Know What's Happening in Healthcare
Know What's Happening in Healthcare
FDA approves KRESLADI, first CIRM‑backed gene‑editing therapy
The FDA cleared KRESLADI, a gene‑editing treatment from Rocket Pharmaceuticals for severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency‑I in children, eliminating the need for a bone‑marrow donor. It is the first product directly funded by California’s Institute for Regenerative Medicine to receive approval.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Syneron Bio raises $150M Series B
UCLA Health has appointed Katherine Andriole, PhD, as the inaugural associate dean for health AI strategy and innovation at the David Geffen School of Medicine, effective March 26. She also assumes directorship of the UCLA Center for AI and SMART Health. In this dual role she will oversee the development, evaluation, and deployment of artificial‑intelligence tools across clinical operations, research programs, and medical education. The appointment underscores the system’s accelerating push to embed AI throughout its care delivery ecosystem.
#Measles update: #CDC reports the confirmed case total this year to date is 1,575 — or 69% of the number of cases in the entirety of 2025. That's up 88 from last week. 94% of the cases are parts of...
AI adoption in healthcare and life sciences is surging, with physician usage climbing to 66 % and firms investing heavily in machine‑learning platforms. Despite this momentum, a reproducibility crisis looms, as more than 70 % of researchers report difficulty replicating results, jeopardizing...
Major cardiovascular societies, led by the ACC and AHA, released a consensus document outlining requirements for establishing and maintaining transcatheter tricuspid valve intervention (TTVI) programs in the United States. The guidance sets minimum institutional volumes—such as at least 50 open‑heart...
Xavier University in Cincinnati will launch the world’s first Jesuit osteopathic medical school in fall 2027 after a $2 million gift from alumni Gary and Connie Sharpe, split with a new nursing program. Ground was broken in 2024 for a 130,000‑square‑foot...
NYC Health + Hospitals has launched a $2.75 million program deploying PeriWatch Vigilance, an AI‑driven early‑warning and decision‑support system for maternal‑fetal care. The tool, currently active at the North Central Bronx hospital, will be expanded to all 11 system hospitals by...
A wave of senior appointments is reshaping hospice leadership across the United States. Montgomery Hospice named longtime hospice operator Sara McKay as COO, while VITAS Healthcare installed Juan Gomez as VP of Finance after a stint in revenue‑cycle management. Three Oaks Hospice...
Benadryl (diphenhydramine) is an over‑the‑counter antihistamine that also acts as an anticholinergic, causing drowsiness and other side effects, especially in older adults. Observational studies link long‑term high anticholinergic exposure to increased dementia risk, though causation remains unproven. The drug appears...
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania identified the endothelial receptor TIE2 as a pivotal link between the MEKK3‑KLF2/4 and PI3K signaling cascades that drive cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). In mouse models, oral inhibition of TIE2 with the tyrosine‑kinase inhibitor rebastinib...
Medicare introduced a lump‑sum per‑patient payment model for skilled nursing facilities, aiming to curb unnecessary therapy billing. Following the reform, SNFs markedly increased the number of diagnoses documented for each resident, creating a sharp rise in coding intensity that was...
Millions of Americans face fragmented physical and behavioral care, driving costly emergency department visits and worsening outcomes. Administrative waste consumes roughly 30% of U.S. healthcare spending, while a projected shortfall of over 100,000 workers intensifies staffing pressures. Behavioral health patients...
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Novo Nordisk’s once‑weekly insulin, the first longer‑acting basal therapy for type‑2 diabetes in the United States. The product, insulin icodec, demonstrated non‑inferior HbA1c reduction and comparable safety to daily basal insulins in...
Second‑generation robotic bronchoscopy platforms now embed advanced imaging, delivering higher diagnostic accuracy for peripheral lung lesions while simplifying workflow. Community hospitals can adopt these systems using single‑use bronchoscopes, eliminating reprocessing costs and reducing procedure time. Relocating the service to endoscopy...
