Today's Healthcare Pulse
FDA greenlights durvalumab combo for high‑risk bladder cancer
The FDA approved durvalumab (Imfinzi) combined with Bacillus Calmette‑Guerin for BCG‑naïve, high‑risk non‑muscle invasive bladder cancer. The POTOMAC trial enrolled 1,018 patients and showed a 32% reduction in disease recurrence risk (hazard ratio 0.68, p=0.015). Durvalumab is given at 1,500 mg IV every four weeks for up to 13 cycles.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Apogee Therapeutics raises $1.3B royalty financing
Ascenti Physio Launches ‘Transformative’ Digital Physiotherapy App
UK independent provider Ascenti Physio has launched its Ascenti Reach digital physiotherapy app in a six‑month pilot with York and Scarborough Teaching Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust. Early data from other users show wait times can be cut by up to 85% and assessments delivered within eight working hours. The app offers over 50,000 tailored exercise programmes and 5,000 educational articles, giving rural patients 24/7 access and reducing physiotherapists’ administrative burden. The initiative aligns with the NHS 10‑Year Health Plan to modernise care pathways amid 7.3 million waiting‑list patients.
Synthetic Gene Medicines May Disrupt DNA Repair
Researchers at Karolinska Institutet reported that phosphorothioate antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs) directly bind key DNA‑repair enzymes, forming nuclear condensates that trigger a false DNA‑damage response. The effect was observed at concentrations commonly used in laboratory assays, though clinical doses reach lower...
Mich. FD Rolls Out Peak-Demand EMS Units to Fight Paramedic Burnout
Sterling Heights Fire Department launched a peak‑demand EMS unit staffed by EMTs to handle low‑acuity 911 calls, freeing paramedics for high‑severity incidents. The initiative pairs with a new five‑color dispatch system that prioritizes calls by medical urgency. Since its October...
How New Medicare Rules Will Reshape Cardiac Monitoring and Remote Patient Care
Medicare’s 2026 Physician Fee Schedule introduces outcome‑based payments for cardiac care, rewarding providers who prevent ER visits, readmissions, or accelerate recovery. The rule also replaces the in‑person supervision requirement for the technical component of remote cardiac monitoring with virtual oversight,...
Medbridge Launches Hybrid Pathway to Prevent Workplace MSK Injuries
Medbridge has launched an Occupational Health Pathway within its Medbridge One Care platform, offering a hybrid (live and virtual) model to prevent musculoskeletal (MSK) injuries among industrial workers. The solution targets three high‑risk groups—production and material handlers, maintenance staff, and...
Anterior Integrates Clinical AI Into HealthEdge GuidingCare for Utilization Management
Anterior has embedded its clinician‑led AI reasoning engine into HealthEdge’s GuidingCare platform, which serves more than 70 health plans and 30 million members. The integration places AI directly inside utilization management workflows, eliminating the need for separate tools. Early production data...
'Dismal' Survival Demands Change in Bile Duct Cancer Therapy
An international panel of 147 oncology leaders, including Prof. John Bridgewater, issued a consensus calling for sweeping reforms in the diagnosis, treatment, and research of cholangiocarcinoma (bile duct cancer). The disease remains deadly, with three‑quarters of patients dying within a...
Can Postpartum Depression Start Months After Birth? Experts Explain
Postpartum depression (PPD) can surface months after birth, with research showing onset as late as 12 months postpartum. While the DSM‑5 limits PPD to the first four weeks, clinicians often treat any depression arising within the first year as postpartum‑related....
Medical Ethics and AI: Why Losing Oversight Endangers Patients
The American Medical Association’s Journal of Ethics published its final issue in December 2025, ending a 26‑year legacy of scholarly oversight. Simultaneously, the AMA launched a Center for Digital Health and Artificial Intelligence, signaling a strategic pivot toward technology. The...
Nine Companies Advancing Biotech in Philadelphia
Philadelphia’s biotech ecosystem, long known for CAR‑T breakthroughs, is diversifying into obesity, metabolic disease, gene editing, and solid‑tumor immunotherapies. Nine local companies illustrate this shift, from Alveus Therapeutics’ $197 million Series A obesity program to Cabaletta Bio’s autologous CD19 CAR‑T for autoimmune...
Promises And Pitfalls Of Multi-Cancer Diagnostic Tests
Multi‑cancer early detection (MCED) tests analyze blood, urine or saliva for tumor‑derived DNA, RNA or proteins, promising a single‑sample screen for dozens of cancers. While early‑stage detection could complement established organ‑specific programs, sensitivity varies widely, with some cancers identified in...
