Today's Healthcare Pulse
Allogene Therapeutics CEO David Chang to step down
Allogene Therapeutics announced that chief executive David Chang will leave his role. The news was reported by STAT+ and echoed in a follow‑up piece covering broader pharma updates.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Boston Scientific invests $1.5B for 34% stake in MiRus
It’s About to Be Hot Peptide Summer
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. announced plans to direct the FDA to move roughly 14 previously banned peptides from the agency’s category 2 list to category 1, allowing pharmacy compounding and physician prescribing. The change would reverse a 2024 ban on 19 peptides that forced users into an unregulated online market. Experts warn many of these compounds lack human trial data and could carry risks such as tumor promotion. Proponents argue regulated access will spur research and improve safety.
Hopkins Funds AI Research Across the Country to Support Aging Patients
Johns Hopkins’ Artificial Intelligence and Technology Collaboratory for Aging Research (JH AITC) has distributed $20 million in National Institute on Aging funds to 45 states, D.C., Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands, spawning 42 peer‑reviewed papers, seven market‑ready products and $11.7 million...
Roche's Oral SERD Flunks Phase 3 Breast Cancer Test
Roche’s oral SERD giredestrant failed to meet its primary endpoint in the phase 3 persevERA trial, showing no significant improvement over letrozole when combined with palbociclib in first‑line HR‑positive, HER2‑negative advanced breast cancer. The company now limits U.S. filing to ESR1‑mutated...
America’s Vaccine Skepticism Is Starting to Show up in Health Data
New research tracking 12.4 million newborns shows the hepatitis B birth‑dose vaccination rate dropping from 83.5 % in 2023 to 73.2 % by mid‑2025, meaning roughly 400,000 infants each year are refusing or delaying the shot. The decline coincides with the CDC’s January decision...
Epic’s Agent Factory and the End of the Middle Layer: What Health Tech Investors Need to Understand Right Now
At HIMSS26 Epic unveiled Agent Factory, a no‑code, drag‑and‑drop AI builder that lets health systems create and orchestrate autonomous agents across clinical and operational workflows. The move follows Epic’s dominant market position—42.3% of acute‑care hospitals and 54.9% of beds in...
Electric Fields Allow Bioprinting of Aligned Muscle Fibers
Researchers have integrated an electric field into electrohydrodynamic (EHD) bioprinting to orient fibrin‑alginate hydrogels, producing nanofiber alignment that directs myocyte organization. The conductive polymer‑enhanced constructs exhibit improved myotube differentiation and mimic native muscle conductivity. In vivo tests on rats demonstrated...
A Recyclable Magnetic Nanosystem Enable Circulatory Antibacterial Strategy for Static and Dynamic Blood Disinfection
Researchers have engineered a recyclable magnetic nanosystem (Fe3O4/CeO2@BP) that integrates black phosphorus with iron oxide and cerium oxide to achieve rapid, ROS‑driven antibacterial activity in blood. The material can be magnetically retrieved, enabling repeated use across at least 20 disinfection...
LifeVac Receives FDA De Novo Classification for Anti-Choking Device
LifeVac has secured FDA De Novo classification, designating its suction anti‑choking device as a Class II medical device for second‑line treatment after failed basic life support protocols. The clearance confirms the device as a single‑use, non‑powered, non‑invasive tool suitable for adults and...
Smartphone Ultrasound May Aid Spine Diagnosis, If Cost‑Effective
Smartphone-connected ultrasound devices could bring an interesting new layer to spinal diagnostics. A system like SpineUs combines a handheld ultrasound scanner with tracking software and AI-based reconstruction to create 3D visualizations of the spine’s surface in near real time. According to Verdure...
Aisa Pharma Reports Positive Results for AISA-021
Aisa Pharma announced positive Phase II data for AISA‑021, a once‑daily calcium channel blocker, in systemic sclerosis‑associated Raynaud’s phenomenon (SSc RP). The double‑blind, placebo‑controlled RECONNOITER trial enrolled 64 patients and showed a 22.1% reduction in weekly Raynaud attacks and a 155% placebo‑adjusted...
AOK Bayern Transforms Healthcare Service for 4.5 Million Members with NiCE’s CXone CX AI Platform
AOK Bayern, one of Germany’s largest statutory health insurers serving 4.5 million members, has migrated its contact‑center operations to NICE CXone on the EU Sovereign Cloud. The move replaces legacy on‑premises systems with a unified, cloud‑native platform that integrates voice, chat, email...
