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
Democratic Republic of Congo Facing ‘Catastrophic Collision’ of Ebola and War: WHO Chief
The World Health Organization chief warned that eastern Democratic Republic of Congo is facing a "catastrophic collision" of a deadly Ebola outbreak and ongoing armed conflict. Since mid‑May, WHO has recorded 10 confirmed Ebola deaths, 220 suspected deaths and about 900 suspected cases, all linked to the Bundibugyo strain, which has no approved vaccine or treatment. The fighting has forced mass displacement, disrupted contact‑tracing, and made health‑facility access perilous. Tedros called for an immediate cease‑fire to secure humanitarian access and contain the virus.
Multimodal LLMs: One Conversational Interface for Doctors
Multimodal large language models will become the ultimate interface between physicians and a range of AI-based solutions. Why? 1) We cannot expect physicians to learn to use a bunch of different AI models. 2) We can expect them to learn to use...
D&D Pharmatech Reports P-II Trial Results on Zabopegdutide for Metabolic Dysfunction-Associated Steatohepatitis (MASH)
D&D Pharmatech disclosed topline Phase II data for its GLP‑1‑like agent zabopegdutide in 67 overweight or obese patients with metabolic dysfunction‑associated steatohepatitis (MASH). After a 2‑week titration to a 40 mg weekly maintenance dose, 48‑week histology showed a 50% fibrosis‑stage improvement versus...
Junshi Biosciences Achieves Phase 3 Success with Toripalimab Combo in NSCLC
Junshi Biosciences announced that its phase 3 NEOTORCH trial met primary endpoints, showing toripalimab plus chemotherapy reduced recurrence risk by 60% in resectable stage II‑III non‑small cell lung cancer. The data pave the way for a supplemental new drug application...
Barclays Raises Target on Eli Lilly (LLY) After Strong Tirzepatide Growth
Barclays raised its price objective for Eli Lilly (LLY) to $1,400 from $1,350 and kept an Overweight rating after the drugmaker posted a strong first‑quarter 2026 report. The boost was driven by a 30% surge in international sales of tirzepatide‑based products...
Hadassah Surgeons Used 3D Printing to Rebuild What Vanishing Bone Disease Took Away
Hadassah Hospital surgeons performed Israel's first reconstruction of a pelvis and femur destroyed by vanishing bone disease using two patient‑specific 3D‑printed implants. The 24‑year‑old patient, Mira, regained ambulation after a year‑long, staged procedure that restored bone geometry and lengthened her...
USC Researchers Print MRI Coils for a Fraction of the Cost
Researchers at USC's Viterbi and Stevens schools have created a silver‑ink MRI coil that can be printed in under ten minutes for roughly $30 in materials, a stark contrast to conventional coils costing $10,000‑$50,000. The printed coil delivers up to...
Cartesian Therapeutics Secures $150 Million Credit Facility to Push Autoimmune Cell Therapy
Cartesian Therapeutics announced a $150 million credit facility with K2 HealthVentures, including an initial $50 million tranche that will fund operations through 2028. The financing backs the upcoming Phase 3 AURORA trial readout for Descartes‑08, its lead cell‑based therapy for myasthenia gravis and...
Jade Biosciences Doses First Patient in JADE‑101 Phase 2 Trial for IgA Nephropathy
Jade Biosciences announced the first dose of JADE‑101 in its JUNIPER Phase 2 trial for immunoglobulin A nephropathy, enrolling about 30 patients. The monoclonal antibody targets APRIL, a driver of pathogenic IgA, and interim results are slated for 2027.
New Study Projects a Massive Shortage of Adult Psychiatrists in the United States
A new study in Psychiatric Services warns that the United States will face a severe shortage of adult psychiatrists over the next decade. Full‑time equivalents are projected to fall 12.3% from 37,260 in 2024 to 32,660 by 2037, while patient...
Parental Mental Health — Not Medication — Drives Autism Correlation, New Study Finds
A new Lancet review of 37 studies covering more than 25 million pregnancies finds that prenatal antidepressant use does not independently increase a child’s risk of autism or ADHD once parental mental‑health history is accounted for. The analysis shows children of...
Can You Have Outpatient Brain Surgery In An Ambulatory Surgery Center?
Neurosurgeons are increasingly performing elective brain and spine procedures in ambulatory surgery centers (ASCs), allowing same‑day discharge without compromising safety. Recent series report zero complications for intracranial aneurysm embolizations and 100% patient satisfaction for diagnostic cerebral angiography. Cost analyses show...