Outstanding piece here from @leilei_wuu on AstraZeneca's in vivo CAR-T for multiple myeloma. There's data on 5 patients, which is pretty lean, but 4 come out MRD negative in two months, which is extraordinary. We're going to see a lot...
Half of U.S. med students are women. But some specialties still haven’t caught up. Heading to the Women in GI Conference in Atlanta where I’ll serve on the faculty. Honored to be in the minority. Representation isn’t just about fairness. It’s about better...
The European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion on Sanofi’s subcutaneous version of Sarclisa, a drug for multiple myeloma, citing late‑stage trials that proved non‑inferior efficacy to the intravenous formulation. If the European Commission follows the EMA’s recommendation, the...
Hats off to $AZN for naming its COPD trials after the king and queen of the faeries.
AI is providing both immense utility to clinicians, but will also drive up costs if the incentives in our current system stay the same. This may be correct billing, but it's also still MORE billing. https://t.co/jmcWQ3q3EK
Four firms—BusTest Express, Odulair, CGS Premier, and Mission Mobile Medical—offer distinct pathways for organizations to launch mobile health clinics. BusTest Express provides a turnkey lease model that bundles vehicles, drivers, compliance and logistics. Odulair builds modular vans, trucks or containers...
As someone who has covered cancer drug development for 25 years, one of the few things I am sure of is that the odds of technology folks thinking they understand biology are much higher than the odds they actually do.
Shared and specific blood biomarkers for multimorbidity "Metabolic disturbances emerged as a key driver of multimorbidity. If confirmed, these processes could represent targets for interventions to mitigate disease accumulation." https://t.co/3nuctP2eAC https://t.co/yxk5CZHiHV
A BioSpace webinar highlighted how biotech firms can close the expectation gap with the FDA to avoid last‑minute decision‑day setbacks. Speakers emphasized the FDA’s recent pledge—led by Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad—to provide regulatory navigation for small companies,...
Survey shows the NIH's restrictions on foreign research partnerships significantly impacted 1 in 4 U.S. scientists https://t.co/YVbTQ4tveG
Researchers reported that the oral GLP‑1 tablet orforglipron achieved greater weight loss and blood‑sugar reduction than injectable semaglutide (Ozempic) in a 52‑week phase‑3 study. The findings could shift prescribing patterns for obesity and type‑2 diabetes.
A five‑year UCL‑led trial published in The Lancet Public Health reports that the Strengthening Families, Strengthening Communities (SFSC) program, delivered through community organisations, raised parental mental wellbeing and reduced family conflict for 674 disadvantaged families. The findings give policymakers robust...
Wambūi Karanja turned her father's early‑onset dementia into a catalyst for change, creating a practical guide and training program for family caregivers in Kenya. She highlighted pervasive myths that label dementia as normal aging or a spiritual curse, which delay...
Couple interesting meetings for FDA Commissioner Makary: met with Arnold Ventures on Mar. 3 about "collaboration opportunities" https://t.co/vEyhDu5xaW and with $MNPR on "establishing a regulatory mechanism" on Mar. 13 https://t.co/DHaD6IlvCS
UT Health San Antonio has started a National Institute on Aging‑funded, randomized trial of rapamycin and everolimus in roughly 84 adults 65 to 90 years old. The six‑week study will assess safety, optimal dosing and biological markers of healthy aging,...
Researchers at Worcester Polytechnic Institute unveiled an artificial‑intelligence model that identifies Alzheimer’s disease from MRI scans with 93% accuracy. The breakthrough could shift screening from symptom‑based to image‑based detection, accelerating treatment and trial enrollment.
Hartford HealthCare and KHealth introduced PatientGPT, a generative AI chatbot that plugs into Epic’s MyChart platform and can route patients to clinicians 24/7. The tool arrives as 32% of adults already turn to AI for health advice, raising questions about...
This is a great step and should be applauded. But is anyone on the list who lives in a rural area and qualifies for Medicaid? Love to suggest that for humble consideration.
