitalized adults shows that 2024‑2025 COVID‑19 vaccines provided moderate protection against the JN.1 lineage, with overall effectiveness of 40% against hospitalization and up to 52% after 90‑179 days. Updated Moderna and...
By AJMC (The American Journal of Managed Care)
News•Feb 19, 2026
Insulin Affordability: Policies and Pharmacist Roles in Diabetes Management
Insulin’s list price has surged more than 300% over the past two decades, driven by a rebate‑heavy gross‑to‑net bubble and limited biosimilar competition. Pharmacy‑benefit managers (PBMs) dominate 79% of the market, using high‑list‑price rebates to secure formulary placement, which inflates...
By Pharmacy Times
News•Feb 19, 2026
Navigating GLP-1 Costs With Eric Levin: Insurance, Cash Pay, and the Oral Wegovy Shift
Eric Levin, CEO of Scripta, explains that the newly launched oral Wegovy pill is typically cheaper on a cash‑pay basis—by a few hundred dollars per month—than injectable GLP‑1s, but insurance reimbursements are currently similar for both forms. Coverage depends heavily...
By AJMC (The American Journal of Managed Care)
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
SEQSTER Launches 1-Click Data Refinery™ to Power Scalable AI Across Clinical Trials
SEQSTER PDM, Inc. unveiled its 1-Click Data Refinery™ – an enterprise‑grade engine that converts raw, patient‑consented EHR data into clean, structured, AI‑ready records. The platform normalizes, deduplicates and harmonizes data across health systems, delivering longitudinal patient views suitable for rapid...
By HealthTech HotSpot
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
FNIH Biomarkers Consortium Study Shows “Clock Model” Blood Test Can Predict Onset of Alzheimer’s Symptoms Years in Advance
The FNIH Biomarkers Consortium unveiled a “clock model” that uses a single blood test to forecast Alzheimer’s disease symptom onset 3‑4 years before clinical presentation. The model aggregates plasma biomarkers into a temporal trajectory, and a new web‑based visualization tool...
By HealthTech HotSpot
News•Feb 19, 2026
LPM-5140276 Shows Enhanced Antitumor Efficacy in Combination with RMC-4550
Researchers reported that the novel KRAS G12D inhibitor LPM-5140276 markedly improves antitumor activity when paired with the SHP2 inhibitor RMC-4550. The combination demonstrated synergistic tumor regression in preclinical models of pancreatic and colorectal cancers harboring KRAS G12D mutations. Data suggest enhanced pathway...
By BioWorld (Citeline) – Featured Feeds
Podcast•Feb 19, 2026•34 min
Take Two: EP398: Why Are Commercial Carrier Marketplaces Completely Boring? Maybe Because There Isn't a Marketplace, With Jacob Asher, MD
In this episode of the "No Market" series, host Stacey Richter talks with Dr. Jacob Asher, a former chief medical officer for major health plans, about why commercial carrier marketplaces—especially in California—are stagnant and lack true competition. They identify six...
By Relentless Health Value
News•Feb 19, 2026
Nevada Debuts Public Option Amid Tumultuous Federal Changes to Health Care
Nevada launched its Battle Born public option health plans last fall, aiming to lower premiums and expand coverage. Early enrollment reached just over 10,000 members, far short of the 35,000 target set by state officials. The program must cut premiums...
By KFF Health News (formerly Kaiser Health News)
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
Hana Health by DSS Imagetech Partners with Overture Life to Bring World-First Automated Egg-Freezing Technology to India
Hana Health by DSS Imagetech has signed an exclusive agreement with Overture Life to launch DaVitri, the world’s first automated egg‑freezing platform, in India. The system standardises the vitrification step of IVF, cutting variability and enabling clinics to handle more...
By HealthTech HotSpot
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Reversing Nerve Cell Age to Combat ALS, Alzheimer’s
Super proud of Dr. Kelly Rich, senior postdoc in our lab who's pioneering nerve cell epigenetic age reversal to treat diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer's 🪨⭐️ https://open.spotify.com/episode/7nWkEH5li36oW9monEIG8B
By David Sinclair
Social•Feb 19, 2026
EBV DNA Linked to Multiple Autoimmune Diseases in 800k Genomes
🆕@Nature Genome sequencing of >800,000 people finds Epstein-Barr virus reads and their association with other autoimmune diseases besides multiple sclerosis, including type 1 diabetes, inflammatory bowel disease, and hypothyroidism https://t.co/FKCV4OInT5
By Eric Topol
News•Feb 19, 2026
Bone Marrow Cell Atlas Created for Improved Leukemia Research
Researchers at the Princess Máxima Center have produced the first multimodal single‑cell atlas of healthy pediatric bone marrow, profiling nearly 91,000 cells from nine donors aged two to 32. The atlas reveals that children’s marrow differs markedly from adult marrow in...
