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
Britain’s Labour Government Feels the Heat over Palantir Contracts
Britain’s Labour government is under growing pressure over its contracts with U.S. data‑analytics firm Palantir, which include a £330 million NHS platform and a £240 million defence deal awarded without competition. Critics cite the company’s founder Peter Thiel, its work with ICE, and its connections to former ambassador Peter Mandelson, whose past ties to Jeffrey Epstein have intensified scrutiny. Green and Liberal Democrat MPs are calling for a digital‑sovereignty strategy to reduce reliance on American tech, while a recent poll shows 63 % of voters favor limiting foreign ownership of critical digital infrastructure. The controversy threatens Labour’s political capital and could reshape UK procurement policy.
Hims & Hers Acquires Australian Digital Health Eucalyptus for Up to $1.15B
Hims & Hers Health announced a definitive agreement to acquire Australian digital‑health firm Eucalyptus for up to $1.15 billion, with $240 million paid in cash and the balance structured as deferred and earn‑out payments. Eucalyptus, founded in 2019, serves more than 775,000...
Obesity Biotech Verdiva Plans Big Year of Data, Explores Deals
Verdiva Bio, an obesity‑focused biotech, is gearing up for a data‑heavy 2026, with Phase 2 results for its lead long‑acting peptide slated for the third quarter. The company is also courting strategic partnerships, eyeing potential deals with major pharma players after...
Caregivers Find Much-Needed Relief with This Unique Eldercare Solution
CareYaya, a student‑matching platform, connects college students with seniors and disabled adults to provide non‑medical in‑home assistance. By paying students directly at about $20 an hour, the service reduces care costs roughly 50 % compared with traditional agencies. The app’s algorithm...
Tradipitant
Vanda Pharmaceuticals received FDA approval for tradipitant (Nereus®), an oral selective NK1 receptor antagonist, to treat motion‑induced nausea and vomiting. The approval marks the first new drug for motion sickness in more than four decades, highlighting a significant regulatory milestone....
Redefining Obesity Treatment Beyond GLP-1 Limits
BioSpace’s Denatured podcast featured Verdiva Bio’s R&D head Jane Hughes and MitoRx CEO Jon Rees discussing next‑generation obesity therapies that move beyond the limitations of GLP‑1 agonists. They highlighted how GLP‑1 treatments can cause muscle loss and suffer from poor...
MedStar Health, Withings Bring Connected Devices to Concierge Medicine Program
MedStar Health is scaling its Signature concierge primary‑care program by partnering with Withings Health Solutions to supply patients with cellular blood‑pressure cuffs and scales. The collaboration leverages MedStar’s existing telehealth and remote‑patient‑monitoring infrastructure to collect real‑world physiologic data outside the...
4 Out of 5 Rural Texans Face a “Life-Threatening” Chronic Disease Crisis, PCCI Data Shows
An analysis by the Parkland Center for Clinical Innovation using its Community Vulnerability Compass finds that four out of five rural Texans live in areas highly vulnerable to life‑threatening chronic diseases. Over 670,000 residents face elevated risk for coronary heart...
Biogen Stops Part of an MS Trial; Merck Reports More Enflonsia Data
Biogen announced it is halting the combination‑therapy arm of its multiple sclerosis (MS) trial after interim data showed insufficient efficacy and safety concerns. The decision pauses enrollment in the experimental regimen while the company continues evaluating its monotherapy components. Meanwhile,...
Medtronic’s RDN System Receives New Reimbursement Approval
Medtronic’s Symplicity Spyral renal denervation system has secured reimbursement approval from Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, expanding coverage for resistant hypertension. The therapy, which uses radio‑frequency energy to ablate renal nerves via a single catheter, was previously approved...
In FTC Settlement, Cigna Agrees to Change Some PBM Business Practices, Charge Customers Less for Insulin
The episode examines Cigna’s settlement with the FTC over its Express Scripts PBM, which was accused of inflating insulin prices through opaque rebate deals. Key provisions require Cigna to prioritize lower‑cost drug versions, base patient copays on net prices, increase...
New Mexico Hospital Deploys AI Platform Enterprisewide
San Juan Regional Medical Center in Farmington, New Mexico, has rolled out Wellsheet’s AI documentation platform across its entire enterprise. The solution, already active in more than 100 U.S. hospitals, promises physicians 90‑120 minutes of daily documentation savings and a...
