Morning Read: Turing Pharma execs testify Martin Shkreli said, “No one cares about drug prices.”

Also, a potentially game changing approach to kidney transplants and Alphabet is selling is robotics business.

Martin ShkreliTOP STORIES

In the latest chapter of the Martin Shkreli chronicles, the former general counsel of Turing Pharmaceuticals said he and many other executives took issue with then CEO Shkreli’s plan to jack up the price of Daraprim, a decades old drug used to fight infections in patients with HIV and toxoplasmosis. Howard Dorfman testified in a Senate committee hearing that he had told Shkreli that the move “would have a severely negative impact on Turing’s business and reputation” and was “not justified” because the company had not spent anything yet on research and development. He was fired a few weeks later. Dorfman and other executives with the drug company quoted Shkreli as saying in response to their concerns, “No one cares about drug prices.”  — The New York Times, ABC News

Greg Simon will be named by Vice President Joe Biden to lead the Cancer Moonshot initiative. He served as national policy adviser to then Vice President Al Gore and headed up lobbying firm Faster Cures,. He was also CEO of life sciences investor Poliwogg. And he has cancer. — The New York Times

In a bid to make more kidneys available to some of the 100,000 people waiting for a transplant, surgeons at University of Pennsylvania and Johns Hopkins will conduct a clinical trial to transplant kidneys whose previous owners suffered from Hepatitis C. The thinking is that the newest Hepatitis C drugs on the market are so effective that they could be used to eliminate the infection for older people on the waiting list who may otherwise die without a transplant. — STAT

LIFE SCIENCES

Alere’s INRatio device to hep doctors manage patients on blood thinner drug Warfarin is malfunctioning but neither the FDA nor Alere has responded to physician complaints. — The New York Times

PAYERS-PROVIDERS

Biomedical research institute Feinstein Institute for Medical Research agreed to pay the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services $3.9 million to settle potential HIPAA violations tied to the theft of a laptop containing data of 13,000 patients, stolen from a car — U.S. Department of Health and Huma Services

TECHNOLOGY
Google parent Alphabet is selling its robotics business Boston Dynamics, which it acquired in 2013. — Bloomberg

Target will add a digital health section to 500 of its 1793 stores and will include devices such as Quell. — MobiHealthNews

Wearables and telehealth apps should be used to help seniors stay healthy. That’s the conclusion of a report from the President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology. The advisory group includes scientists and engineers appointed by President Barack Obama to make policy recommendations related to technology and science. —HealthcareIT News

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA

Here’s a public service announcement you don’t hear every day. The FBI is warning the public that the face a real risk of having their cars remotely taken over through cybersabotage. As to how to guard against this, it suggests keeping car software up to date and keeping an ear out for recalls requiring security patches. — Wired

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