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Morning Read: Affymetrix rejects the latest takeover bid meant to derail Thermo Fisher’s offer

Also, the latest hospital cyber attack (a ransomware attack), Zika gets political, a poll on the best kind of HIMSS keynotes, and the Valeant obituaries are rolling in.

By Chris Seper on March 21, 2016

Affymetrix Mapping500KArraySetTOP STORIES

Affymetrix on Sunday rejected the last-minute bid from its ex-employees. The bid, which was $200 million than they one made by Thermo Fisher Scientific, was not a “superior proposal,” Affymetrix stated. – The New York Times, Business Wire

LIFE SCIENCES

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So many Valeant obituaries. So. Many. – Fortune, The Wall Street Journal, Motley Fool

STAT has poached Damian Garde from FierceBiotech. – STAT

More evidence that RNA editing can help battle cancerous tumors. – ScienceDaily

STENTYS’s self-apposing stent for left main coronary artery disease has received European approval. – Business Wire

Johnson & Johnson’s prostate cancer treatment Zytiga has been approved in Britain. – Reuters

The challenges of drug regulation in China: a fresh crackdown is underway over phony vaccines. – Reuters

PAYERS-PROVIDERS

Kentucky’s Methodist Hospital said late Friday it was hit with a “ransomware” attack; hackers locked patients files and demanded demanding money to regain access to them. – WAVE (h/t HISTalk)

TECHNOLOGY

Fun facts about Zenefits: It’s outraised its seven competitors combined by nearly $240 million. – CB Insights

This scattershot overview of the value and challenges of gathering wearables data – most of the article will be a been-there-done-that discussion for all of you – is a good reminder of how far we are from figuring out what to do with wearables data. – The New York Times

Whatever the next version of “Google Glass” looks like, it looks like it has a home in healthcare. This is an interesting tidbit about improvised Google Glass technology being used to monitor organs-on-chips technology. – ScienceDaily

I like this random HISTalk poll about what kind of keynote speakers people would like to see at HIMSS. “They are the ones HIMSS doesn’t invite.” – HISTalk

POLITICS

Zika is settling into a role on the political front:

  • CDC takes key step toward Zika test – The Hill
  • Zika becomes a presidential campaign issue; Hillary Clinton demands Congress pass Zika funding. – The Hill
  • Take a look inside the CDC lab focused on stopping Zika’s spread. – The Washington Post

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA

Twitter is 10 today – yes, 10. Here’s a brief history of Twitter in – of course! – tweets. – WIRED

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