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
NASA’s First Medical Evacuation Is Here. It Won’t Be the Last.
NASA conducted its first-ever medical evacuation from the International Space Station in January 2026 when astronaut Mike Fincke experienced a microgravity‑related health event. The entire Crew‑11 returned early aboard a SpaceX capsule because no spare crew‑ready vehicle was available. The decision allowed Fincke to receive advanced imaging on Earth, while the remaining crew remained stable. This marks the first NASA mission ending prematurely for medical reasons, though Soviet missions performed similar evacuations in the 1980s.
Targeted PET/CT Tracer Helps Rheumatoid Arthritis Patients
A new macrophage‑targeted PET/CT tracer (11C‑DPA‑713) can identify rheumatoid arthritis patients who will respond to anti‑TNF therapy within four weeks, far earlier than the traditional three‑to‑six‑month window. The study of 20 patients showed that standardized uptake values (SUVs) at baseline...
STAT+: Justice Department Backs AbbVie in Its Bid to Overturn a Colorado Law Guiding a Drug Discount Program
The U.S. Department of Justice filed an amicus brief supporting AbbVie in its effort to overturn a Colorado statute that prohibits pharmaceutical manufacturers from limiting discounts under the federal 340B drug pricing program when hospitals use contract pharmacies. The Colorado...
AHA, Epic Launching Initiative on EHR Tools Supporting Postpartum Hemorrhage Management
The American Hospital Association and Epic have launched the Safer Births Post‑Partum Hemorrhage Collaborative, a seven‑month program aimed at cutting postpartum hemorrhage rates. The initiative combines monthly expert‑led webinars, peer‑to‑peer forums, and dedicated office‑hours for hands‑on EHR guidance. Participants gain...
Collective Health Collaborates with Google Cloud to Launch New AI-Powered System
Collective Health has unveiled Collective AI, an AI‑powered benefits assistant built with Google Cloud. The system answers member queries, supplies real‑time data to customer‑service reps, and offers employers plan‑design insights to streamline enrollment. Leveraging Google Cloud’s privacy‑by‑design infrastructure, the tool...
Alignment Healthcare Takes ‘Step Forward’ Despite Medicare Advantage Headwinds
Alignment Healthcare posted a fourth‑quarter loss of $11 million, but revenue rose 44 percent to just over $1 billion and membership jumped 25 percent to 236,300. The loss narrowed sharply from $31 million a year earlier, and the full‑year loss shrank to $724 000 versus $128 million...
FAQ: How Long COVID Is Defined, Diagnosed, and Managed in 2026
Long COVID remains clinically fragmented as the CDC, WHO and the National Academy of Sciences each use slightly different definitions, creating gaps in diagnosis and treatment equity. High‑risk groups—women, older adults, smokers and those with obesity—continue to experience disproportionate symptom...
Senate Moves One Step Closer to Passing Health Care Cyber Reforms
The Senate Health, Education and Labor Committee approved the bipartisan Health Care Cybersecurity and Resiliency Act by a 22‑1 vote, with only Sen. Rand Paul dissenting. The legislation obliges the Department of Health and Human Services to craft a cybersecurity...
GE HealthCare and UCSF Health Announce 10-Year Care Alliance for Advanced Imaging
GE HealthCare and UCSF Health have signed a 10‑year Care Alliance to embed advanced imaging technology throughout UCSF’s expanding health system. The partnership will support the construction of two new hospitals—an adult facility at Parnassus Heights and a pediatric center...
FDA Grants Accelerated Approval to Zongertinib for HER2-Mutant NSCLC
The FDA granted accelerated approval to zongertinib (Hernexeos) for adults with unresectable or metastatic non‑squamous NSCLC that carry activating HER2 TKD mutations, extending its use to treatment‑naive patients. The decision rests on the Beamion LUNG‑1 trial, which reported a 76%...
ARUP Creates Innovation Central Laboratory
ARUP Laboratories has unveiled the Innovation Central Laboratory, a dedicated hub for co‑development with pharmaceutical and biotech partners. The facility is designed to validate technologies and move next‑generation diagnostics from concept through to commercial readiness. It will host projects ranging...
Amid Boston’s Life Sciences Boom, an Unusual Alliance Orchestrates Technician Training
Boston’s life‑sciences sector is adding thousands of well‑paying technician positions that often don’t require a four‑year degree. To address the fragmented training ecosystem, the city funded the Life Sciences Career Alliance with $4.7 million, appointing Year Up United as the coordinating...
Drug Trials Snapshots: KOMZIFTI
The FDA approved KOMZIFTI (ziftomenib) on November 13 2025 as an oral 600 mg capsule for adult patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia (AML) harboring an NPM1 mutation. Approval rests on the single‑arm KO‑MEN‑001 trial, which enrolled 112 participants across seven...
Palliative Care Physician Explains Living And Dying With ALS
Actor Eric Dane’s death has thrust ALS into the national spotlight, highlighting the disease’s relentless progression and the emotional toll on patients and families. Palliative‑care physician Dr. Maria Mapa stresses that early goals‑of‑care conversations can preserve dignity and reduce costly...
January 2026 Patent Highlights
The January 2026 Patent Highlights roundup spotlights a wave of new intellectual‑property activity across several cutting‑edge drug discovery areas. Notable filings include lysine‑directed covalent inhibitor chemotypes, strategies to balance potency with drug‑like properties, refined target‑selection frameworks, dozens of Polθ synthetic‑lethal patents...
Healthcare Deals 2025: Notable Mergers & Acquisitions Activity
Healthcare M&A activity surged in 2025, with financial distress driving a record 43% of transactions. Regulatory scrutiny intensified, highlighted by California’s new law tightening oversight of private‑equity deals. Major deals included UnitedHealth’s $3.3 billion acquisition of Amedisys, Baptist Memorial’s $55 million purchase of...
Online Advisory Letters
The FDA has issued online advisory letters to multiple companies for illegally marketing dietary supplements and other products as treatments or preventatives for serious diseases. The letters, dated between April and December 2025, give each firm a 30‑day window to...
Physician Mental Health and Suicide Prevention: Stories of Survival
The new book Physicians With Lived Experience by Dr. Michael F. Myers compiles personal narratives that illuminate the hidden crisis of physician mental health and suicide. Forewords by Jennifer Breen Feist and Dr. Darrell Kirch highlight the power of storytelling, the passage...
Two More States Are About to Jump Ship Onto Their Own ACA Marketplaces
Oregon and Oklahoma are set to launch their own state‑based ACA exchanges, bringing the total to 23 states (including DC) that will operate independent marketplaces by 2028. This shift will push state‑run exchanges past the 50 percent population mark, a milestone...
AI Could Unlock $5T Healthcare Market and Drive Prevention
What is Infinite Healthcare Worth? As AI becomes a new site of care and automates administrative orchestration, it rapidly eats into $5T+ worth of traditional health care services spend, and potentially represents the biggest market opportunity in all of healthtech....
VITAS Takes a Punch in Q4 2025, Expects Brighter 2026
VITAS Healthcare, a Chemed Corp subsidiary, saw Q4 2025 revenue pressured by a Medicare payment‑cap liability that spiked to $6.1 million, largely in Florida. To offset the cap, the hospice shifted toward hospital‑based short‑stay referrals, which boosted patient volume but lowered...
Machine Learning May Enable Earlier Detection of CKD Risk Factors
A recent study demonstrates that a machine‑learning pipeline combining advanced feature selection with ensemble classifiers markedly improves chronic kidney disease (CKD) risk prediction. Gradient‑boosting models achieved the highest performance, reaching 98% accuracy, 99% recall and an AUC of 0.99, while...
BIO Patient Advocacy Coffee Chat: Act Now to Be Heard on CMS Drug Pricing
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services entered the third year of its Medicare drug price negotiation program, selecting 15 drugs—including, for the first time, therapies covered under Medicare Part B. Patient advocacy groups have until March 1 to submit written comments...
The Enduring Value of the Physical Exam in Modern Medicine
Physician Francisco M. Torres argues that the bedside physical exam remains a vital diagnostic tool despite rapid advances in imaging and lab tests. He recounts two personal cases—a misdiagnosed sciatica caused by shingles and a postoperative fluid collection missed without...
Walgreens Launches Virtual Weight Management Platform for Self-Pay GLP-1 Patients
Walgreens has added a virtual weight‑management clinic to its digital health platform, charging a flat $49 per video visit with no monthly subscription. The service targets self‑pay adults aged 18‑64 who need FDA‑approved GLP‑1 medications, and it bundles prescription discounts...
