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
CDC Enterprise Architect to Detail Digital Transformation at HIMSS26
At HIMSS26, CDC Acting Chief Enterprise Architect Ryan M. Harrison will unveil the agency’s Technical Reference Architecture (TRA), a unified framework that codifies IT standards across CDC. The presentation targets both IT leaders and developers, illustrating how the TRA integrates enterprise‑wide and segment‑specific architectures, such as data platforms and software repositories. By embedding the TRA into existing governance, CDC aims to streamline system design, reduce compliance overhead, and accelerate public‑health technology delivery. The session highlights real‑world examples, including preferred GitHub/CDCGov repositories and the One CDC Data Platform (1CDP) and EDAV services.
Altesa BioSciences Raises $75M Series B
Altesa BioSciences announced an oversubscribed $75 million Series B round, led by Forbion with participation from Sanofi and existing backers Medicxi, Pitango, and Atlantic Partners. The financing will support the development of its lead candidate, vapendavir, targeting viral-driven exacerbations in COPD and...
Topical Adquey (Difamilast) Wins FDA Approval for Atopic Dermatitis
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted approval to Adquey, a 1% difamilast topical ointment, for the treatment of mild-to-moderate atopic dermatitis in patients two years and older. Developed by Otsuka and licensed to Acrotech Biopharma, the product is...
5-Day Preoperative Radiotherapy in High-Risk STS Shows Manageable Toxicity
A phase‑2 single‑center trial evaluated a five‑day pre‑operative radiotherapy schedule in 110 patients with high‑risk soft‑tissue sarcoma. At two‑year follow‑up, grade ≥ 2 radiation‑related toxicities were observed in 14 of 74 evaluable patients, with lower rates in the extension cohort. Major wound...
At an Inflection Point in HIV Science: Nicolas Chomont, PhD, Looks Ahead to CROI 2026
Nicolas Chomont, chair of CROI 2026’s scientific program, previewed the conference’s focus on emerging HIV research, including treatment, cure, and vaccine advances. The meeting will showcase extensive data on long‑acting antiretroviral therapies and address funding constraints affecting global HIV initiatives....
ALIS Releases New Clinical Benchmarking Report Analyzing Data From 28,800 Senior Living Residents
ALIS released its Q4 2025 ALIS 500 Clinical Report, the first senior‑living clinical benchmarking study covering 500 communities and 28,800 residents. The report delivers detailed data on resident age, prevalent chronic conditions, comorbidity patterns, and fall incidents, and is paired with an...
Health Equity & Access Weekly Roundup: February 20, 2026
The Guttmacher Institute reports a modest 2% drop in abortion clinics across non‑ban states, yet high churn—51 closures and 39 openings—creates instability, especially in Florida where a six‑week ban accelerated losses despite telehealth growth. New sickle‑cell disease therapies, including gene‑editing...
Sana Health Clears a Major Milestone in the Fight Against Chronic Pain
In this episode, Richard Hanbury of Sana Health discusses the company’s recent FDA De Novo clearance for a novel audio‑visual neuromodulation device targeting neuropathic pain, marking the creation of a new therapeutic class. He outlines decades of research that led...
How Hospitals and Area Agencies on Aging Are Collaborating to Advance Social Connection
Hospitals and Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are launching joint programs to combat social isolation among older adults, a risk heightened by the fact that one‑fifth of Americans 50+ live alone. The collaborations leverage community health workers, technology platforms, and...
GoFundMe CEO on Why Crowdfunding Sparks Generosity and Judgment
GoFundMe’s CEO Tim Cadogan says health‑related fundraising remains the platform’s top category, with campaigns like the late actor James Van Der Beek’s raising $2.7 million. The company allows anyone facing out‑of‑pocket medical costs to start a fundraiser without disclosing personal financial details. Cadogan and...
CDC Report Highlights Low Use of COVID-19 Antivirals Among People 65 and Older
The CDC’s February 19 MMWR report shows that only a minority of Americans aged 65 and older received FDA‑approved COVID‑19 antiviral prescriptions in recent months. From June 2023 through September 2025, antiviral use was 16‑23% during periods of low community transmission and rose...
