KKR and GIC delay sale of 80% stake in Philippines’ Metro Pacific Health
Private equity firm KKR and Singapore sovereign‑wealth fund GIC have postponed the sale of their combined 80% stake in Metro Pacific Health, the Philippines’ largest private hospital group. The delay is due to an inability to secure a valuation that meets investor expectations, a challenge worsened by geopolitical uncertainty from the Iran conflict. Metro Pacific Health, which retains a 20% stake, had hoped to acquire an additional share as part of the transaction.
Also developing:
By the numbers: Syneron Bio raises $150M Series B

The U.S. Supreme Court nullified President Trump’s emergency authority to impose tariffs, reigniting uncertainty for the pharmaceutical sector. Despite the ruling, most‑favored‑nation (MFN) pricing agreements between branded drug makers and the Administration are expected to hold, though new U.S. manufacturing investments may be delayed until tariff rules are clarified. Generic drugs remain exempt from tariffs, preserving current low‑price dynamics. Contract manufacturing organizations (CDMOs) stand to benefit, with forecasts of steady single‑digit growth through 2030 as firms seek localized production amid the trade ambiguity.
Professor Sir Nicholas White, a pioneering pharmacologist and tropical‑medicine clinician, led the development and global adoption of artemisinin‑based combination therapies (ACTs) that transformed malaria treatment. His early trials in the 1990s demonstrated ACTs’ safety and efficacy, prompting a WHO guideline...
In 2025 the WHO African region faced profound public‑health disruptions that accelerated a shift away from donor‑driven, disease‑specific programmes toward domestically financed, system‑wide strategies. Health is being repositioned as a macro‑economic asset, with preparedness, universal coverage and disease control framed...
Lung cancer caused 44,213 new cases and 38,292 deaths in Brazil in 2022, imposing heavy morbidity and costs on the public health system. Unlike many nations, Brazil lacks a national low‑dose CT (LDCT) screening programme, despite strong trial evidence that...
During the 1960s, Uganda’s Virus Research Institute exemplified how African health research was rebuilt after independence, navigating the collapse of colonial institutions while maintaining productive collaborations. Today, abrupt reductions in U.S. development assistance—withdrawal from USAID, WHO, and Gavi—are destabilizing similar...
Vertical HIV programmes in East and Southern Africa have successfully expanded rapid treatment access, but rising non‑communicable disease (NCD) comorbidities among people living with HIV now demand integrated service delivery. Recent pragmatic trials such as INTE‑AFRICA (2023) and INTE‑COMM (2026)...

Hospitals that prioritize accurate clinical notes see measurable revenue gains because documentation directly drives coding and reimbursement. Vague or incomplete entries cause denied claims, audit flags, and lost tariffs, even when billing tools are sophisticated. Solutions such as Scribe X and...

Spain's High Court of Justice ordered Madrid to immediately create a registry of doctors who conscientiously object to performing abortions. The national law, introduced in 2023, obliges all autonomous communities to maintain such lists to ensure women can access legal...
PsiQuantum and Japan’s National Cancer Center have signed a research agreement to explore utility‑scale quantum computing for oncology drug discovery. The collaboration will focus on developing fault‑tolerant quantum algorithms and deploying PsiQuantum’s Construct platform across the healthcare value chain. Additional...
PsiQuantum has signed a research agreement with Japan's National Cancer Center to explore utility‑scale quantum computing for oncology drug discovery. The partnership will focus on developing fault‑tolerant quantum algorithms and clinically relevant applications using PsiQuantum's Construct platform. It also brings...
Ireland has published its first national AI strategy for health, outlining a five‑year roadmap across four strategic pillars: clinical care, operations, research and innovation, and public health. The plan emphasizes AI‑driven improvements such as shorter waiting times, personalised treatment, diagnostic...
Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) remains the clinical gold‑standard for obstructive sleep apnea, but adherence rates plummet as many patients find the mask noisy, uncomfortable, or claustrophobic. The article outlines a suite of less invasive alternatives—including daytime neuromuscular therapy, custom...
Pilatus Biosciences has begun dosing the first patient in a Phase I, open‑label trial of PLT012, its first‑in‑class anti‑CD36 monoclonal antibody, at Next Oncology in Houston. The FDA recently issued IND clearance along with orphan‑drug status for hepatocellular carcinoma and fast‑track...
Clinical laboratories face unpredictable crises ranging from equipment failures to cyber attacks, demanding proactive resilience. Experts Tracy Durnan and Jason Nagy stress embedding preparedness into daily routines, from identifying cascade failures to regular infrastructure testing. Cross‑training, scenario‑based drills, and redundant...
Abbott announced that its FreeStyle Libre continuous glucose monitoring system outperformed traditional finger‑stick testing in the FreeDM2 randomised trial involving 303 UK patients with type 2 diabetes on basal insulin. After four months, CGM users achieved a larger reduction in HbA1c...

Avahi, an AWS Premier partner, is launching a free webinar on March 18 to demystify AI agents for healthcare executives. The session, titled “The AI Agent Implementation Framework,” will explain how AI agents operate within hospitals and identify high‑impact use...
A December 2025 federal court ruling allows Medicaid to share enrollee names, addresses and immigration status with ICE, overturning long‑standing privacy assurances. The change, initiated by the Trump administration, removes the guarantee that health data would not be used for...

Patients like Sheldon Ekirch have spent nearly $90,000 fighting insurer denials for costly IVIG therapy, only to receive coverage after a Virginia external review overturned Anthem's decision. The case highlights ongoing frustrations with prior‑authorization processes despite industry pledges, made last...

A recent KFF poll shows 41% of Americans believe the Trump administration’s policies will lower prescription drug costs, outpacing awareness of the Biden‑era Medicare price‑negotiation law. Support is sharply partisan—79% of Republicans versus 11% of Democrats share this view. Only...

Nevada regulators fined three individuals and a Texas private membership association for unlicensed peptide injections at the Revolution Against Aging and Death Festival, where two women became critically ill. The doctor and pharmacist each received $10,000 fines, the health coach...
A senior continuous‑improvement coach at a community hospital subscribed to the Lean Hospitals Coach after failing to build a custom AI tool. The platform combines Lean problem‑solving structure with Socratic coaching, catching errors like solution‑laden problem statements in real time....

PRISM BioLab has teamed with Receptor.AI to build an AI‑driven, physics‑guided platform for discovering orally available small molecules that target intracellular protein‑protein interactions, membrane proteins, and complex receptor systems. The collaboration fuses PRISM’s PepMetics technology—3‑dimensional scaffolds that mimic α‑helix and...
On 11 December 2025 the EMA’s CHMP issued a positive opinion to extend Uplizna’s (inebilizumab) marketing authorisation to three additional autoimmune conditions: neuromyelitis optica spectrum disorder (NMOSD), immunoglobulin G4‑related disease (IgG4‑RD) and generalized myasthenia gravis (gMG). The recommendation designates Uplizna as monotherapy for...
India’s health crisis stems more from systemic design flaws than from a lack of funding. The current insurance and financing structures incentivize hospitalization, leaving primary care under‑developed and driving high out‑of‑pocket costs. Research cited by Nachiket Mor shows that, when...

Natera announced the commercial launch of Zenith Genomics, a next‑generation whole‑genome sequencing (WGS) assay aimed at diagnosing rare and ultra‑rare diseases in the United States. The platform pairs standard WGS with long‑read sequencing confirmation to capture complex genomic features such...

Mina Stoddart‑Stones, a 26‑year‑old from Bridgwater, discovered she is one of only nine UK donors with the ultra‑rare U‑negative, N‑negative blood type. Her blood, also classified as the RO subtype, is kept in the NHS Blood and Transplant frozen bank...

RQM+ announced SMART Solutions, a life‑cycle partnership model that fuses regulatory, quality, clinical, reimbursement and laboratory expertise for medical device and diagnostics firms. The offering comes in two formats: an integrated solution for small‑to‑mid‑size companies and a functional, modular option...
A Lancet Digital Health review of 77 studies shows objective cough monitoring outperforms traditional patient‑reported outcomes for chronic respiratory disease. Continuous, sensor‑derived cough counts provide high‑resolution, bias‑free data that can serve as a digital biomarker when combined with acoustic signatures...
The Department of Health and Social Care’s Get Adult Social Care Data service has cleared its alpha assessment, meeting all 14 Government Digital Service standards. The platform consolidates data from multiple sources to aid local authorities, care providers, researchers, and...

Australian researchers analyzed nearly 418,000 women who underwent medically assisted reproduction between 1991 and 2018 and found no increase in overall invasive cancer rates compared with age‑matched peers. While overall risk was unchanged, specific cancers such as uterine, ovarian and...
At the inaugural BIO BIG Summit, a Washington Policy Brief panel dissected the shifting U.S. healthcare landscape for biotech. The discussion highlighted progress on reauthorizing the Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) and emerging pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) reforms, while...
Hospital staff across Lebanon are confronting an escalating humanitarian crisis as daily death tolls climb amid ongoing Israeli bombardments. Emergency rooms are inundated with trauma patients while chronic shortages of medicines, oxygen, and power strain already fragile facilities. Workers describe...

