TOP STORIES
Martin Shkreli may not be testifying before Congress next week after all. If Shkreli complies with a subpoena to appear before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform, he would be violating the terms of his bail by leaving the New York area. — STAT
Another whopper slug of cash for Oscar Health: they’ve gotten $150 million on a valuation of $3 billion (with more capital to come). They have 125,000 covered lives. These guys eat cash like Watson eats data. – Fortune
The superbug campaign gets a big push today, as 80 life science companies will urge governments to work with industry to fight antimicrobial resistance. AstraZeneca, GlaxoSmithKline, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Pfizer all put their names behind the effort, which will be announced at the World Economic Forum. – The New York Times
LIFE SCIENCES
Reflecting on the GSK trade secrets arrests: why motivates “one of the top protein biochemists in the world” to steal? And what does it say the Chinese government backed their play? – The 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.
Valeant’s interim CEO will go to Congress to testify about drug pricing. – The Wall Street Journal
Johnson & Johnson has suspended development of a drug similar to the one from Bial that led to the death of a volunteer during a clinical trial in France last week. — FierceBiotech
Medtronic will pay the IRS $220 million to cover back taxes related to Tyco’s spinout of Covidien, which Medtronic bought last year. — Minneapolis/St. Paul Business Journal
Shares of the Medicines Company jumped after a report said the firm may be up for sale. — Bloomberg
The CEO that cancer charity Livestrong hired to clean up after the Lance Armstrong scandal has resigned after less than a year on the job, ostensibly for personal reasons. — Bizwomen
Globus Medical and DePuy Synthes have settled patent infringement charges against each other, related to spinal implant technology. — Philadelphia Business Journal
BioPoly, a unit of Schwartz Biomedical, is seeking to raise $5 million to develop its joint-resurfacing technology. — MassDevice
StemCells, a biotech startup that has racked up $450 million in deficits without bringing a drug to market, has given a severance of more than $1 million to its former CEO. — San Francisco Business Times
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
End-of-life care is far better outside hospitals, researchers from Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, both Harvard-affiliated institutions, asserted in separate studies in the Journal of the American Medical Association. — Boston Business Journal
Hospital supplier ASP Global has acquired InHome Medical Systems, which distributes medical supplies to physician offices, home health agencies and hospice providers. — Business Wire
Medical College of Wisconsin is moving forward with plans to form a clinical partnership with Ministry Health Care. — Milwaukee Business Journal
TECHNOLOGY
GlaxoSmithKline is said to be in talks with Qualcomm over a medtech joint venture. — Bloomberg
Thrive Feeding has raised a $500,000 seed round to develop smart baby feeding products. – MobiHealthNews
LifeMap Sciences has launched an advanced genomic sequencing analysis platform called TGex, for Translational Genomics Expert. — Business Wire
Consumer wellness site Greatist has raised $4.5 million in Series A venture capital. — PE Hub
Optum, the analytics subsidiary of UnitedHealth Group, will team with health information network Availity to try to improve the accuracy of insurance claims. — Business Wire
U.S.-based, Spanish-language telehealth platform ConsejoSano has its first major partner: human resources consultancy Mercer. — Business Wire
POLITICS
Meaningful Use may morph into something that heralds the age of “precision reimbursement,” surmised Elliot Sloane, president of the North Wales, Pennsylvania-based Center for Healthcare Information Research and Policy. — Healthcare IT News
Florida Gov. Rick Scott is pushing for a health price transparency law that would penalize hospitals for price-gouging. — Jacksonville Business Journal
Eight million people participated in private health insurance exchanges to choose 2016 benefits, up 25 percent from last year, according to Accenture. — Business Wire
Former Massachusetts Gov. Mitt Romney, he of Obamacare model Romneycare fame, will join former Utah Gov. and HHS Secretary Mike Leavitt to speak at HIMSS16 on March 2. Since it’s in Las Vegas on the day after the Super Tuesday primaries, let’s take bets on the mood of these two establishment Republicans. — Healthcare IT News
A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
A New York City emergency physician was arrested and charged with sexual abuse of two female patients, one of whom he is accused of drugging. The ironic part? The man, Dr. David H. Newman, has written a book about improving physician-patient relationships. — The New York Times
Photo: Ed Brown via Wikimedia Commons