First Participant Dosed in Jade’s Phase II JUNIPER Trial for IgAN
Jade Biosciences has dosed the first participant in its Phase II JUNIPER trial evaluating JADE101 for immunoglobulin A nephropathy (IgAN). The open‑label study will enroll 30 patients and assess safety, tolerability, and early efficacy signals such as protein‑to‑creatinine ratio, eGFR and haematuria...
SK Bioscience and VECOL Partner on Colombia Vaccine Manufacturing Initiative
SK bioscience has signed a technology‑transfer and manufacturing agreement with Colombia’s state‑owned VECOL, joining the country’s $260 million vaccine localisation initiative. The partnership will initially produce the SKYVaricella varicella vaccine locally, with VECOL handling operations and SK providing expertise. SK will also...
Montana Hurries To Adopt Trump’s Medicaid Work Rules Amid Budget Woes
Montana will become the second state to implement President Trump’s Medicaid work requirements on July 1, six months before the federal deadline. The move comes as the state grapples with a $183 million shortfall in Medicaid funding and plans to withhold a...
Readers Address Drugged Driving, Suicide Prevention, Worker Shortages
Letters to the editor in KFF Health News spotlight five pressing policy debates: the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration defends its Trump‑era funding for drug‑impairment research; a public‑health scholar challenges the causal link between poverty and rising suicide rates despite...
Myriad Genetics Launches Prolaris + AI Test for Personalized Prostate Cancer Active Surveillance
Myriad Genetics is introducing the Prolaris + AI Test, the first prostate‑cancer assay that blends its long‑term Prolaris CCR genomic score with an artificial‑intelligence model (AI‑GUR) that predicts near‑term Gleason score upgrades. The AI metric will be available for all Prolaris Biopsy...
Workplace Heart Health Programme Launched to Raise Awareness
Pharmacy2U has launched the Healthy Hearts programme, offering 100,000 free finger‑prick cholesterol tests to employees through a digital toolkit and app‑based results. The initiative, built with microfluidic partner PocDoc, aims to close the gap as 62% of English adults skip...
Hong Kong Reviews Payment and Appointment System for Non-Urgent Radiology Services
Hong Kong’s Hospital Authority introduced an advance‑payment and tiered‑co‑payment system for non‑urgent radiology services on 1 January 2026, requiring patients to pay at least 14 days before their appointment. The three‑tier pricing keeps X‑rays free, charges HK$250 (≈ $32) for intermediate exams and HK$500...
TOBY Secures US FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for Urine-Based Alzheimer’s Disease Test
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has granted Breakthrough Device Designation to TOBY’s urine‑based test for Alzheimer’s disease, targeting adults aged 50 and older with cognitive impairment. The test analyzes volatile organic compound patterns in urine using mass spectrometry and...
Progress Toward EPR Go-Live and Digital Strategy Delivery From University Hospitals Dorset
University Hospitals Dorset (UHD) has signed a March 2026 contract with Epic to launch its HealthSet electronic patient record (EPR) programme, targeting a "big‑bang" go‑live in April 2028 after core implementation begins late summer 2026. The trust has established a...
Mapping Cellular Stress Biology to Tackle Undruggable Targets
In this episode, Daniel Levine interviews Yeremiá Gizarian, co‑founder and CEO of Soleil Therapeutics, about the company’s AI‑driven platform that maps cellular stress responses to discover drugs for traditionally "undruggable" targets. The discussion explains how Soleil flips the conventional drug‑discovery...
Medical Spa Owned by US Senator Hit with Multiple Lawsuits over Poor Mammography Quality
Sen. Jim Justice’s Greenbrier Clinic in West Virginia faces three proposed class‑action lawsuits alleging substandard mammography over a two‑year period. The FDA ordered the facility to suspend breast‑imaging services after the American College of Radiology flagged quality deficiencies. Plaintiffs claim...
Sobi Highlights P-III (CORE & CORE2) Trials Results of Olezarsen for Severe Hypertriglyceridemia (sHTG) at EAS 2026
Sobi presented pooled Phase III data from its CORE and CORE2 trials, evaluating the antisense drug olezarsen (Tryngolza) in 455 patients with severe hypertriglyceridemia (TG ≥ 500 mg/dL). At six months, the 80 mg dose cut triglycerides by 66% and the 50 mg dose by 59%...
Single Patient Record a Priority in New Health Bill
The UK government introduced a health‑modernisation bill that mandates a single patient record for every NHS provider in England, aiming to cut bureaucracy and improve care coordination. The legislation requires hospitals and GPs to share data securely, with early access...
