TOP STORIES
ONC published feedback from the first draft of its Shared Nationwide Interoperability Roadmap. You can review them all here.
So what would an Aetna acquisition of either Humana or Cigna do to the digital health landscape?
The big question when it comes to Aetna, these rumored acquisitions, and digital health, is whether, if Aetna buys Cigna or Humana, it will be interested in trying again with a preventative health, lifestyle play like HumanaVitality or Cigna Health Matters.
LIFE SCIENCE
People are already kicking the carcass of Eleven Biotherapeutics, which crumbled after its Phase 3 trial failed. Some are already making the case that investors can be smarter when they invest in pre-approved therapeutics.
We gave you the Endo-Par acquisition right away yesterday. Here’s what everyone else had to say. Take your pick: Reuters, Wall Street Journal and New York Times.
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.
Pharmacogenomics startup OneOme is raising $5 million.
Healthcare social media at its weakest: No, Twitter, Gilead was not buying Achillion.
Dr. Patrick Soon-Shiong is the “it” player in biotech. Arizona’s new biomedical campus is trying to woo his NantWorks to be a part of the Phoenix-based project.
British oncology company PsiOxus Therapeutics closed on $38.5 million advance enadenotucirev.
A certain class of type 2 diabetes drugs, sodium-glucose cotransporter-2 (SGLT2) inhibitors including canagliflozin, dapagliflozin and empagliflozin, can lead to a life-threatening condition called ketoacidosis, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration warns.
Siemens has launched its Xprecia Stride Coagulation Analyzer to enable rapid decision-making in physician offices and clinics regarding patient treatment with oral anticoagulation therapy warfarin.
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
23 deals in hospital M&A in Q1. Among the notable analysis: “not-for-profits needs the resources for-profits have in order to make needed infrastructure improvements such as installing electronic health records (EHR) systems or building new facilities.”
Volume = value for Henry Ford Hospital.
TECH
Meet the new startups in the Iron Yard Ventures accelerator.
Dr. Sarah Muttitt will be the new chief information officer and vice president of the information management and technology portfolio the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto.
SoloHealth is now Pursuant Health. It also has $2.4 million and a Cleveland Clinic partnership to work with.
Specialists On Call, a specialty telemedicine service to hospitals, added a CFO.
PatientsLikeMe has tapped Merck for its head of research and development appointment.
Another take on the security risk of health apps.
POLITICS
Here’s what a presidential candidate no one will elect thinks about drug prices. He’s introduced a bill to require rebates to Medicaid when drug costs rise faster than inflation.
More evidence specialty drug prices are under siege in an Obamacare world.
Are you as optimistic about the interstate telehealth licensing compact?
The World Health Organization is launching a $100 million fund to speed up deployment of resources when there’s a health crisis. The move follows criticism of the organization over its lethargic response to the Ebola epidemic in West Africa.
Fans of the Kansas Bioscience Authority aren’t going down without a fight.
A LITTLE EXTRA
President Barack Obama now has a Twitter account. It took less than 30 minutes for @POTUS to blow past 100,000 followers. At last count (4:45pm) he had 1.03 million followers.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons
