TOP STORIES
The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation is investing up to $75 million in a network of disease surveillance sites in developing countries to rapidly gather better data, about how, where and why children are getting sick and dying, according to a statement from the foundation. The Child Health and Mortality Prevention Surveillance Network is designed to be used in epidemics such as the recent Ebola outbreak. Emory Global Health Institute will play a leading role but the International Association of National Public Health Institutes and the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention will provide technical assistance.
Roche said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) has granted breakthrough therapy designation for venetoclax for the treatment of people who have relapsed or refractory chronic lymphocytic leukemia with a genetic abnormality.
LIFE SCIENCE
Adaptimmune, a UK-based biotech using T-cell therapy to treat cancer and infectious disease, raised $191 million in its IPO. The company priced 11.3 million shares at the high end of the range ($17 per share) for a market cap of $1.3 billion, according to Fortune. But it wavered in its market debut. After rising 15 percent in the morning, it closed a dollar lower at $16, according to ABC News.
Biopharma company Kymab said it had raised $50 million from two firms tied to veteran British investor Neil Woodford to support its antibody-generating technology called Kymouse, according to Reuters.
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Cleveland Clinic and Cleveland State University plan to offer a two-year master’s program for health professions education beginning in August, according to Crain’s Cleveland Business.
More than 11.7 million additional people enrolled in Medicaid or the Children’s Health Insurance Program between Oct. 1, 2013 and February of this year, with enrollment up approximately 20.3 percent over the average monthly enrollment for July through September 2013.
TECH
CIT GAP Funds has invested an unspecified amount in e-Kare, a two year-old digital health spin-off from the Children’s National Medical Center, that wants to speed up the assessment and monitoring of chronic wounds.The point-of-care subscription service enables a 3-dimensional wound assessment on a mobile device.
Virtual pharmacy provider TelePharm, a Rock Health-backed company serving rural communities, has acquired Custom Data, the parent company of competitor Telepharmacy Concepts.
Zynx Health has opened nominations for its inaugural CITE (Clinical Improvement Through Evidence) Awards, to honor nurses for excellence in applying clinical decision support for care improvement. The vendor is taking nominations here through June 15 and will announce the winners in July.
MobiHealthNews reported that the Royal College of Physicians have hammered out some digital health guidelines. So what topped the list of do’s and don’ts? Avoid using medical apps, including web apps, that do not have a CE mark.
National Public Radio explores the merits of tele-ICU.
A 100,000 square foot digital health campus is under development in Denver.
POLITICS
Around 17 million people have gained health insurance since the core of ObamaCare took effect in 2013, according to a RAND Corporation study released Wednesday.
A LITTLE EXTRA
Mysterious ‘X-Files’ sounds have been recorded from the edge of space. A helium balloon built by a student for a NASA project captured the eerie hisses and whistles 22 miles above the Earth’s surface.
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.