Important Takeaways From Medtronic’s (MDT) Q3 2026 Earnings Report
Medtronic reported Q3 2026 adjusted earnings of $1.36 per share, beating expectations, while revenue climbed 8.7% to $9.0 billion, led by a 13.8% surge in its cardiovascular unit. Operating margin slipped to 16.2% from 19.9% as the company intensified R&D spending...
Rural Health Care Crisis: Can Telemedicine Close the Gap?
Since 2005, 195 rural hospitals have shut down, with 50 closures occurring between 2017 and 2023, deepening access gaps for millions of Americans. Rural residents experience higher rates of diabetes, mental distress, and premature mortality, compounded by looming federal Medicaid...
Ten63 Therapeutics Secures New Funding
Ten63 Therapeutics, an AI‑driven drug‑discovery firm spun out of Duke and TTIC, announced a strategic investment from Chugai Venture Fund and the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, bringing total capital to over $45 million. The company leverages its BEYOND generative‑chemistry platform...
FDA Approves Expanded Use of Gadolinium-Based Imaging Agent From Guerbet
The U.S. FDA has approved an expanded label for Guerbet’s gadolinium‑based contrast agent Elucirem (gadopiclenol), allowing its use in infants and children under two years, including term neonates. The agent delivers high‑relaxivity imaging with less than half the gadolinium dose...
FDA Cracks Down as Novo Sues Hims over Semaglutide
This is the first reference which I heard directly from FDA commissioner Dr. Marty Makary regarding $HIMS, $NVO 🧵👇and the recent legal actions that the HHS had initiated against HIMs and Hers. When he was asked by @annikakimc - @CNBC’s...
Hormone-Regulated Immune Cells Implicated in Longer Lasting Pain in Women
Researchers at Michigan State University discovered that hormone‑regulated monocytes producing interleukin‑10 (IL‑10) drive faster pain resolution in males. In mouse models, testosterone‑dependent IL‑10+ monocytes cleared inflammatory pain more quickly, while females exhibited fewer of these cells and prolonged pain. Human...
Can Smartphones Replace $25,000 Eye-Testing Gear? This Startup Says Yes
Danish startup OptikosPrime claims its Argus app can generate a full eyeglass prescription using only a smartphone camera. In prototype tests the app achieved a mean absolute error of 0.51 diopters, approaching the 0.25‑diopter threshold of professional autorefractors. The solution...
Ceftriaxone - Injection Products
The latest ceftriaxone injection labeling clarifies susceptibility breakpoints for anaerobic organisms, defining a minimum inhibitory concentration of ≤1 µg/mL as susceptible. For Haemophilus influenzae and H. parainfluenzae, the interpretive criteria assume a 2 g IV dose every 24 hours in patients with normal...
To What Degree Does Cytomegalovirus Contribute to Neurodegenerative Conditions?
Cytomegalovirus (CMV) infection, prevalent in most adults, increasingly appears linked to neurodegenerative processes. Large cohort studies show higher CMV IgG levels correlate with accelerated cognitive decline, and post‑mortem analyses detect CMV DNA in a majority of vascular dementia brains. Animal...
Reviewing Locum Tenens Agreements: Look Beyond the Hourly Rate
Dr. Sriman Swarup warns that the hourly rate in locum tenens contracts is often the least critical factor. He emphasizes that contract clarity—especially around responsibility for cancellations, payment guarantees, and termination triggers—determines whether an assignment is viable. Ambiguous language typically...
Teaching Your Own Work Feels Like Self‑Scrutiny
I always feel weird assigning things I'm in. It feels like a weird flex, even when it's actually a good teaching resource. Today my global health class is talking about "the fevers", colonialism, and the beginnings of global health. So I...
HIMSS26 to Host Native American & Indigenous Health Symposium
The HIMSS26 conference will host the fourth Native American & Indigenous Health Symposium, bringing together tribal and Indigenous health leaders from the U.S., Canada, Australia and Alaska. Since its 2022 launch, the HIMSS Indigenous Community has expanded its network and...
The Most Interesting FHIR You've Never Heard Of
The episode dives into Epic's recent rollout of twelve new FHIR APIs tailored for radiation oncology, highlighting how these modern interfaces support the CodeX Exchange of Radiotherapy Summaries Implementation Guide. It explains the distinct nature of radiation oncology—focused on precise...