Moody’s has kept a negative outlook on the U.S. health‑insurance sector, citing persistent medical‑cost inflation that is crushing profit margins. EBITDA margins have slipped into the low‑single‑digit range as loss ratios climb faster than premium hikes. Insurers are expected to...
Nine individuals, five of them under five years old, have been infected with E. coli after consuming raw milk and cheddar cheese from Raw Farm in Fresno, California. The CDC has warned consumers to avoid the cheese, while the FDA faces...
Spokane County Fire District 9 will launch its own ambulance service on July 1, offering free transport to district residents after American Medical Response doubled its rates. The district has purchased three new cherry‑red ambulances at roughly $385,000 each and expects the...
Most older Americans lack long‑term care (LTC) insurance despite the high cost of services, which average $80,000 annually for home care and over $130,000 for a private nursing‑home room. Medicare provides only limited LTC coverage, while Medicaid requires individuals to...
Under PDUFA VI, BsUFA II and GDUFA II, the FDA has launched a Resource Capacity Planning (RCP) capability and modernized time‑reporting to better match staffing with the growing volume and complexity of drug and biologic submissions. The RCP system quantifies needed resources, while...
The article highlights how a wide range of prescription and over‑the‑counter drugs can impair sexual desire, arousal, and orgasm, often leaving patients silent about the issue. It lists eight drug classes—antihypertensives, antidepressants, antipsychotics, hormonal agents, opioids, antihistamines, anticonvulsants, and recreational...
A recent ruling in Missouri v. Biden challenges the CDC’s pandemic‑era censorship practices, asserting that labeling information as “misinformation” does not strip it of First Amendment protection. The opinion highlights how some content labeled false during COVID‑19 later proved accurate,...
GlaxoSmithKline announced that the European Medicines Agency has accepted the marketing authorization application for bepirovirsen, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting chronic hepatitis B. The acceptance follows positive Phase III data from the B‑Well 1 and B‑Well 2 trials, which enrolled patients...
Nordic Cold Chain Solutions (NCCS) has opened a GLP‑1 & Small‑Format Packaging Innovation Lab to help pharmaceutical manufacturers, specialty pharmacies and e‑commerce players manage temperature‑sensitive drugs. The lab provides end‑to‑end services from early‑stage design and pilot testing to high‑volume production,...
Severance Hospital in South Korea has created an AI model, LiMPC, that predicts early liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer patients using routine blood tests. The model was trained on data from 2,657 patients and externally validated on 272 patients from...
South Korean AI firms are expanding into the U.S. market as Neurophet signs an MOU with the Alzheimer’s Network for Treatment and Diagnostics (ALZ‑NET) to provide FDA‑cleared imaging software for amyloid monitoring, and JLK receives FDA 510(k) clearance for its...
AstraZeneca’s in‑vivo CAR‑T platform, acquired last year, has entered a Phase I/II trial in China for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Early data show a 33% overall response rate with several partial remissions, but the study also reported one death due to severe...
The NCCN has revised its guidelines to place checkpoint inhibitors at the forefront of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) treatment, extending their use beyond metastatic disease to neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. PD‑1/PD‑L1 agents such as cemiplimab, cosibelimab and pembrolizumab are...
GLP‑1 receptor agonists are booming in the United States, where roughly 12 % of patients use them, but European uptake lags at about 2 % across the EU and UK. Consumer skepticism—especially in France, Italy and Spain—and the dominance of public‑health reimbursement...
Emergency cholera kits intended for Chad, Sudan and South Sudan are stranded in Dubai warehouses because the Iran‑linked conflict has disrupted shipping routes. The World Health Organization and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies are scrambling...
A multinational GAAPP survey of 1,401 adults with uncontrolled asthma found that only 11% of patients who meet guideline eligibility are currently using biologic therapies. The most common reason for discontinuation was difficulty fitting injections into daily routines (37%), followed...
The CMS Innovation Center has obligated $11.4 billion from 2011 through 2024 to test 70 health‑care delivery and payment models, with 24 still active as of January 2025. Annual obligations peaked at $1.3 billion in FY 2015 and dropped nearly 40 percent to $789 million in...