FDA Issues Early Alert on Trividia Glucometer Issue Linked to 114 Injuries
The FDA issued an early alert after linking Trividia Health’s True Metrix glucometers to 114 injuries and one death. The alert cites an E‑5 error code that appears when blood glucose exceeds 600 mg/dL or when a test‑strip fault occurs, potentially...
Deregulation Must Preserve Interoperability, AI Access, and Bulk FHIR Metrics
SMART Health IT team submitted formal comments on HTI-5. Feel free to read and borrow language. Briefly: Deregulation should not mean losing sight of whether interoperability is actually working. (HTI-5 risks eliminating the instrumentation ASTP/ONC needs to steer a successful...
University of Mississippi Medical Center Closes All Clinics in Wake of Cyberattack
The University of Mississippi Medical Center (UMMC) suffered a severe cybersecurity breach on Thursday, forcing multiple IT systems offline, including its Epic electronic medical records platform. The outage crippled access to patient data, prompting the Jackson‑based health system to shut...
Sustaining Clinician Independence: Why Simplicity, Not Consolidation, Is Key to Solving the Mental Health Crisis
The article argues that America’s mental‑health crisis cannot be solved by consolidating providers; instead, preserving clinician independence is essential. While demand outpaces supply, most mental‑health clinicians still operate solo or in small groups, delivering timely, high‑quality care. Consolidation introduces administrative...
Valneva’s Lyme Disease Vaccine Offers Beacon of Hope Amid 2025 Sales Dip
Valneva reported a 3.3% decline in product sales to €157.9 million in 2025, driven primarily by regulatory suspensions of its chikungunya vaccine Ixchiq in the US and UK. Despite the sales dip, total revenue rose to €174.7 million, buoyed by a licensing...
Sleep Trackers Flag Depression Relapse Early
A study of 93 adults in remission from major depressive disorder used research‑grade wrist actigraphy to monitor sleep and activity for up to two years. The analysis of nearly 32,000 days of data showed that increasingly irregular sleep patterns and...
Pembrolizumab-Induced Adrenal Insufficiency: Recognizing and Managing a Diagnostic Challenge in Adjuvant NSCLC Therapy
Pembrolizumab used as adjuvant therapy for NSCLC can cause central adrenal insufficiency, presenting with nonspecific fatigue, nausea, and hyponatremia. In a 67‑year‑old patient, a markedly low morning cortisol and suppressed ACTH confirmed the diagnosis within ten weeks of treatment. Prompt...
Hospitals and Area Agencies on Aging Work Together to Advance Social Connection
One‑fifth of Americans aged 50+ live alone, raising isolation‑related health risks. Hospitals and Area Agencies on Aging (AAAs) are increasingly partnering to screen for loneliness and deliver social‑connection programs, with 98% of AAAs and nearly 80% of hospitals now active...
Investors Unfazed by Uncertainties Around Tariffs in Med Tech
Investors remain steady in the med‑tech sector despite lingering tariff uncertainties, signaling confidence in long‑term growth. At the same time, research updates highlight the SCAN circuit as a core driver of Parkinson’s disease, TL1A overexpression in hidradenitis suppurativa, and an...
Cetirizine and Levocetirizine Withdrawal Pruritus: What Pharmacists Need to Know About the FDA’s New Safety Warning
The FDA will update labeling for cetirizine and levocetirizine to warn of a rare but serious withdrawal‑related pruritus that can emerge days after stopping long‑term use. More than 200 adverse‑event reports, primarily linked to cetirizine, describe severe itching requiring medical...
Health Systems Must Connect with Patients in More Meaningful Ways
Health systems are accelerating digital transformation post‑COVID, with HIMSS research showing that hospitals possessing advanced digital maturity are 3.25 times more likely to earn higher safety grades and experience lower infection and adverse event rates. The pandemic also shifted patients from...
2024-2025 COVID-19 Vaccines Provided Moderate Protection Against JN.1 Variants
A recent JAMA Network Open case‑control study of 8,493 hospitalized adults shows that 2024‑2025 COVID‑19 vaccines provided moderate protection against the JN.1 lineage, with overall effectiveness of 40% against hospitalization and up to 52% after 90‑179 days. Updated Moderna and...