Embedding specialist psychologists within UK Major Trauma Centres has demonstrably improved patient outcomes, according to a qualitative evaluation of clinicians at Southmead Hospital. Front‑line staff reported higher patient engagement, faster rehabilitation, and better emotional adjustment when psychologists participated in ward...
Prime exits® and American Healthcare Capital are marketing a fully integrated AI‑driven speech‑therapy platform in Northern California. The business combines a proprietary assessment and autism‑intervention suite funded by over $2.28 million in federal and corporate grants with a profitable clinical services...
A full-service ophthalmology practice in Southern California is listed for $4.5 million, projecting $3.3 million revenue in 2026. The practice delivers a balanced mix of exams, surgeries and in‑office procedures, with a 4.1‑4.2 star patient rating and strong referral networks. After recent...

Weight Watchers unveiled a GLP-1 Results Report showing its integrated medical‑behavioral program drives 61.3% greater weight loss in the first month versus medication‑only users. Over 12 months, Med+ participants achieved a 21% average loss, maintaining 20.5% at 24 months. The...
A Medicare-certified hospice and home health agency based in Southern California’s South County is up for sale, serving six Northern California counties. Founded in 2016, the firm generated $1.64 million in revenue in 2025 with an adjusted EBITDA of $238,770. Its...

Bayada Home Health Care has launched a value‑based Home Intensive Care Unit (HICU) program delivering in‑home neonatal and pediatric intensive care. A pilot moving 80 children home cut rehospitalizations, achieved 97.6% reliability and saved over $250,000 per patient. The service,...

Grail announced that long‑time CEO Bob Ragusa will retire, handing the role to current president Josh Ofman. The transition follows a multi‑year succession plan designed to ensure leadership continuity. Ofman, who has overseen product launches and regulatory milestones, will assume...
Federal jury in Philadelphia convicted Pennsylvania brothers Bhaskar and Arun Savani and associate Aleksandra Radomiak for a decade‑long racketeering scheme that siphoned more than $32 million from the state Medicaid program. The Savani Group used sham dental practices, false H‑1B visa...

The Make America Health Again (MAHA) Institute, a D.C. think tank linked to Robert F. Kennedy Jr., announced it wants to eliminate the entire U.S. childhood vaccine schedule until each shot is proven safe and effective. The group’s president, Mark Gorton, presented the stance...
Heat therapy activates proteins that repair cells and protect the heart [PODCAST] http://dlvr.it/TRSXny Podcast #PrimaryCare
The 9 laws of health care quality: Why metrics miss the point http://dlvr.it/TRSXmd Physician #Psychiatry
Day three of HIMSS26 highlighted the accelerating digital transformation of healthcare. High‑profile keynotes from CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz and actor‑advocate Jeremy Renner framed the conversation around AI, population health, and home monitoring technologies. Sessions explored practical AI applications, interoperable...
The NRG‑LU005 phase III trial evaluated atezolizumab combined with concurrent chemoradiation in patients with limited‑stage small‑cell lung cancer (SCLC). Adding the immunotherapy did not improve overall or progression‑free survival, with median overall survival of 31.1 months versus 36.1 months for...
New clinical recommendations aim to embed trauma‑informed care (TIC) into pelvic medicine across Canada and the United States. Researchers led by Dr. Lauren Walker and therapist Krystyna Holland have assembled a multidisciplinary team to develop a practice tool based on...

In my quest for a great over-the-counter hearing aid, this time I checked out the Cearvol Wave Lite OTC Hearing Aids Earbuds. Very nice design and good functionality, but a few quirks, as I explain... https://t.co/LN8dPaWmTO #hearingaids #audiology #hearing @cearvolhearing...

SoundHound AI showcased its enterprise‑wide Amelia voice‑AI platform at HIMSS26, highlighting a massive deployment at MUSC Health. The system, branded Emily, has processed over 2.2 million calls across patient access, revenue cycle and pharmacy, automating one‑quarter of interactions and achieving a...
A Karolinska Institutet study finds that psychiatric self‑admission—where patients can directly request short inpatient stays—reduces stress and anxiety while enabling earlier intervention. Qualitative interviews show patients experience greater autonomy, improved daily functioning, and stronger relationships with relatives. The model also...
Solid Biosciences reported Phase I/II data for its DMD gene therapy SGT‑003, showing higher microdystrophin expression and a greater proportion of positive fibers than Sarepta’s Elevidys. The results strengthen SGT‑003’s case for accelerated FDA approval, but the pathway is clouded by...