STAT+: In Private Meetings, White House Works to Win Pharma Companies’ Support for Drug Pricing Bill
The White House has drafted a drug‑pricing bill and is privately meeting with more than a dozen major pharmaceutical companies to secure their backing. The proposed legislation mirrors voluntary pricing agreements the administration previously struck, and notably would allow cash‑paid drugs to count toward patients’ deductibles. President Trump is pushing the measure as part of a broader affordability agenda in this election year. The effort reflects a strategic bid to build bipartisan support for health‑care reforms before the November vote.
Obesity Associated With Later CSU Onset, Reduced Therapy Response
A new World Allergy Organization Journal report finds that obesity is associated with a later onset of chronic spontaneous urticaria (CSU) and a reduced response to the anti‑IgE drug omalizumab. Patients with isolated angioedema experience more severe attacks and respond...
Identify Early Dysfunction to Preserve Retinal Reserve
The article introduces "retinal reserve," a framework describing the retina’s remaining functional capacity despite early metabolic stress. Functional biomarkers such as dark‑adaptation testing can reveal dysfunction before structural changes appear, offering a therapeutic window. By pairing functional assessments with imaging,...
Mobile Population-Based CKD Screening Could Help Close Care Gaps
Wayne State University researchers deployed mobile health units across Detroit from July 2022 to August 2025, evaluating 5,128 adults in 5,973 encounters. The screening revealed that 44.7% had mildly decreased eGFR and 11.3% met criteria for stage‑3 or worse chronic...
Tapinarof Shows Early, Sustained Gains in Moderate to Severe Atopic Dermatitis: Linda Stein Gold, MD
At the 2026 American Academy of Dermatology meeting, phase 3 ADORING 1 and 2 trials demonstrated that once‑daily tapinarof cream significantly improves rash and itch in moderate to severe atopic dermatitis, with effects evident by week 1 and sustained through eight weeks. The studies...
Here’s the £10 Product Allergy Sufferers Are Rushing to Buy Before Pollen Peaks
Hydrosil Dry Eye Gel, priced at £9.56 (≈ $12), is gaining traction among hay‑fever sufferers seeking relief from itchy, dry eyes. The gel’s gentle, barrier‑supporting formula delivers lasting moisture without triggering additional irritation, making it suitable for sensitive skin around the...
Getting Vascular Surgeons More Involved Leads to Key Improvements for PAD Patients
The Society of Vascular Surgery is pushing a heart‑team model that brings vascular surgeons into peripheral artery disease (PAD) discussions, enabling earlier diagnosis and broader treatment options. Dr. William Shutze notes that involving surgeons can shift patients from “no‑option” status...
Ruxolitinib Cream Improves Repigmentation, QOL in Vitiligo, but Better Patient Education, Guidance Are Needed
Ruxolitinib cream (Opzelura) demonstrated significant facial repigmentation and quality‑of‑life gains in vitiligo patients, especially those reaching F‑VASI75/90 thresholds, according to post‑hoc analyses of the TRuE‑V trials presented at the 2026 AAD meeting. Real‑world survey data revealed that just over one‑fifth...
Switching Between Biosimilars and Their Reference Counterparts with Dr. Sarah Yim
In a recent FDA Q&A, Dr. Sarah Yim explained that the agency has now approved 50 biosimilars covering 15 reference biologics, spanning treatments from oncology to diabetes. She clarified the distinction between biosimilars and interchangeable biosimilars, noting that the latter...
How Real-World Data Is Reshaping the NSCLC Patient Journey
Pharma firms are leveraging real‑world data (RWD) to map the patient journey of non‑small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) and uncover social determinants of health that hinder care. The new eBook highlights how gaps in biomarker testing, socioeconomic barriers, and incomplete...
Health System PBM Ownership Model Shows Benefits Amid Reform Pressure
St. Louis‑based SSM Health co‑owns Navitus Health Solutions, a pharmacy‑benefit manager serving 18 million members across 800 clients nationwide. Navitus differentiates itself with a fully transparent, pass‑through pricing model that avoids hidden mark‑ups and spread pricing. The approach comes as Congress...