Reusable MoS₂ RF Biosensor Enables Cost-Effective Liquid Biopsies for Early Cancer Detection
Researchers at UNIST, KAIST and Yonsei have developed a reusable molybdenum disulfide (MoS₂) radio‑frequency biosensor for liquid‑biopsy cancer detection. The sensor detects single‑stranded DNA fragments as low as 154.67 nM by monitoring shifts in resonant frequency, and can be washed and...
Medtech M&A Starts Off Strong in 2026
Medtech M&A kicks off 2026 with several multibillion‑dollar deals. Boston Scientific announced a $14.5 billion acquisition of Penumbra, while Danaher disclosed a $9.9 billion purchase of Masimo. At the same time, major divestitures are underway, including BD’s planned $17.5 billion sale of its...
Positrigo Launches BrainPET Accelerator Program in U.S.
Positrigo, a Swiss developer of nuclear medical devices, has launched the BrainPET Accelerator Program in the United States, offering neurology practices a ready‑to‑operate brain PET solution. The program bundles a compact NeuroLF scanner, radiotracer logistics, regulatory assistance, reimbursement support, and...
Eko Health Deploys SENSORA AI Cardiac Detection Platform at Wayne General Hospital
Eko Health has partnered with Wayne General Hospital in Mississippi to roll out its SENSORA AI‑assisted cardiac detection platform across emergency and primary‑care units. The system pairs a digital stethoscope with FDA‑cleared AI that analyzes heart sounds in under a...
Mo. University Receives $4.6M Grant to Launch Mobile Blood Transfusion Program
University of Missouri School of Medicine received a $4.6 million federal grant to launch a mobile pre‑hospital blood transfusion program in Columbia. The initiative aims to equip EMS crews with training and portable blood supplies, targeting rapid intervention for trauma victims,...
Makary Misrepresents Unresolved Drug Applications, Conflates Therapies
(Hopefully) Final word today on the Makary $QURE (or was it $RGNX) thing: Bottom line: Makary shouldn't be talking publicly about unresolved drug applications. Uniqure doesn't even have an application submitted; and RegenxBio's CRL letter isn't posted to the FDA's...
Bristol Myers Says ADC Licensed From China Hits Mark in Aggressive Breast Cancer
Bristol Myers Squibb reported that its antibody‑drug conjugate iza‑bren, licensed from Chinese partner SystImmune, achieved statistically significant improvements in progression‑free and overall survival versus chemotherapy in a Phase III trial for advanced triple‑negative breast cancer. The study, conducted in mainland China...
3D Software Helps Cardiologists Plan Ahead for TAVR Complications
Sentara’s high‑volume TAVR center adopted the AI‑enabled DASI 3‑D planning platform to move beyond static CT measurements. The software dynamically simulates valve frame expansion, calcium deformation, and tissue interaction, allowing clinicians to test multiple valve sizes and depths before the...
FDA Warns Beta Bionics on Unreported Complaints, Insulin Pump Changes
Beta Bionics received an FDA warning letter citing failure to report serious adverse events, unreported software and cybersecurity changes, and hardware defects in its iLet Bionic Pancreas system. The agency highlighted delayed reporting of hypoglycemia and hyperglycemia incidents, a five‑minute...
Makary Slams FDA, Defends Rare Disease Drugs Amid Controversy
You've got to watch this Makary interview on CNBC. He attacks a drug, hits the Old FDA and circles all the wagons around Vinay Prasad, who "loves President Trump" and faces a fatwa (WSJ). Makary is getting major props for...
India's Gen X Pegged to Consume $500 Billion Worth of Goods, Services by FY30: RedSeer
India’s Generation X is projected to spend over $500 billion on goods and services by FY 30, according to RedSeer. The cohort’s spending will be led by preventive healthcare ($73 billion, 17% CAGR) and nutraceuticals ($20 billion, 25% CAGR). Premiumisation will also drive growth in...
From Singapore to Canada: A Blueprint for Primary Care Transformation
A recent OurCare survey found 5.9 million Canadians lack a primary‑care provider, and those with one face long waits and rushed visits, driving emergency‑department crowding. The federal government responded by creating 5,000 Express Entry slots for international doctors, but experts argue...
FDA Clears Six Indications for Qure.ai's Chest X-Ray Reporting Tool
The FDA granted 510(k) Class II clearance to Qure.ai’s qXR-Detect, adding six new chest‑X‑ray detection indications. The tool now flags findings across lung, pleura, mediastinum/hila & heart, bone, hardware and other regions, expanding the company’s U.S. portfolio to 26 FDA clearances. The clearance...