Re: Benzodiazepine or Z-Hypnotic Use During Pregnancy and Risk of Psychiatric Disorders in Children: Population Based Cohort Study
A South Korean cohort of over 3.8 million births used sibling‑controlled analysis to examine prenatal benzodiazepine or Z‑hypnotic exposure. The adjusted hazard ratio for any psychiatric disorder in offspring was 0.99 (95% CI 0.94‑1.04), indicating no increased risk once familial confounding was accounted...
Support Levels Determine AI's Impact on Med Students' Well‑Being
I'm proud to share my PhD student, Nóra Árvai's, newest paper: Generative AI's Impact on the Mental Health of Medical Students: Scenario Analysis, just published in JMIR. She used scenario analysis to examine potential futures at the crossroads of generative AI...
The Medicaid Surge: Economic Drivers, the Unwinding, and the OBBBA Retrenchment
Medicaid enrollment peaked at 26% of the U.S. population, or 88.2 million people, in FY 2024, making it the nation’s largest insurer. The surge stemmed from policy shifts such as the ACA’s income‑based eligibility, pandemic‑era continuous coverage, and a “welcome‑mat” effect. The...
Researchers Shape Guidance for Cancer Screening
University of Warwick researchers helped the UK National Screening Committee publish two BMJ position statements that set standards for evaluating surrogate outcomes and multi‑cancer detection (MCD) tests. The guidance stresses that mortality reduction remains the gold‑standard endpoint, and that surrogate...
Matt Kaeberlein's New Longevity Science Podcast / Youtube Channel (May, 2026)
Dr. Matt Kaeberlein’s Longevity Science podcast provides a biochemistry‑focused audit of the burgeoning peptide market, clarifying that true peptides are short amino‑acid chains and excluding compounds like NAD+ and rapamycin. He evaluates leading peptides—synthetic mitochondrial agent Elamipretide and the popular...
One-Time Gene Editing Cuts LDL Cholesterol in Early Hypercholesterolemia Trial
A single intravenous infusion of VERVE‑102, an in‑vivo base‑editing therapy targeting the PCSK9 gene, produced dose‑dependent reductions in PCSK9 protein and LDL cholesterol in a phase 1 trial of 35 adults with heterozygous familial hypercholesterolemia or premature coronary disease. At the...
ICU Pneumonia Mortality Rates Remain Elevated in Developing Nations
A systematic review in NEJM Evidence examined 48,707 ICU patients with community‑acquired pneumonia across 18 middle‑income nations. Overall mortality was 37.1 %, climbing to 59.3 % for those requiring mechanical ventilation, far above the 16‑26 % seen in high‑income settings. The analysis, spanning...
Retatrutide Reshapes Metabolism in Obesity and Type 2 Diabetes, Study Finds
A post‑hoc analysis of two phase‑2 trials shows that the triple‑receptor agonist retatrutide reshapes fatty‑acid oxidation and insulin‑resistance biomarkers in participants with obesity, with or without type 2 diabetes. Higher doses raised 3‑hydroxybutyrate by up to 198% and altered acyl‑carnitine ratios,...
Recce Pharmaceuticals Signs Distribution Agreement for R327 Diabetic Foot Gel Across MENA
Recce Pharmaceuticals has inked a 10‑year licensing deal with a leading Middle Eastern partner to sell its R327 topical gel for diabetic foot infections across the MENA region, including Saudi Arabia, Egypt, Algeria, Morocco and the GCC. The agreement provides...
Health Care Must Serve Patients, Not Corporations
The Searchlight Institute warns that corporate dominance is turning U.S. health care into a profit‑driven industry, inflating costs and denying care. It calls for three reforms: dismantling insurance monopolies, curbing corporate hospital pricing power, and unlocking innovative, consumer‑focused solutions. The...
EMVision Medical Devices De-Risks Rural Stroke Use Cases with Aeromedical Study
EMVision Medical Devices completed a feasibility aeromedical study of its First Responder Brain Scanner with the Royal Flying Doctor Service, enrolling 17 adults across 15 transfers at 12 remote airstrips. Flight nurses rated operator usability highly, 92% of patients felt...
Iboga Microdosing Shows Clinical Gains in Brain Injury
Clinical Improvement Following an Integrative Iboga Microdosing Protocol in Post-Concussive and Hypoxic Brain Injury Syndromes: A Case Series https://t.co/VVlzsjyxRT
WHO Lifts Bundibugyo Ebola Outbreak in DRC and Uganda to Very High Risk as Cases Near 1,000
The World Health Organization elevated the Bundibugyo strain Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of Congo and Uganda to a very high risk level, citing nearly 1,000 suspected cases and over 220 deaths. The surge has been compounded by a...