ZohoDay 2026 - How Newcross Healthcare Builds AI Apps on a Governed Platform - While Keeping AI Hype at Bay
At ZohoDay 2026, Newcross Healthcare showcased how it built a mission‑critical care‑management application on Zoho’s governed platform, unifying CRM, finance, workforce and analytics. By leveraging Zoho Creator, the team delivered a fully integrated solution in six months, cutting licensing costs...
What Every Sonographer and Cardiologist Must Know About CABG Patients
Cardiovascular disease remains the top global killer, accounting for 19.8 million deaths in 2022, with 85% linked to myocardial infarction or stroke. Echocardiography is essential for detecting ischemic cardiomyopathy, wall‑motion abnormalities, and left‑ventricular remodeling. Coronary artery bypass grafting (CABG) is a...
Key Biosimilars Events of February 2026
February 2026 saw a surge of biosimilar activity, with key regulatory approvals for products such as Sandoz Enzeevu (Eylea), Accord Filkri (Neupogen), and STADA Gotenfia (Simponi) across the US, Canada and the EU. Companies forged new licensing and commercialization deals that extend biosimilar...
Quell Takes New Treg Into Clinic After Transplant Study Halt
Quell Therapeutics has launched the phase 1/2 CHILL trial of its autologous CAR‑Treg therapy QEL‑005 in rheumatoid arthritis and systemic sclerosis, after pausing the liver‑transplant program QEL‑001. The multi‑center study will enroll patients in the UK, Germany and Spain, with read‑out...
Access to National Healthcare Systems: The Deadline for Action Is Getting Closer
NHS England has set a firm deadline to retire the CIS1 authentication service, removing access on 28 February 2027 after reducing its SLA to silver on 1 October 2025. The move forces NHS trusts and other European hospitals to adopt the newer CIS2 platform,...
RecovryAI Announces FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Patient-Facing Clinical AI
RecovryAI, emerging from stealth, received FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for its physician‑prescribed Virtual Care Assistants (VCAs), AI tools that guide patients through post‑operative recovery. The designation, reserved for devices that can substantially improve care standards, accelerates the company’s engagement with...
DDW Highlights: 3 March 2026
In this episode, Bruno Quinney highlights four major developments: a long‑acting injectable HIV regimen (cabotegravir + rilpivirine) that cut virological failure risk by nearly half versus daily oral therapy; SolasCure’s ORES wound gel, which accelerated debridement 22‑fold and healing seven‑fold in chronic...
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Balancing the Role of Physicians and AI [Video]
At the ViVE conference, Smarter Technologies’ chief medical officer Ruben Amarasingham highlighted the firm’s AI strategy aimed at improving data accuracy while easing physicians’ documentation load. He cited positive customer feedback that the platform reduces administrative burden and delivers clear...
Cigna CEO David Cordani To Retire And Be Replaced By Internal Choice
Cigna announced that long‑time CEO David Cordani will retire on July 1, 2026, and be succeeded by internal candidate Brian Evanko, the current president and chief operating officer. Cordani, who will remain board chair, has led the firm for 17 years,...
Lynk Pharmaceuticals Reports Topline P-III Trial Data on Zemprocitinib in Atopic Dermatitis
Lynk Pharmaceuticals announced topline Phase III data for its oral JAK inhibitor zemprocitinib in 356 patients with moderate‑to‑severe atopic dermatitis. Both the 12 mg and 24 mg doses met the co‑primary endpoints at week 16, delivering 38‑46 percentage‑point improvements in EASI‑75 and roughly 30 percentage‑point gains...
Animal Drugs: Strengthening Federal Incentives Could Help Address Unmet Animal Health Needs
The GAO report reveals that, despite a conditional approval pathway introduced in 2004 and expanded in 2018, FDA‑approved animal drugs for minor species and niche uses remain scarce. From FY2018 through FY2025, only 13 drugs received conditional approval, all targeting...
FDA Doubts QURE Gene Therapy Benefit, Leaks to Media
New reporting from me taking you inside the $QURE - FDA Huntington's gene therapy imbroglio. I spoke to a senior FDA official late yesterday, who told me agency reviewers "are not convinced there’s any therapeutic benefit of the product. If...
STAT+: FDA Is ‘Not Convinced’ UniQure’s Huntington’s Therapy Has Benefit, Senior Official Says
The FDA concluded that UniQure’s experimental gene therapy for Huntington’s disease has not demonstrated therapeutic benefit based on existing clinical data. Reviewers said they are not persuaded by the evidence, prompting the agency to block the company from submitting a...