By Medical Xpress
Social•Feb 19, 2026
New Drug Development Reforms Aim to Match China
These proposed reforms to pre-clinical drug development and to smoothing the transition to first-in-human studies could be the most consequential steps toward leveling the playing field with China. https://t.co/oVY6N3xo9Y
By Scott Gottlieb
Social•Feb 19, 2026
Adding Fragmentomics Boosts GRAIL’s Multicancer Detection Accuracy
The most used multicancer early detection (MCED) blood test (liquid biopsy) uses methylation (GRAIL). But combining that with DNA fragmentomics, as reported today @NatureCancer, improves early detection https://t.co/VkNDR4XuW3
By Eric Topol
Blog•Feb 19, 2026
UK Medical Device Testing Hits Record High as MHRA Backs Growth in Brain and AI Technology
The UK Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency reported a 17% rise in approved clinical investigations for 2025, setting a record high. Average approval times fell to 51 days, outpacing the 60‑day target, while neurotechnology now accounts for roughly a...
By Med-Tech Insights
Social•Feb 19, 2026
ElliQ Robot Tackles Loneliness, Featured in NYT
“A robot with soul” ElliQ from @intuitionrobo can help address loneliness & isolation in the @nytimes https://t.co/ydLLNCwnHS
By Daniel Kraft, MD
News•Feb 18, 2026
Researchers Develop RNA-Activated Implant to Stimulate Nerve Regrowth After Spinal Cord Injury
Researchers at RCSI have created a 3‑D biomaterial implant that releases PTEN‑targeting siRNA to injured spinal cord neurons, reactivating growth pathways. The scaffold replicates spinal cord mechanical properties and delivers RNA particles directly to the lesion site, silencing the PTEN...
By Medical Xpress
News•Feb 18, 2026
Top HHS Officials Tout TEFCA Data-Sharing Framework As Central To MAHA
Top officials at the Department of Health and Human Services highlighted the Trusted Exchange Framework and Common Agreement (TEFCA) as a cornerstone of the "Make America Healthy Again" (MAHA) initiative. TEFCA, mandated by the 2016 bipartisan law, seeks to create...
By Inside Health Policy
Social•Feb 18, 2026
US Vaccine Policy Shift Boosts MRNA Stock Appeal
Macro: US vaccine-policy swing heightens regulatory risk; FDA will review Moderna’s flu shot. Key: public dispute, amended filing; decision by Aug 5. Risk: political oversight. Trade: Buy MRNA. — Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA More insights: t.me/si14Kopylov
By Viktor Kopylov, PhD, CFA
News•Feb 18, 2026
CBO: Part D Contributed To Higher Medicare Spending Than Expected
The Congressional Budget Office’s latest 10‑year budget outlook reveals that Medicare spending will be higher than previously projected, largely due to the Part D prescription‑drug benefit. CBO estimates the drug benefit adds several hundred billion dollars to federal outlays over the...
By Inside Health Policy
News•Feb 18, 2026
Cassidy, GOP Colleagues File Brief In LA Case On Comstock Act
Senate health committee chair Bill Cassidy and 59 Republican lawmakers filed an amicus brief supporting Louisiana’s lawsuit that the FDA violated the 1870 Comstock Act by permitting telehealth prescribing of mifepristone. The brief argues the agency overstepped its authority, seeking...
By Inside Health Policy
News•Feb 18, 2026
Oz: Codifying MFN Deals Could Avert ‘Draconian’ Pricing Measures
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla met with CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz to negotiate a "most‑favored‑nation" (MFN) drug pricing agreement, though the specific terms were not disclosed. Oz indicated that the Trump administration plans to codify such voluntary MFN deals into law...
By Inside Health Policy
News•Feb 18, 2026
Oz: Codifying MFN Deals Could Avert ‘Draconian’ Pricing Measures
Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla disclosed a direct collaboration with CMS Administrator Mehmet Oz on a "most favored nation" (MFN) drug pricing arrangement, though the specific terms remain undisclosed. Oz indicated that the Trump administration intends to codify such voluntary MFN...
By Inside Health Policy
News•Feb 18, 2026
Pediatric Myopia Drug Is Latest In String Of Unexpected FDA Rejections
The FDA has rejected a pediatric myopia drug, citing a lack of substantial evidence for its efficacy. Pediatric ophthalmologists argue the drug, already used in compounded form, effectively slows myopia progression in children. The decision follows a series of recent,...
By Inside Health Policy
News•Feb 18, 2026
Cutting-Edge Technologies Are Poised to Transform Orthopedics
Orthopedic surgery is rapidly adopting AI, robotic assistance, VR/AR and wearable digital tools, shifting from experimental concepts to routine practice. AI now supports imaging interpretation, predictive risk modeling, personalized surgical planning, training simulations and remote postoperative monitoring. Robotic platforms improve...
By Healio – All News
News•Feb 18, 2026
FDA Backtracks On Moderna mRNA Flu Vaccine Refusal, Sets Aug. 5 Review Deadline
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has reversed its earlier decision to decline a review of Moderna's mRNA influenza vaccine candidate. Following a Type A meeting with the company, the agency set an August 5, 2026 deadline for completing its evaluation. The...