Mediwound Ltd (MDWD) Q1 2026 Earnings Call Transcript
MedWound reported Q1 2026 revenue of $1.9 million, a sharp decline from $5.8 million a year earlier, driven primarily by a U.S. government shutdown that delayed contract awards. R&D spending jumped to $4.5 million as the company advanced the Phase III VALUE trial for...
Chemical Efflux Imaging Using an Annular Nanosensor Array for in Situ Bladder Cancer Detection
Researchers at MIT and Harvard have created an annular nanosensor array that mounts on a standard urinary catheter, enabling three‑dimensional chemical efflux imaging inside the bladder. The device integrates near‑infrared fluorescent single‑walled carbon nanotubes functionalized to detect the bladder‑cancer biomarker...
NSW Health Clears Most of Its COVID-Era Elective Surgery Backlog
NSW Health has cleared the majority of its COVID‑era elective surgery backlog, according to a recent Audit Office of New South Wales report. The audit found that while the backlog has been reduced dramatically, the state still falls short of...
![When a Code Blue on the Psychiatry Unit Ends in a Police Interview [PODCAST]](/cdn-cgi/image/width=1200,quality=75,format=auto,fit=cover/https://kevinmd.com/wp-content/uploads/wadhwa_code_blue_thumbnail.png)
When a Code Blue on the Psychiatry Unit Ends in a Police Interview [PODCAST]
Dr. Devina Maya Wadhwa recounts a tragic code‑blue on her psychiatry unit that resulted in a young patient’s death, a coroner’s investigation, and police interviews of the care team. She explains how the unit’s physical layout and staffing differ from...
The Architecture of Healing: Neuroplastogens Explained
Psychedelic research has moved into the mainstream, prompting scientists to focus on the brain‑plasticity mechanisms behind therapeutic effects. The emerging class of neuroplastogens seeks to harness neuroplasticity while avoiding hallucinogenic experiences, aiming for more scalable treatments. Companies such as Delix...
PERCS Initiative Advances Comprehensive Care Models for Cancer Survivors
The National Cancer Institute‑funded Primary Care Engaged Research for Cancer Survivorship (PERCS) initiative is rolling out four randomized controlled trials to embed survivorship care within primary‑care practices across the United States. Targeting the 18 million adult cancer survivors who regularly see...
Families USA Sounds Alarm Over Rumored IFR Work Req Restrictions
Families USA has issued a warning ahead of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) interim final rule that will implement the Medicaid work‑requirement provisions of H.R. 1. The advocacy group fears the rule could narrow the definition of a...
Senate Democrats: New Policies Needed to Improve Nursing Home Care Quality, Access
Senate Finance Committee Ranking Member Ron Wyden and 16 Senate Democrats released a letter outlining new policy proposals to improve long‑term‑care access, nursing‑home quality, and home‑care services. The plan calls for workforce incentives, higher staffing standards, wage and training improvements,...
'We Knew Somebody Would Die': Teenage Patients 'Ignored' Before Fatal NHS Trust Failures
The Tees, Esk and Wear Valleys NHS Foundation Trust (TEWV) has been linked to the deaths of three teenage patients—Christie Harnett, Nadia Sharif and Emily Moore—within an eight‑month span, alongside other suicides of young adults such as Nathan Evison and...
CMS Myth Vs. Fact: What Hospice and Home Health Providers Need to Know About the New Medicare Enrollment Moratoria
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) instituted a nationwide six‑month moratorium, effective May 13, 2026, that bars new Medicare enrollments for hospice and home health agencies. The freeze covers not only brand‑new providers but also any transaction—such as...
The Hidden Cost of GLP-1 Insurance Coverage Mandates
Physician assistants and clinicians are sounding alarms as insurers increasingly tie GLP‑1 obesity drug coverage to third‑party weight‑management programs, mandatory weigh‑ins and vendor‑assigned prescribers. The new mandates force patients to switch clinicians, endure administrative delays and, in some cases, face...
2 Million Asthma Patients to Be Disenrolled From Medicaid
The upcoming “Big Beautiful Bill” will require adult Medicaid recipients to demonstrate 80 hours of work per month, putting more than 2 million asthma patients at risk of losing coverage. Analysis of 2022‑2023 Medical Expenditure Panel Survey data shows 61 % of Medicaid‑enrolled...