Blood Test Using P-Tau217 Biomarker Predicts Alzheimer’s Symptom Onset Within 3–4 Years
Researchers at Washington University have created a blood‑test model using plasma p‑tau217 that can predict the onset of Alzheimer’s symptoms within three to four years. The model, validated on 603 participants, shows age‑dependent timelines, with younger individuals experiencing longer asymptomatic...
Key Factors Contributing to Uncertainty in Moderna's mRNA Vaccine Review
The FDA initially refused to review Moderna’s mRNA‑based flu vaccine, prompting surprise among industry observers. After a White House meeting, the agency reversed course and granted Moderna a Type A meeting, effectively resetting the review process. Lanton notes this regulatory flip‑flop...
New Law Paves Way for Stand-Alone Dental Hygienist Practices in New York
New York’s legislation, signed by Governor Kathy Hochul, shifts the state’s oral‑health model. By mid‑2027, licensed dental hygienists can operate without direct dentist supervision under a collaborative agreement with one dentist. The law also adds foster‑care agencies to approved work...
Health Care Interests Take Shape Ahead of State Budget Negotiations
Health care stakeholders in New York are mobilizing as the state budget negotiations intensify, with the Associated Medical Schools of New York lobbying for an additional $100 million to bolster biomedical research and life‑science jobs. The state already receives over $3.5 billion...
ENHERTU® Granted Priority Review in the U.S. as Post-Neoadjuvant Treatment for Patients with HER2 Positive Early Breast Cancer
Daiichi Sankyo and AstraZeneca have received FDA priority review for ENHERTU® as a post‑neoadjuvant therapy in HER2‑positive early breast cancer. The decision follows the DESTINY‑Breast05 phase 3 trial, which showed a 53% reduction in invasive disease‑free survival events versus trastuzumab‑emtansine (T‑DM1). Three‑year...
Scottish Ambulance Service Highlights Reservist Support
The Scottish Ambulance Service (SAS) does not maintain a central record of employees with Armed Forces ties, but it runs a voluntary internal network for veterans, reservists, and their families. Between 2022 and 2025, 166 staff members logged 12,976.5 hours...
An Rx for Loneliness
Charlotte’s Bechtler Museum of Modern Art, partnered with Novant Health, launched the Charlotte Art on Prescription pilot, providing free year‑long access to museums, ballet, theater, and pottery classes for socially isolated residents. Participants are referred by Novant’s 68 behavioral‑health specialists...
Safety Concerns Prompt Ipsen to Pull Tazverik From Market
Ipsen is voluntarily withdrawing its EZH2 inhibitor Tazverik worldwide after an interim safety analysis in the phase 1b/3 SYMPHONY‑1 trial linked the drug to secondary hematologic malignancies. The pull‑back includes terminating all ongoing Tazverik studies and recalling the product in markets...
Don’t Miss Your Essential Update on Health Tech’s Progress
The March edition of Health Tech Tracker has been released, offering a concise monthly snapshot of the health‑tech ecosystem. It aggregates recent deals, emerging trends, regulatory challenges, and market opportunities observed over the past 30 days. The report also features...
Newsom Picks a Dogfight With Trump and RFK Jr. On Public Health
California Governor Gavin Newsom is positioning the state as a national public‑health bulwark by hiring former CDC officials, forming the West Coast Health Alliance with Oregon, Washington and Hawaii, and becoming the first state to join a WHO‑coordinated outbreak network....
#350 How to Make Hard Choices in AI with Atay Kozlovski, Researcher at the University of Zurich
In this episode, philosophy researcher Atay Kozlovski discusses the ethical challenges of AI, focusing on how to maintain meaningful human control over increasingly autonomous systems. He highlights common failure modes such as automation bias and algorithmic bias, illustrating them with...
How Healthcare Leaders Are Building Procurement Interoperability
Healthcare providers, suppliers, and distributors are tackling fragmented IT systems that impede supply‑chain data sharing. Leaders at Nebraska Medicine, Heartland Dental, and Sinceri Senior Living have implemented procurement interoperability solutions—primarily through Amazon Business integrations—to automate purchase orders, gain real‑time spend...
Rethinking the Box: Why Circular Cold Chain Packaging Is Becoming a Cost Strategy in Healthcare
Healthcare logistics is moving from disposable to circular cold chain packaging, turning boxes into reusable infrastructure. Studies show reusable containers can lower per‑shipment costs by 30‑50% and cut global warming potential by 75%. By engineering packs to reduce dimensional weight,...
