TOP STORIES
The federal government detailed drug spending, detailing doctor-by-doctor and drug-by-drug how Medicare and its beneficiaries spent $103 billion on pharmaceuticals in 2013.
Isis Pharmaceuticals, Inc. announced it has earned a $10 million milestone payment from Biogen associated with the validation of an undisclosed target to treat a neurological disorder.
With the Rise of AI, What IP Disputes in Healthcare Are Likely to Emerge?
Munck Wilson Mandala Partner Greg Howison shared his perspective on some of the legal ramifications around AI, IP, connected devices and the data they generate, in response to emailed questions.
LIFE SCIENCE
Italian biotech Newron Pharmaceuticals has raised $25.5 million to jump-start its pipeline assets, pushing forward with a stable of CNS candidates.
Abbott got a go ahead from the FDA for its early pregnancy blood test.
The company’s i-STAT Total ?-hCG tool quickly scans for human chorionic gonadotropin (hCG) hormone in whole blood or plasma, determining whether a woman is in early stages of pregnancy by measuring levels of hCG on a handheld portable blood analyzer. Abbott’s diagnostic could offer an advantage over traditional urine testing, which often proves difficult in emergency situations.
A Personalized Approach to Medication Nonadherence
At the Abarca Forward conference earlier this year, George Van Antwerp, managing director at Deloitte, discussed how social determinants of health and a personalized member experience can improve medication adherence and health outcomes.
Israeli startup Ninox Medical gets $10 million Series B round to help it obtain both a CE mark and 510(k) clearance for its KeePAP device to treat obstructive sleep apnea.
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
Doctor On Demand announced that it has been selected by UnitedHealthCare as one of its first providers of physician Video Visits, according to a press release.
USARAD Holdings Inc., a Joint Commission Accredited telemedicine and radiology services solutions provider, including the SecondOpinions.com division, has received funding from the venture capital unit of Siemens.
TECH
A new lab at Humana is dedicated to making sure HumanaVitality and other apps from the insurance giant have the same development protocols as apps developed at a small startup would.
POLITICS
Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) linked the unrest in Baltimore to the push to increase funding for the National Institutes of Health.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved Raplixa, the first spray-dried fibrin sealant approved by the agency. It is used to help control bleeding during surgery.
A LITTLE EXTRA
Microsoft has set up a new site that can predict a person’s age based on an uploaded photo to demonstrate the learning capabilities in its Azure cloud. The site was revealed Thursday at Microsoft’s Build 2015 developer conference in San Francisco
The site, How Old Do I Look, is meant to show how easy it is for developers to use machine learning algorithms to make predictions and spot trends, said Joseph Sirosh, Microsoft corporate vice president in the company’s cloud and enterprise group.
(I’m not sure that this site is really doing the company many favors in terms of proving Azure cloud’s capabilities. I tried a few pictures, all of which taken in the same year, and got a range of age 19 to 41.)
The Morning Read provides a 24-hour wrap up of everything else healthcare’s innovators need to know about the business of medicine (and beyond). The author of The Read published it but all full-time MedCity News journalists contribute to its content.