Kansas City Launches Integrated Theranostics Platform Partnership
A public‑private partnership between the University of Kansas Health System, KU Medical Center, Children’s Mercy and Bold Advanced Medical Future (BAMF) Health is launching an integrated theranostics platform in Kansas City. The center will combine molecular imaging, radiopharmaceutical production, clinical...
Alliance of Companies Will Help Accelerate $50 Billion in Rural Health Programs
Science Applications International Corp. (SAIC) has launched the Alliance for Advancing Rural Healthcare (AARH), uniting seven partners—including Arcadia, Castlight Health, Covista, Mission Mobile Medical, Telemedicine.com, TruBridge and Walgreens—to execute the $50 billion Rural Health Transformation program. The alliance will bolster the...
AI Impact Summit: Meet ‘LuSI’, the ‘Made in India’ AI-Integrated Robotic Baby Revolutionising Medical Training
At the India AI Impact Summit 2026, Maverick Simulation Solutions unveiled LuSI, a 2.5 kg AI‑integrated robotic newborn that replicates real‑time respiratory conditions for high‑fidelity medical training, already adopted by AIIMS, AFMC and PGI. The same event highlighted PhonePe's launch of...
Athenahealth Launches Agentic Patient Comms Tools Across Provider Network
athenahealth unveiled the next generation of its AI‑native patient engagement suite within athenaOne, adding text and voice virtual assistants that let patients schedule appointments and ask routine questions 24/7. The texting feature is in alpha and will roll out broadly...
In the Clinic for Feb. 20, 2026
The February 20 2026 "In the Clinic" roundup aggregates a broad set of industry snapshots, special reports, and infographics covering biopharma, medical technology, and emerging research areas. It links to data on mRNA vaccine research, China’s GLP‑1 market, pulsed‑field ablation for atrial...
Money Raised by Biopharma
Recent biopharma research highlights IL‑22 and TL1A as a powerful biomarker pair for diagnosing hidradenitis suppurativa (HS), while TL1A overexpression is confirmed in patient lesions. Parallel studies reveal that inhibiting the NLRP3 inflammasome may mitigate vascular cognitive impairment and stroke‑related...
AI Tool Sets New Standard in Diagnosing Rare Diseases
A new multi‑agent system called DeepRare, built on the DeepSeek‑V3 large language model and over 40 specialized tools, outperformed 15 competing AI models and human physicians in diagnosing rare diseases. Across 6,401 cases covering 2,919 rare conditions, it achieved a...
Creatine: Unexpected Longevity Boost Beyond the Gym
Creatine: The Longevity Supplement Hiding in Plain Sight For decades, I dismissed creatine as a "gym bro" supplement. Bodybuilders. Pre-workout shakes. Bigger biceps. Not relevant to a physician focused on metabolic health and longevity. I was wrong. https://robertlufkinmd.substack.com/p/creatine-the-longevity-supplement?r=6er0b
Most Health Systems Stall Patients' HIPAA Record Rights
HIPAA guarantees patients a right to their own medical records. In practice, most health systems require patients to fill out a release-of-information form designed for a different legal purpose; justify why they want their own data; and wait. I sampled...
Single Yes-or-No Question May Screen for Low Vision
A study published in Investigative Ophthalmology & Visual Science shows that a single yes‑or‑no question can reliably screen for low vision and legal blindness, achieving area‑under‑the‑curve (AUC) values of 0.81 and 0.77 respectively. Researchers tested 385 adults across four U.S....
Health Leaders Need Operational Agentic AI Strategies
Health leaders: your AI strategy may exist… but is it operational? Here’s how organizations are actually deploying agentic AI: https://t.co/iAzZysMNQp Meet NTT DATA at #ViVE2026 🤝 @NTT_DATA_NA #AgenticAI #HITSM
Monocyte IL‑10 Explains Sex Differences in Pain Duration
Sex differences in pain duration Finding interleukin-10 from monocytes as an/the explanation (in the experimental model and people) @SciImmunology https://t.co/fOsciwav7Y
Encompass Health, Enhabit Secure $43.1M Judgement in VitalCaring Case
Encompass Health and Enhabit secured a $43.1 million award covering attorneys’ fees and mitigation damages after a Delaware federal judge ruled that 43% of VitalCaring’s profits and any future sale proceeds must be placed in a trust for the two companies....