Podcast: European Biotech Rallies Against US and China Powerhouses
The BIO Europe Spring podcast recorded in Lisbon highlighted Europe’s push to reclaim biotech leadership amid dominant US and Chinese pharma giants. Host Robert Barrie distilled insights from investors and executives, emphasizing the continent’s strategic focus on gene‑therapy and mRNA...
Regulatory Actions for March 27, 2026
On March 27, 2026 BioWorld reported a flurry of regulatory actions affecting a broad swath of biopharma and med‑tech companies. The snapshot lists approvals, designations and submissions for firms such as 3D Systems, Agilent, Deciphera, Royal Philips and several others....
J&J’s Darzalex Nets First Self-Administered Cancer Injectable Approval
Johnson & Johnson’s Darzalex (daratumumab) received European Medicines Agency approval for self‑administration, becoming the first oncology injectable cleared for home use. The Type II label change allows patients or caregivers to give the subcutaneous injection after the fifth dose, covering all...
Young Adult with Fever, Headache After Returning From Puerto Rico
A young soldier returning to Texas after a two‑week stay in Puerto Rico developed high‑grade fever, retro‑orbital headache, a diffuse maculopapular rash with petechiae, thrombocytopenia and mild liver enlargement. Laboratory findings showed leukopenia and a platelet count of 50,000, and...
Boston Children's Enhances Care with Clinical Intelligence Platform
Boston Children’s Hospital deployed Etiometry’s AI‑driven clinical intelligence platform to capture continuous high‑frequency physiologic data across its pediatric ICU. The system aggregates and visualizes signals in real time, giving clinicians a shared, longitudinal view of each patient’s trajectory. Early results...
AI at the Bedside: Scaling Innovation Without Compromising Patient Safety
Artificial intelligence has moved from pilot projects to core clinical tools, with the FDA authorizing more than 1,400 AI‑enabled medical devices by the end of 2025, most via the fast‑track 510(k) pathway. Radiology dominates usage, but AI is expanding into...
AnaptysBio Spins Out Biotech Operations; Affibody's Data in Hidradenitis Suppurativa
AnaptysBio announced the spin‑out of its biotech operations into a newly formed independent public company, First Tracks Biotherapeutics. The separation isolates AnaptysBio’s early‑stage pipeline, giving First Tracks a focused platform to advance its candidates. The announcement also highlighted promising data...
Vida Health Launches Metabolic Control Framework to Manage Obesity, Diabetes, and MASH
Vida Health has introduced a Metabolic Control Framework that shifts from isolated disease programs to a population‑level strategy for obesity, diabetes, hypertension, hyperlipidemia, MASH, OSA and COPD. The framework relies on a proprietary Metabolic Control Index, which aggregates clinical, biometric...
Drug Trials Snapshots: CARDAMYST
Milestone Pharmaceuticals received FDA approval on December 12, 2025 for CARDAMYST, a 70 mg nasal spray of etripamil designed to rapidly convert acute paroxysmal supraventricular tachycardia (PSVT) to sinus rhythm. The pivotal RAPID trial enrolled 255 adults across eight countries, showing...
How to Switch Antidepressants
Long‑time SSRI user Elizabeth, 64, was instructed to stop Celexa abruptly and start Zoloft, triggering severe emotional, sensory, and cardiac symptoms. Her experience illustrates how rapid tapering can lead to protracted withdrawal, a condition often misdiagnosed as a new depressive...
Vendor Notebook: AI Tackles an Evolving Menu of Organizational Needs
Healthcare vendors are rolling out a suite of AI tools aimed at streamlining billing, coding, imaging, and fraud prevention. CentralReach’s AI agents cut revenue‑cycle work by up to 40%, while Innovaccer’s Flow Capture autonomously codes roughly 80% of patient encounters....
Digital Health Tools Must Reflect Stakeholders' Lived Experiences
Digital health developers are being urged to embed nurses, physicians, and patients directly into the design process, a stance championed by Susan Hull, the HIMSS‑ANI Nursing Informatics Changemaker honoree. Hull argues that tools built without real‑world clinical input often miss...
6 Maternity Service Closures in 2026
In 2026, six hospitals across the United States will end or relocate their labor and delivery services, adding to the 29 maternity unit closures reported in 2025. The facilities—spanning West Virginia, Kentucky, Indiana, Tennessee, Iowa, and Arkansas—cited chronic staffing shortages,...