Exclusive: Anti-Ageing Skin Care Conference Keynote Reframes Skin Ageing as Biodesynchronosis
The anti‑ageing skin‑care conference introduced the concept of biodesynchronosis, framing skin ageing as a loss of regulatory coordination rather than merely chronological time. Speakers argued that traditional markers like wrinkles miss upstream failures, and that recovery speed after stress better...
AI‑Discovered Gal‑3 Blocker Cuts Inflammation, Boosts Memory in Mice
Alzheimer’s research is increasingly looking beyond plaques and tangles to the brain’s immune response. A study published in Elsevier's Pharmacological Research journal used AI to screen 1.6M compounds for a Galectin-3 (Gal-3) blocker that could cross the brain barrier. In Alzheimer’s-like...
Senate Bill Would Extend Burial Benefits for Veterans Who Receive Hospice Care
Senators John Boozman (R‑AZ) and Gary Peters (D‑MI) have introduced a bipartisan bill to extend Veterans Affairs burial benefits to veterans who die in hospice or other non‑VA health settings. The legislation builds on the 2023 Dole Act expansion, which...
End-of-Life Care and Religion: Reconciling Jewish Law and Medicine
The essay examines how Jewish law’s reliance on legal fictions clashes with modern end‑of‑life medicine. It contrasts Halakha’s categorical certainty—viewing every moment of life as sacred—with medicine’s humility that prioritizes patient comfort and informed choice. While some rabbinic authorities allow...
CIOs Agree Variability the Enemy of Large-Scale IT Shops
At a ViVE conference, CIOs from Christus Health, SSM Health and HCA Healthcare warned that variability, not scale, is the primary cost driver for large health systems. They highlighted governance gaps that allow endless project approvals but few rejections, leading...
St. James Hospital Dublin’s Giunti Says AI Transformation Starts With Literacy
In this episode, St. James Hospital Dublin’s Chief Data Officer Guido Giunti explains why AI transformation in healthcare must begin with AI and data literacy across all staff, not just technology deployment. He describes a blended top‑down and bottom‑up strategy that uses...
Penn Medicine’s Cook Says You Can’t ‘Set It and Forget It’ With Clinical AI
Dr. Tessa Cook, an associate professor and vice chair of practice transformation in radiology at Penn Medicine, discusses how her team approaches clinical AI implementation. She emphasizes a systematic, "set it and forget it" mindset is unrealistic; instead, AI tools...
This Startup Wants To Use Mini Robots To Treat Alzheimer's
Jacksonville‑based startup MMI is preparing the first U.S. microrobotic surgeries to treat Alzheimer’s by clearing lymphatic drainage pathways in the neck. The FDA granted clearance for an initial safety cohort of 15 patients, with five slated for the first procedure...
Innovent Receives the NMPA Approval for Jaypirca to Treat R/R Chronic Lymphocytic Leukemia or Small Lymphocytic Lymphoma (CLL/SLL)
Innovent’s pirtobrutinib, marketed as Jaypirca, received Chinese NMPA approval for adults with relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia/small lymphocytic lymphoma who have undergone at least one prior therapy, including a BTK inhibitor. The decision follows the phase‑III BRUIN CLL‑321 trial,...
Some Epigenetic Clocks Correlate with Risk of Dementia
A recent analysis of 6,069 cognitively normal women examined whether epigenetic aging clocks predict incident mild cognitive impairment or dementia. Second‑ and third‑generation clocks (AgeAccelPheno, AgeAccelGrim2, DunedinPACE) were compared with first‑generation Horvath and Hannum measures. Only the AgeAccelGrim2 clock showed...
Resilience Care & InterSystems Partner to Streamline Oncology Care Pathways
InterSystems and Resilience Care have formed a technology partnership to integrate Resilience Care’s remote‑monitoring platform with InterSystems IRIS for Health, streamlining oncology care pathways. The integration layer connects hospital information systems, automates data exchange for chemotherapy, lab, and imaging appointments,...
CMS Extends Deadline for MFN Pricing Pilot Scheme
The U.S. Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) has pushed back the deadline for manufacturers to join its GENEROUS pilot, extending the initial cut‑off to April 30 while keeping the final deadline at June 30. The voluntary program applies a Most‑Favoured...
Industry Leaders Announce World’s First Microphysiological Systems Industry Association
Eight leading European microphysiological systems companies have launched the Industry Alliance for Microphysiological Systems (IAMPS), the world’s first trade association dedicated to MPS technologies. IAMPS will represent organ‑on‑chip, organoid and related NAM developers, aiming to harmonize standards, promote data sharing,...