FDA Chief Backs Rare Disease Rejections, Lauds Vinay Prasad
FDA Commissioner Marty Makary defends rare disease drug rejections, Vinay Prasad "Vinay Prasad is a genius,” Makary said. “He’s on loan from UCSF. He’s published over 500 scientific peer-reviewed articles, and some of the drugs they are criticizing him for...
Ten Near‑Term AI Predictions Shaping Healthcare
I've written so much about various details of healthcare's AI revolution that it was time to come up with a high-level overview of what we can certainly expect from AI in the next few years. 10 predictions, coming from four...
Most Detailed Spatial Atlas yet for Mapping the Pancreatic Tumor Microenvironment
An international team led by the University of Birmingham, University Hospitals Birmingham NHS Foundation Trust and Bristol Myers Squibb has produced the most detailed spatial atlas of pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma (PDAC) to date. Using spatial transcriptomics and spatial molecular imaging...
Digital Tools Turn Clinician Advice Into Reduced Heart Failure Readmissions
Clinicians know what actions help patients stay healthy. Digital interventions help patients actually take them. Shahid Shah shares more on how CareCognitics is tackling heart failure readmissions: https://t.co/yNe0013amg @CareCognitics #HospitalReadmissions #HITSM https://t.co/SDVIK5m79S
Gut Bacteria Interactions Dictate Health and Disease Risk
🆕 @ScienceMagazine How gut bacteria interactions [cooperation vs competition, positive vs negative] shape risk for health and disease https://t.co/q8TvbaHDQI https://t.co/kS0S3uUIli
![[Comment] Impact of Adding Hormone Therapy to Postoperative Radiotherapy in Prostate Cancer](https://hixhlmpcokxhartfkpyi.supabase.co/storage/v1/object/public/images/thumbnails/f1452ec53e5201a4460c9aaf141538d3.webp)
[Comment] Impact of Adding Hormone Therapy to Postoperative Radiotherapy in Prostate Cancer
Adding androgen deprivation therapy (ADT) to definitive radiotherapy improves overall survival for men with high‑risk prostate cancer, but its benefit when combined with postoperative radiotherapy (PORT) after prostatectomy is less clear. Randomised trials such as GETUG‑AFU 16, SPPORT, and the RADICALS‑HD...
Improved Sepsis Prediction Cuts Unnecessary Antibiotic Use
Some hospitals start the SEP-1 bundle early… but ~25% of those patients don’t actually have sepsis. Better prediction could mean fewer unnecessary antibiotics. Learn from Robin Carver: https://t.co/tPRGLQGdIV @PrenosisInc #patientsafety #HITSM https://t.co/CFk7cA5Wib
Blueprint for Interoperable Vaccine Records
An Interoperable Vaccine Record: A Roadmap to Realization https://t.co/H1yL7kXH8z #mdpivaccines via @Vaccines_MDPI @HardeepSinghMD @McWilliamsSBMI @HarvardDBMI https://t.co/UCP8IXdHve
EHealth Exchange Expands Beyond Treatment Exchange by 2026
As national networks mature, the strategy is shifting. Jay Nakashima shares how eHealth Exchange is expanding beyond treatment exchange in 2026. 👀 🔗 https://t.co/uK1RKnn15e @eHealthExchange #QHIN #HITSM https://t.co/7qKBmbZ6FY
Immune Cells Drive Transition From Healthy Aging to Alzheimer’s
What accounts for the progression from healthy aging to Alzheimer's disease over an extended period of time? The critical role of the immune system, particularly T cells and microglia. A new, excellent review @ImmunityCP https://t.co/XqEBcptTuG https://t.co/Xt24BvkDWe
Biotech VC Webinar Launches with Top Experts, Thousands Registered
We'll be gearing up today's webinar on biotech venture capital at the top of the hour. Great guests, great topics. If this is a central issue in your life, tune in. Thousands have signed up already. https://t.co/c16y04mFsD
DIY Gut Microbiome Tests Are Unreliable and Flawed
Direct-to-consumer gut microbiome assessments are unreliable, problematic: a review of 7 companies with significant methodologic issues https://t.co/atwmZUNjVE https://t.co/SqlMljuW0y