UCLA Health Creates Leadership Role for AI Innovation
UCLA Health has appointed Katherine Andriole, PhD, as the inaugural associate dean for health AI strategy and innovation at the David Geffen School of Medicine, effective March 26. She also assumes directorship of the UCLA Center for AI and SMART Health....
Why Reproducible Analytics Is Critical for AI in Healthcare and Life Sciences
AI adoption in healthcare and life sciences is surging, with physician usage climbing to 66 % and firms investing heavily in machine‑learning platforms. Despite this momentum, a reproducibility crisis looms, as more than 70 % of researchers report difficulty replicating results, jeopardizing...
US Societies Lay Out Requirements for Transcatheter Tricuspid Valve Procedures
Major cardiovascular societies, led by the ACC and AHA, released a consensus document outlining requirements for establishing and maintaining transcatheter tricuspid valve intervention (TTVI) programs in the United States. The guidance sets minimum institutional volumes—such as at least 50 open‑heart...
1st Jesuit Medical School Advances with $2M Gift
Xavier University in Cincinnati will launch the world’s first Jesuit osteopathic medical school in fall 2027 after a $2 million gift from alumni Gary and Connie Sharpe, split with a new nursing program. Ground was broken in 2024 for a 130,000‑square‑foot...
NYC Health + Hospitals Rolls Out AI Tool to Boost Maternal Safety
NYC Health + Hospitals has launched a $2.75 million program deploying PeriWatch Vigilance, an AI‑driven early‑warning and decision‑support system for maternal‑fetal care. The tool, currently active at the North Central Bronx hospital, will be expanded to all 11 system hospitals by...
New Hospice Leaders Emerge
A wave of senior appointments is reshaping hospice leadership across the United States. Montgomery Hospice named longtime hospice operator Sara McKay as COO, while VITAS Healthcare installed Juan Gomez as VP of Finance after a stint in revenue‑cycle management. Three Oaks Hospice...
Blocking TIE2 Protein May Prevent Blood Vessel Defects in the Brain
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania identified the endothelial receptor TIE2 as a pivotal link between the MEKK3‑KLF2/4 and PI3K signaling cascades that drive cerebral cavernous malformations (CCMs). In mouse models, oral inhibition of TIE2 with the tyrosine‑kinase inhibitor rebastinib...
Are Nursing Homes Lying About Their Patients To Increase Profits? You Decide
Medicare introduced a lump‑sum per‑patient payment model for skilled nursing facilities, aiming to curb unnecessary therapy billing. Following the reform, SNFs markedly increased the number of diagnoses documented for each resident, creating a sharp rise in coding intensity that was...
Closing Behavioral Care Gaps: Three Ways Providers And Health Plans Can Reimagine Care
Millions of Americans face fragmented physical and behavioral care, driving costly emergency department visits and worsening outcomes. Administrative waste consumes roughly 30% of U.S. healthcare spending, while a projected shortfall of over 100,000 workers intensifies staffing pressures. Behavioral health patients...
FDA Approves Novo Nordisk's Once-Weekly Insulin
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has approved Novo Nordisk’s once‑weekly insulin, the first longer‑acting basal therapy for type‑2 diabetes in the United States. The product, insulin icodec, demonstrated non‑inferior HbA1c reduction and comparable safety to daily basal insulins in...
Democratizing Access: How Community Hospitals Can Drive the Next Wave of Robotic Bronchoscopy
Second‑generation robotic bronchoscopy platforms now embed advanced imaging, delivering higher diagnostic accuracy for peripheral lung lesions while simplifying workflow. Community hospitals can adopt these systems using single‑use bronchoscopes, eliminating reprocessing costs and reducing procedure time. Relocating the service to endoscopy...
EU Regulator Backs Sanofi’s Injectable Version of Blood Cancer Drug
The European Medicines Agency has issued a positive opinion on Sanofi’s subcutaneous version of Sarclisa, a drug for multiple myeloma, citing late‑stage trials that proved non‑inferior efficacy to the intravenous formulation. If the European Commission follows the EMA’s recommendation, the...
