Top Story

Morning Read: Shkreli to take the 5th, Practice Fusion cuts 25 percent of workforce

Also, pharma to sit out Super Bowl ad rush and another insurer blames Obamacare for financial losses.

Martin Shkreli

TOP STORIES

The attorney for Martin Shkreli said that the pharma dudebro will “take the 5th” during his congressional grilling on Thursday. Can Shkreli actually keep his mouth shut, and what will lawmakers be trying to get out of him? — STAT

EHR vendor Practice Fusion, which has raised $150 million despite questions about its profitability, has laid off a quarter of its workforce. — TechCrunch

A federal judge is getting ready to rule in a civil racketeering case against the family that gave $50 million to build a new outpatient facility at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. — NewsWorks/WHYY

LIFE SCIENCES

KaloBios still wants to buy the drug it was pursuing when ex-CEO Shkreli was arrested in December. — The Wall Street Journal

Here are all the issues around Illumina’s spinout Grail – Xconomy

Pharma spends big bucks advertising on football, but don’t expect to see any drug ads during the Super Bowl on Sunday. — STAT

Speaking of football, biotech startup Silk Therapeutics closed on a $6 million Series A2 round, led by New England Patriots owner Robert Kraft. — PR Newswire

Google-backed Calico has some competition in the race to develop longevity drugs: Unity Technology, funded in part by the Mayo Clinic. — Fortune

California business accelerator OCTANe has launched a $50 million venture fund for ophthalmology innovation. — MassDevice

Even in the digital age, “getting a [scientific] paper retracted or corrected turns out to be well-nigh impossible.” — STAT

PAYERS-PROVIDERS

The HHS Office of the Inspector General wants the University of Minnesota Medical Center to return $3.2 million in Medicare overpayments. The hospital is appealing some of the findings. — Minneapolis Star Tribune

Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Alabama is the latest insurer to blame the Affordable Care Act for massive 2015 losses. — Birmingham Business Journal

The number of practicing osteopathic physicians has risen by 62 percent in the last decade, according to the American Osteopathic Association. — Business Wire

Here’s today’s Zika news:

  • Zika has spread into politics. – The Hill
  • Brazil’s health minister wants Latin American countries to work together in the fight against the Zika virus. — Reuters
  • Florida Gov. Rick Scott declared a public health emergency in four counties. — Associated Press
  • UC-Irvine and MIT biologists want to try gene editing of mosquitoes to manage the outbreak. — STAT
  • United Airlines is letting pregnant crew members and those who are trying to get pregnant opt out of flights to Latin America and the Caribbean. — Reuters
  • Georgia officials have confirmed the first Zika case in the state. — Atlanta Journal Constitution
  • The epidemic has touched off a debate over Brazil’s tough anti-abortion laws. — The New York Times

TECHNOLOGY

The United States and United Kingdom are collaborating on a suicide prevention app. – BBC

Startup Decisio Health, fresh off FDA approval of its ED and ICU management software, has raised $2.17 million of a planned $5 million round. — Houston Business Journal

Pushing the Internet of Things idea forward, Philips and Validic have formed a partnership to integrate data from devices and apps into connected health services. — PR Newswire

Brain scans are helping MIT researchers identify children at high risk for depression. — Reuters

POLITICS

Telemedicine has become a flashpoint with regards to abortion. — mHealth Intelligence

The head of California’s health insurance exchange thinks UnitedHealth Group is using Obamacare as an excuse for the company’s own mistakes. — NPR

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA

It probably was inevitable: awards for the medical cannabis industry, hosted by a man known as the “Marijuana Don” at a Hollywood Hills mansion. — PR Newswire

Photo: Andrew Burton/Getty Images

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