By Inside Health Policy
Social•Feb 18, 2026
AI Will Slash Decades-Long Lag in Medical Adoption
It can take decades for new medical research to change what happens in the exam room. AI is going to massively accelerate this process. The dissemination of medical research into clinical practice is not slow because the science is slow. It...
By Dereck Paul, MD
Social•Feb 18, 2026
AI Skill Automates Faxing Healthcare Requests in 2026
It's 2026, so... I just wrote a Claude Skill that faxes a request form to my healthcare provider.
By Josh Mandel, MD
News•Feb 18, 2026
N.I.H. Director Will Temporarily Run C.D.C. in Leadership Shake-Up
Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, the current NIH director, has been named acting director of the CDC, a role he will hold while continuing to lead the National Institutes of Health. He replaces Jim O’Neill, who is slated for a nomination to...
By New York Times – Health
Social•Feb 18, 2026
AI Automates Cytology, Streamlining Cell Pre‑Screening
AI automates cytology, which is a laborious, manual, human subjective task, for pre=screening cells for abnormalities and making initial diagnoses today @Nature https://t.co/ZI3F2pkMxE https://t.co/WsUcRjkHFN https://t.co/mdz1DM6xs7
By Eric Topol
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Finalizing Top 100 Biotech VCs, Join 2026 Webinar
We're wrapping up the fact checking process for our annual Top 100 biotech VCs list and prepping for our companion webinar on VC investing in 2026. If this is a topic near and dear to your heart, be sure to...
By John Carroll
News•Feb 18, 2026
Identy Joins Africa’s Push for Digital Identity in Humanitarian Healthcare
Identy is partnering with the volunteer NGO HumanCoop to roll out offline facial‑recognition tools for undocumented patients in northern Mauritania, creating portable digital medical IDs that work without internet. The initiative will initially cover the Bir Mogrein community of over 2,500...
By Biometric Update
Social•Feb 18, 2026
MRNA Vaccines Advance Triple‑negative Breast Cancer Therapy
The unfounded move by @HHSGov against mRNA vaccines will hurt our future potent immune therapy vs cancer. Another point of progress for triple-negative breast cancer with individualized neoantigen mRNA vaccines today @Nature Adds to successful pancreatic, renal cell, melanoma reports...
By Eric Topol
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Listen to Biology’s Early Whispers to Prevent Disease
We could prevent diseases so much better but we haven't learned to listen to when biology whispers long (10 + years) in advance. A key theme in Super Agers, too. https://t.co/0pSap3f32N @NathanPriceSci @ @nrappapo @BuckInstitute example below for Type 2...
By Eric Topol
News•Feb 18, 2026
AI in Healthcare Starts Long Before the Exam Room
AI-driven clinical tools are rapidly improving diagnosis and treatment, but they leave patients exposed to hidden financial risks. A case of an autonomous AI ER physician resulted in a $37,000 out‑of‑network bill, highlighting systemic navigation failures. While clinical AI promises...
By Employee Benefit News
Social•Feb 18, 2026
Agentic AI Enables Accurate Rare Disease Diagnosis via DeepRare
Another good use case for agentic AI in medicine: diagnosis of rare diseases. Exemplified by DeepRare https://t.co/XBd68V3iDl https://t.co/rBl5yn95sI
By Eric Topol
Social•Feb 18, 2026
FDA's Moderna U‑turn Highlights Agency Chaos
The FDA’s Moderna $MRNA pirouette is one more sign of chaos at the agency https://t.co/zThJqhT2BS via @matthewherper
By Adam Feuerstein
News•Feb 18, 2026
The Murky Waters of Healthcare Cost Transparency: What Plan Sponsors Can Control
The 2021 Consolidated Appropriations Act introduced mandatory broker compensation disclosures and broader pricing data for health plans, pushing plan sponsors to adopt fiduciary rigor similar to retirement plans. Yet, translating transparency into cost control remains difficult as procedure prices can...
By Human Resource Executive
News•Feb 18, 2026
Broker’s Call: Ipca Laboratories (Buy)
Ipca Laboratories posted a robust 19% year‑on‑year EBITDA increase to ₹530 crore, surpassing broker estimates, while revenue rose 6.6% to ₹2,400 crore. Domestic formulation sales grew 12% and export formulation climbed 17%, offset by flat API sales overall but a 26% rebound...
By The Hindu BusinessLine – Markets
News•Feb 18, 2026
Novartis' Oral BTK Drug Moves the Needle in CINDU
Novartis announced that its oral BTK inhibitor Rhapsido (remibrutinib) achieved significantly higher complete response rates than placebo in the phase 3 RemIND trial for the three most common forms of chronic inducible urticaria (CINDU). The drug, already approved for chronic spontaneous...
By pharmaphorum