Insulin Affordability: Policies and Pharmacist Roles in Diabetes Management
Insulin’s list price has surged more than 300% over the past two decades, driven by a rebate‑heavy gross‑to‑net bubble and limited biosimilar competition. Pharmacy‑benefit managers (PBMs) dominate 79% of the market, using high‑list‑price rebates to secure formulary placement, which inflates...
Imaging Data Liquidity: The Foundation of Multimodal Medical Intelligence
Healthcare’s imaging assets—radiology and digital pathology—are evolving from isolated diagnostic tools into a strategic, enterprise‑wide intelligence layer. Current PACS and VNA infrastructures were built for episodic access, limiting data recombination, longitudinal analysis, and outcome linkage. The article argues that achieving...
Navigating GLP-1 Costs With Eric Levin: Insurance, Cash Pay, and the Oral Wegovy Shift
Eric Levin, CEO of Scripta, explains that the newly launched oral Wegovy pill is typically cheaper on a cash‑pay basis—by a few hundred dollars per month—than injectable GLP‑1s, but insurance reimbursements are currently similar for both forms. Coverage depends heavily...
Why Alivia Care Is Getting Invested in ACO Models
Alivia Care is committing to high‑needs Accountable Care Organization models, finishing the 2026 ACO REACH program and planning to join the new Long‑term Enhanced ACO Design (LEAD) model starting in 2027. ACO REACH has generated more than $70 million in Medicare...
DHL Group Invests €2bn in Healthcare Logistics Push
DHL Group announced a €2 billion strategic investment to expand its Life Sciences & Healthcare air‑freight cold‑chain network. The rollout adds more than 30 GDP‑compliant aviation hubs and a dedicated Boeing 777F route between Brussels and Cincinnati, linking Europe’s life‑science cluster...
AI Scribes Should Aid Notes, Not Replace Trainee Assessments
Should residents and med students get access to AI scribes? Or does it risk critically de-skilling them? My 7 thoughts: 1/ Students are increasingly using scribes in all aspects of their life. I’m not in school anymore but I suspect many...
New Drug Development Reforms Aim to Match China
These proposed reforms to pre-clinical drug development and to smoothing the transition to first-in-human studies could be the most consequential steps toward leveling the playing field with China. https://t.co/oVY6N3xo9Y
Veradigm Cut 15% of Its Workforce in 2025
Veradigm announced a 15% workforce reduction in 2025, closed three offices and plans two more closures, and will discontinue six low‑revenue products as part of a broader turnaround. The health‑IT firm is also focused on updating its financial filings after...
Adding Fragmentomics Boosts GRAIL’s Multicancer Detection Accuracy
The most used multicancer early detection (MCED) blood test (liquid biopsy) uses methylation (GRAIL). But combining that with DNA fragmentomics, as reported today @NatureCancer, improves early detection https://t.co/VkNDR4XuW3
FDA Proposes Single Pivotal Trial as Approval Standard
FDA leaders say one pivotal trial, not two, should be ‘default’ for drug approvals https://t.co/ADRb1miphf by Kristin Jensen #biotech
STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re Reading About the FDA Pushing OTC Meds, Its New Trial Standards, and Much More
The FDA, under Commissioner Marty Makary, is pushing to expand over‑the‑counter (OTC) availability for safe prescription drugs such as nausea treatments and vaginal estrogen. Simultaneously, the agency proposes dropping the long‑standing requirement for two pivotal clinical trials, moving to a...
Tech Fails in Fee‑For‑Service, Aledade Shows Value‑Based Solution
What happens when you drop great tech into a fee-for-service system? Farzad Mostashari has a blunt answer—and it’s worth hearing. See what Aledade is doing to make the math work for value-based care: https://t.co/iMKzsdQSrl @AledadeACO #ValueBasedCare #HITsm https://t.co/lL49Ha2UHC
Former Psilocybin Trial Participant Shocked by New Findings
"I took part in a 2012 psilocybin trial. What I’m seeing now horrifies me" https://t.co/T1BLv6n59X via @statnews
How Medplum Secured Their Healthcare Platform with Docker Hardened Images (DHI)
Medplum, an open‑source headless EHR serving over 20 million patients, migrated its production containers to Docker Hardened Images (DHI) with just 54 lines of code changes across five files. The switch replaced custom hardening scripts with Docker’s secure‑by‑default base images, eliminating...