Top Companies to Build and Operate Mobile Clinics for Your Organization
Four firms—BusTest Express, Odulair, CGS Premier, and Mission Mobile Medical—offer distinct pathways for organizations to launch mobile health clinics. BusTest Express provides a turnkey lease model that bundles vehicles, drivers, compliance and logistics. Odulair builds modular vans, trucks or containers...
Webinar: Aligning With the FDA on a Regulatory Pathway To Avoid Decision Day Surprises
A BioSpace webinar highlighted how biotech firms can close the expectation gap with the FDA to avoid last‑minute decision‑day setbacks. Speakers emphasized the FDA’s recent pledge—led by Commissioner Marty Makary and CBER Director Vinay Prasad—to provide regulatory navigation for small companies,...
Her Dad's Dementia Inspired Her to Create a Guide for Family Caregivers
Wambūi Karanja turned her father's early‑onset dementia into a catalyst for change, creating a practical guide and training program for family caregivers in Kenya. She highlighted pervasive myths that label dementia as normal aging or a spiritual curse, which delay...
Health Insurers’ Negative Outlook Remains, as High Medical Costs Erase Margins
Moody’s has kept a negative outlook on the U.S. health‑insurance sector, citing persistent medical‑cost inflation that is crushing profit margins. EBITDA margins have slipped into the low‑single‑digit range as loss ratios climb faster than premium hikes. Insurers are expected to...
'You'll Never See a Bill': Wash. FD Launches No-Cost Ambulance Service After AMR Rate Hike
Spokane County Fire District 9 will launch its own ambulance service on July 1, offering free transport to district residents after American Medical Response doubled its rates. The district has purchased three new cherry‑red ambulances at roughly $385,000 each and expects the...
Many People Will Need Long-Term Care, but Most Don’t Have Insurance to Cover It
Most older Americans lack long‑term care (LTC) insurance despite the high cost of services, which average $80,000 annually for home care and over $130,000 for a private nursing‑home room. Medicare provides only limited LTC coverage, while Medicaid requires individuals to...
Resource Capacity Planning and Modernized Time Reporting
Under PDUFA VI, BsUFA II and GDUFA II, the FDA has launched a Resource Capacity Planning (RCP) capability and modernized time‑reporting to better match staffing with the growing volume and complexity of drug and biologic submissions. The RCP system quantifies needed resources, while...
GSK Reports the EMA’s MAA Acceptance of Bepirovirsen to Treat Chronic Hepatitis B
GlaxoSmithKline announced that the European Medicines Agency has accepted the marketing authorization application for bepirovirsen, an antisense oligonucleotide targeting chronic hepatitis B. The acceptance follows positive Phase III data from the B‑Well 1 and B‑Well 2 trials, which enrolled patients...
Severance Hospital to Develop Online Tool for Calculating Early Liver Metastasis
Severance Hospital in South Korea has created an AI model, LiMPC, that predicts early liver metastasis in pancreatic cancer patients using routine blood tests. The model was trained on data from 2,657 patients and externally validated on 272 patients from...
US-Based Alzheimer's Network Adopts Korean Imaging AI and More Briefs
South Korean AI firms are expanding into the U.S. market as Neurophet signs an MOU with the Alzheimer’s Network for Treatment and Diagnostics (ALZ‑NET) to provide FDA‑cleared imaging software for amyloid monitoring, and JLK receives FDA 510(k) clearance for its...
AstraZeneca’s in Vivo CAR-T Led to Early Responses, but One Death in China Trial
AstraZeneca’s in‑vivo CAR‑T platform, acquired last year, has entered a Phase I/II trial in China for relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. Early data show a 33% overall response rate with several partial remissions, but the study also reported one death due to severe...
The Expanding Role of Checkpoint Inhibitors in CSCC Management
The NCCN has revised its guidelines to place checkpoint inhibitors at the forefront of cutaneous squamous cell carcinoma (CSCC) treatment, extending their use beyond metastatic disease to neoadjuvant and adjuvant settings. PD‑1/PD‑L1 agents such as cemiplimab, cosibelimab and pembrolizumab are...
Do GLP-1s Have a Future in Europe?
GLP‑1 receptor agonists are booming in the United States, where roughly 12 % of patients use them, but European uptake lags at about 2 % across the EU and UK. Consumer skepticism—especially in France, Italy and Spain—and the dominance of public‑health reimbursement...