Merck and Eisai Present P-III (LITESPARK-011) Trial Data on Welireg + Lenvima in Advanced Renal Cell Carcinoma (RCC) at ASCO...
Merck and Eisai disclosed Phase III LITESPARK-011 results showing that the oral combination of Welireg (belzutifan) and Lenvima (lenvatinib) outperformed cabozantinib in 747 patients with advanced renal cell carcinoma who progressed after anti‑PD‑1/PD‑L1 therapy. At a median follow‑up of 29...
Mixed Reality Revolutionizes Anatomy Learning, Yet Remains Costly
I remember what it was like to study the heart from textbooks and medical atlases. This video demonstrates how different the experience could be with mixed reality. It could lead to a new level of understanding of anatomy and pathology. The...
Whitepaper: Digital PSA Surveillance: Using Remote Monitoring for Stable Cancer to Avoid Unnecessary Attendances and Optimise Clinical Capacity
Isla Health’s new whitepaper outlines how NHS trusts can digitise PSA surveillance to cut unnecessary urology follow‑ups. By automating data capture, trusts can process patients 87% faster and slash administrative work by up to 80%, freeing clinical nurse specialists for...
Dermatology Trials by the Numbers: Key Trends and Benchmarks for 2026
Dermatology research is booming, with more than 16,000 trials completed, ongoing, or planned by the end of 2025. The Asia‑Pacific region now hosts roughly 8,000 studies, a five‑fold increase over the past decade, matching North America and Europe combined. Low...
East Cheshire Shares Five Aims for 2026 and Beyond Following EPR Rollout
East Cheshire NHS Trust announced five strategic aims for 2026 following a smoother‑than‑expected Meditech EPR go‑live in June 2025. The plan includes a major system upgrade in March, digitising the top 50 high‑priority clinical documents, and expanding internal referral orders...
Healthcare in 2026: Still Faxing, Already Talking About AI
The article highlights persistent low‑tech practices in 2026 healthcare—mis‑timed pharmacy texts, imaging still sent on physical CDs, and reliance on fax—while executives chase AI. It shows that simple fixes are known but remain unfixed due to cultural and governance gaps....
ChatGPT: Doctor’s Smart Assistant, Not a Diagnosis Tool
How to use ChatGPT as a doctor (properly) Not for diagnosis. Not to replace your brain. Use it to: • Simplify complex topics for patients • Draft patient education handouts • Create clinic SOPs • Generate content ideas • Structure research summaries • Prepare presentations • Improve communication clarity Think of...
T‑cell Engagers Offer New Autoimmunity Treatment Opportunity
T-cell engagers for autoimmunity. Listen to Ken Song describe the opportunity as CEO of San Diego-based Candid Therapeutics. Sponsored by @AlphaSenseInc & Dash Bio. https://t.co/Ct2viH00c4
Few U.S. Doctors Have Seen Measles in Person. That’s a Problem.
In January, twin brothers with measles were treated at Mission Hospital in Asheville, North Carolina, but staff failed to isolate them for over four hours, exposing at least 26 other patients. A CMS investigation placed the hospital in Immediate Jeopardy,...
MRI Offers Low Yield for Isolated Dizziness without Neuro Signs
What is the diagnostic yield of MRI in adult emergency patients with dizziness or vertigo? While MRI is efficient for detecting central causes of dizziness, its yield is low in cases of isolated dizziness without neurological signs. 👇 https://t.co/170qBbHrq7
Othman Laraki, Color CEO, on Surviving Three Major Pivots
In this episode, Othman Laraki, CEO of Color, recounts the company’s three major pivots—from a cancer genetics startup to its current health‑tech platform—highlighting the financial, team, and market challenges each transition entailed. He stresses that while technology and product are...
Clinically‐Relevant Static Magnetic Field Induces Release of Encapsulated Molecules From Magnetoliposomes
Researchers demonstrated that a clinically‑available 1.5 T static magnetic field can trigger the release of encapsulated molecules from magnetoliposomes (MLs). The study used citric‑acid‑stabilized Fe₃O₄ nanoparticles, with and without a chitosan coating, and monitored structural changes via SAXS and DLS. Fluorescence...
A Strong Dose of Digital for U.K. Pharma and Life Sciences
Earlier this year the UK government pledged £82.6 million to AI‑focused drug‑discovery firms, underscoring its ambition to lead the global digital health transformation. Major players such as AstraZeneca are launching dedicated health‑tech units like Evinova to accelerate clinical‑trial design, while the...