Navigating the PPQ Process: Proven Strategies to Safeguard Quality for Cell and Gene Therapies
Process Performance Qualification (PPQ) is the final validation step before commercial manufacturing of cell and gene therapies, but its complexity often triggers delays and compliance risks. The article highlights three proven strategies—early master‑plan development, continuous quality improvement, and data‑driven analytics—to...
The Strategic Evolution of Patient Engagement in the NHS: The Post Wayfinder Era and Consolidation of the 'Digital Front Door'
The NHS is moving from a fragmented, market‑led patient‑engagement model to a centrally managed "digital front door" anchored in the NHS App. Funding for the Wayfinder programme will cease in March 2026, saving an estimated £11 million annually and shifting integration directly...
How Modern Wellness Clinics Are Using Hydration Therapy to Support Health
Modern wellness clinics are expanding beyond cosmetic services to include IV hydration therapy as a preventive health option. By delivering fluids, electrolytes, and vitamins directly into the bloodstream, these treatments aim to quickly restore balance for athletes, frequent travelers, and...
Roche’s Big-Hope Breast Cancer Drug Fails in Crucial First-Line Trial
Roche’s oral breast‑cancer therapy, touted as a potential blockbuster, missed its primary endpoint in the pivotal Phase 3 persevERA trial. The study evaluated the drug as a first‑line treatment for hormone‑receptor‑positive, HER2‑negative metastatic breast cancer and enrolled more than 1,200 patients...
Green Additive Manufacturing For Circular Medical Devices
Researchers propose a comprehensive green additive manufacturing (AM) cycle for medical devices, integrating circular‑economy principles into design, material selection, and process control. The roadmap emphasizes digital inventory, on‑site production, and validated reuse pathways while addressing strict sterilization and biocompatibility regulations....
Hesta Health Opens Early Access for Postnatal Recovery Assessment
Hesta Health has opened early access to its postnatal health‑check programme, Recovery, for women in the first six months after birth. The service combines a clinically designed online questionnaire, an at‑home blood test that measures 51 biomarkers across eight domains,...
Exeter Leads Major New Project to Advance AI-Enabled Platform for Early Detection of Hospital Acquired Infections
The NIHR HealthTech Research Centre in Exeter and Sanome have secured a £300,000 Innovate UK SMART grant to advance MEMORI, an AI‑driven clinical decision support platform that predicts hospital‑acquired infections up to seven days before symptoms appear. Early trials show...
Under Trump, mRNA Skepticism Threatens a Promising Technology
Under the Trump administration, the U.S. government slashed nearly $500 million in mRNA research funding, canceling 22 projects and a $766 million Moderna contract. The FDA’s initial refusal then reversal to review Moderna’s flu vaccine highlighted regulatory skepticism toward the platform. Private‑sector...
USC Opens South L.A. Pharmacy
USC’s Alfred E. Mann School of Pharmacy will open its first community pharmacy in South Los Angeles next month, located beside the T.H.E. Health and Wellness Center in Hyde Park. The modest launch will start with three staff members and expand...
RFK Jr. Is Definitely Coming for Your Vaccines (Part 8): “Massive Epidemic of Vaccine Injury,” ACIP, and a Prominent Oncologist
Robert F. Kennedy Jr., now HHS Secretary, is intensifying his anti‑vaccine campaign by supporting a MAHA Institute roundtable titled “Massive Epidemic of Vaccine Injury.” The event, held in Washington, D.C., features oncologist Dr. Wafik El‑Deiry alongside well‑known antivax activists such...
Seoul to Expand Medical Tourism Interpreters Tenfold
Seoul’s municipal government announced plans to expand its pool of medical‑tourism interpreter‑coordinators to roughly 1,000 this year, a ten‑fold jump from the current cadre. The expansion follows a newly signed memorandum of understanding with the K‑Medical Tourism Association, which will...
Mitochondrial Quality Control Drives Senolytic Resistance
Comparative analysis of senolytic drugs reveals mitochondrial determinants of efficacy and resistance "findings suggest that mitochondrial quality control is a key determinant of resistance to ABT263-induced and ARV825-induced senolysis, providing a possible framework for rational combination senotherapies." https://t.co/xB0wFkzIW9
Vinay Prasad: Anti‑Science Extremist Influencing FDA Decisions
A key read regarding some (just some) examples of inappropriate, offensive, and/or inaccurate comments by Vinay Prasad (from May of last year) An Anti-Science MAHA Extremist Is Playing a Major Role at the FDA https://t.co/oFNaYm0qlD via @newrepublic https://t.co/P1V9lMdDjn
IV Vitamin Therapy: Does It Work?