Smart, Narrow, Trusted AI: Prenosis Sepsis Test Approved
Healthcare AI doesn’t need to be louder. It needs to be smarter, narrower, and trusted. Prenosis’ FDA-authorized sepsis diagnostic shows what that looks like in practice. 🔗https://t.co/JQBRCOKfO3 @PrenosisInc #patientsafety #HITSM
Nasal Mucosa Targeted for Universal Respiratory Vaccine
How to get a universal vaccine vs respiratory threats? Block via the nasal mucosa @ScienceMagazine https://t.co/IjCkbF05LB @NatRevImmunol https://t.co/2W7SZ1fHSR https://t.co/XcEzcMeXrB
The Misuse of Hormone Therapy in Menopause Care
Hormone therapy has re‑emerged in menopause care, but many clinicians prescribe it as a first‑line fix without evaluating underlying stress, metabolic, or nervous‑system dysfunction. The article argues that estrogen, progesterone, and testosterone are often used to treat fatigue, burnout, and...
New Drug Discoveries Target Cancer and Autoimmunity
Discovering Drugs for Cancer and Autoimmunity. Listen to @Satpathology on The Long Run podcast. Sponsored by @AlphaSenseInc Dash Bio. https://t.co/02keVFdqzj
Madrigal Slides as Ex-Novartis Exec Joins Daiichi
Madrigal sees a stock sell-off; ex-Novartis exec heads to Daiichi https://t.co/ymSJ5qY8kq $MDGL $NVS $JNJ $ACIU #biotech
Generic Drugs Forum (GDF) 2026 - 04/22/2026
On April 22‑23, 2026, the FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluation and Research hosted the annual Generic Drugs Forum at its White Oak Campus, with a virtual option via Adobe Connect. The two‑day event gathered generic drug developers, consultants, and regulatory...
Lymphopenia Reversal Won’t Secure Anktiva FDA Approval
Reversal of lymphopenia is not an acceptable endpoint for Anktiva FDA approval. $IBRX could file but if it did, the application would be rejected.
Cyborg Islet-Cell Implant Boosts Precision Diabetes Therapy
A cyborg pancreatic islet-cell implant takes the stem cell strategy to a new level of precision and potential future therapy for T1 diabetes @ScienceMagazine https://t.co/gkmsrzU1e4 https://t.co/qgegRPlEIl
How Much Longer Will Americans Wait for Real Health Reform?
The episode examines the deepening crisis in U.S. health care, highlighting recent data that shows health insurance costs now outrank basic necessities for two‑thirds of Americans and that 1.2 million households lost coverage after premium subsidies were cut. Host Trudy Lieberman discusses...
AI-Based Platform Supports Community Health Workers in Street Medicine Program
Akido Labs has deployed an AI‑native platform that equips community health workers with real‑time data collection, documentation, and patient‑engagement tools for street‑medicine teams. The model aligns with California’s CalAIM whole‑person care framework and shifts the heavy reporting burden away from...
Proven Methodologies For Ensuring Seamless CRM Migrations In Highly Regulated Environments
CRM migrations in healthcare and life sciences are accelerating amid tighter regulations such as HIPAA, GDPR, and FDA 21 CFR Part 11. Avenga’s Roman Bevz outlines a compliance‑by‑design methodology that starts with mapping data to regulatory obligations and proceeds through risk analysis,...
Neutrophil Phenotypes and Spatial Patterns Mapped in Colorectal Cancer
Single-cell integration and multi-modal profiling reveals phenotypes and spatial organization of neutrophils in colorectal cancer https://t.co/0FLusa7vuB https://t.co/8MswWoLhCa
‘Magical Outcomes’: The Case for Launching PACE
Programs for All‑Inclusive Care of the Elderly (PACE) remain among the most complex value‑based models to launch, demanding multi‑million dollar capital, state contracts, and intricate regulatory compliance. SCAN Group’s myPlace Health, now fully owned after buying out Commonwealth Care Alliance,...