Blood P‑tau217 Test Predicts Alzheimer’s Symptoms 20 Years Ahead
Predicting when symptoms of Alzheimer's disease will occur with elevated p-tau217 blood test and a person's age, even 20+ years in advance @NatureMedicine https://t.co/EYaGglBh1H
Gossamer Lung Trial and ProMis Alzheimer Therapy Spotlight
This week's Biotech Scorecard newsletter: -- What to expect from $GOSS Gossamer Bio’s late-stage lung disease study -- A better, safer Alzheimer’s treatment? ProMis $PMN takes its shot https://t.co/YaA8kvUR4Z
4 Ways a Technology-Enabled Medical Center Can Improve Your Weight Loss Journey
Obesity affects over 42% of U.S. adults, prompting a surge in weight‑loss solutions. Technology‑enabled medical centers combine clinical expertise with digital tools to deliver data‑driven, personalized programs. By continuously monitoring biomarkers, body composition and activity, they adapt nutrition and exercise...
Profusa Enables Real‑Time Tissue Biochemistry Monitoring
👍Profusa is my pick for 2026. Fascinating technology to measure real time tissue biochemistry. This is a fundamental shift from blood to tissue to shine a new light on cellular status and metabolism. https://t.co/gfduGvgJTX @ProfusaInc #medicine $PFSA #diabetes
Treg Pioneer Bluestone Joins Vie Ventures as It Builds Autoimmune Portfolio
Vie Ventures has hired immunology veteran Jeff Bluestone to strengthen its autoimmune‑focused venture portfolio. Bluestone, founder of the Immune Tolerance Network and former CEO of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy, previously co‑founded Sonoma Biotherapeutics and created Tzield teplizumab, the...
LPM-5140276 Shows Enhanced Antitumor Efficacy in Combination with RMC-4550
Researchers reported that the novel KRAS G12D inhibitor LPM-5140276 markedly improves antitumor activity when paired with the SHP2 inhibitor RMC-4550. The combination demonstrated synergistic tumor regression in preclinical models of pancreatic and colorectal cancers harboring KRAS G12D mutations. Data suggest enhanced pathway...
FNIH Biomarkers Consortium Study Shows “Clock Model” Blood Test Can Predict Onset of Alzheimer’s Symptoms Years in Advance
The FNIH Biomarkers Consortium unveiled a “clock model” that uses a single blood test to forecast Alzheimer’s disease symptom onset 3‑4 years before clinical presentation. The model aggregates plasma biomarkers into a temporal trajectory, and a new web‑based visualization tool...
SEQSTER Launches 1-Click Data Refinery™ to Power Scalable AI Across Clinical Trials
SEQSTER PDM, Inc. unveiled its 1-Click Data Refinery™ – an enterprise‑grade engine that converts raw, patient‑consented EHR data into clean, structured, AI‑ready records. The platform normalizes, deduplicates and harmonizes data across health systems, delivering longitudinal patient views suitable for rapid...
Blackbird-Backed Telehealth Startup Eucalyptus Sells for $1.6 Billion to US Listed Rival
Australian telehealth startup Eucalyptus is being acquired by NYSE‑listed Hims & Hers for $1.15 bn, valuing the company at A$1.6 bn. The deal includes an upfront $240 m payment and deferred cash or stock plus earn‑out provisions through 2029. Eucalyptus reports an ARR north...
ViiV Healthcare Reports P-III (LATITUDE) Trial of Cabenuva in Adherence-Challenged HIV Patients
ViiV Healthcare presented results from the Phase III LATITUDE trial evaluating Cabenuva, a long‑acting injectable of cabotegravir and rilpivirine, in 453 adults with adherence challenges. Among 306 virally suppressed participants, the quarterly injection reduced cumulative regimen failure to 22.8% versus...
Radiopharmaceutical Therapy Use Has Increased 2,000% Among Medicare Population
Radiopharmaceutical therapy (RPT) utilization among Medicare beneficiaries surged 2,000% between 2013 and 2023, climbing from 529 to 12,395 IV administrations. The study identified a 37% compound annual growth rate, with diagnostic and interventional radiology delivering 45.2% of services and nuclear...
High Risk Research: HHS Should Publicly Share More Information on How Risk Is Assessed and Mitigated
The Government Accountability Office (GAO) reports that the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) conducts risk assessments for gain‑of‑function research but does not consistently share those findings with the public. While the research has expanded understanding of pathogen transmission,...