IV vitamin therapy is gaining popularity as a wellness service that delivers nutrients directly into the bloodstream, bypassing the digestive system. Proponents claim benefits such as improved mental clarity, fatigue reduction, and immune support, while critics point to limited high‑quality...
Pacemakers Vs. Defibrillators: What’s the Difference?
Pacemakers and implantable cardioverter defibrillators (ICDs) are small, sub‑cutaneous devices that correct abnormal heart rhythms, but they operate differently. Pacemakers deliver mild electrical pulses to keep a slow or irregular heartbeat steady, while ICDs monitor for rapid, life‑threatening arrhythmias and...
60 Seconds With … Kristof De Smedt
Kristof De Smedt, a veteran with over 25 years in pharma logistics, was promoted on October 1 2025 to Global Market Segment Director for Airlines and Logistic Providers at Cold Chain Technologies (CCT) following its acquisitions of Tower Cold Chain and Global...
Add AI Breast Artery Calcification Scan to Mammograms
Mammography should include AI assessment of breast artery calcification, since it provides very useful information about cardiovascular risk https://t.co/yfTbTRrOuY https://t.co/h1C8ZnHepJ
European Survey Highlights Gaps in Care for Women with Hormonal Migraine
A European Migraine and Headache Alliance survey of 5,410 women revealed major gaps in diagnosing and treating hormonally linked migraine. Forty‑two percent of respondents had never received a formal diagnosis, and 35% reported that doctors never discussed their symptoms. While...
Predictive Preventive Care Among 3 New Initiatives Announced to Strengthen Healthcare Affordability in Singapore
Singapore’s Ministry of Health unveiled three new measures to curb rising healthcare costs as the nation becomes a super‑aged society. From 2027, MediSave withdrawal limits will rise to S$700 for basic chronic care and S$1,000 for complex cases, while the...
AI Can Predict Risk of Serious Heart Disease From Mammograms
Researchers at Emory University used artificial intelligence to evaluate arterial calcium visible on routine mammograms, linking it to future cardiovascular events. The study examined 123,762 women without prior heart disease and found that mild, moderate, and severe breast arterial calcification...
AI Won’t Replace Radiologists: Lessons for All Doctors
My latest Substack: Why predictions that radiologists will be replaced by AI (including, famously, by genAI founding father and Nobel laureate Geoffrey Hinton) have been wildly off base, and what that teaches us about job replacement for doctors. https://t.co/hz2gKz6Ewh https://t.co/waJUY22Qk1
Morning Headlines 3/9/26
Epic Systems has launched a series of lawsuits targeting patent trolls and other entities it deems harmful to the healthcare software ecosystem. The company’s legal offensive seeks injunctions and damages to safeguard its multi‑billion‑dollar portfolio. Simultaneously, industry observers note a...
NHS England Pauses New Prescriptions of Cross-Sex Hormones for Under-18s
NHS England has temporarily stopped new prescriptions of cross‑sex hormones for 16‑ and 17‑year‑olds after an evidence review deemed the existing research on benefits and harms “really weak.” The pause applies only to new cases; current patients will continue treatment...
NHS England Pauses New Prescriptions of Cross-Sex Hormones for Under-18s
NHS England has temporarily stopped issuing new cross‑sex hormone prescriptions to 16‑ and 17‑year‑olds after an independent review deemed the existing evidence on benefits and harms "remarkably weak." The pause applies only to NHS‑funded care; patients already on treatment will...
Why This Rural Health System Is Scaling AI for Point-of-Care Decision Making
Presbyterian Healthcare Services in New Mexico is expanding its use of GW RhythmX’s AI‑powered precision‑care platform, now deployed with 200 primary‑care clinicians across its nine‑hospital system. The tool, embedded in the Epic EHR, surfaces clinical insights and evidence‑based recommendations at...
Digital Summary Integrated in Healthdirect Australia’s Video Calls Nationwide
Healthdirect Australia has launched a Patient Consult Summary (PCS) application within its video‑call platform, which handles more than 150,000 virtual consultations each month. The tool lets clinicians create and share concise, plain‑English summaries instantly via typing, speech‑to‑text, or copy‑paste, and...