Top Story

Morning Read: $48B Anthem-Cigna deal coming, Campbell’s says no more MSG, no GMOs in soups

Anthem's play for Cigna is moving closer to fruition to the tune of nearly $48 billion and Campbell's Soup Co said there will no longer be MSG or GMOs in their soups.

TOP STORIES

Anthem’s play for Cigna is moving closer to fruition, with a deal estimated at nearly $48 billion, although the deal hasn’t been signed yet. The consolidation trend is the insurance industry’s response to the Affordable Care Act as a way to contain costs. ACA requires them to cover everyone, something insurers have long resisted. The combined business would cover more than 53 million employees, the majority of them through self insured employer plans. If this deal and Aetna’s acquisition of Humana go through, it will reduce the five largest health insurers to three. The Wall Street Journal

Campbell Soup Co. announced it will no longer be adding monosodium glutamate (MSG) to its condensed soups for children and will use non-genetically modified ingredients sourced from organic farms. It will also drop artificial colors and flavors from its full line of soups by the end of 2018 fiscal year.  Reuters

LIFE SCIENCES

A new “smart” drug has been developed by Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU) and University of Colorado researchers to target inflammation at the source, which could help the body fight infection.

The uniqueness of a new novel anti-inflammatory molecule can be found in a singular property. When injected, it is as a non-active drug. However, a localized site with excessive inflammation will activate it. Most other anti-inflammatory agents effectively inhibit inflammatory processes, though in a non-specific manner and in areas that include sites of necessary normal inflammatory homeostasis. Science Daily

The Fogarty Institute for Innovation announced that it added a trio of medical device startups to its roster: Igantia Therapeutics, Madorra and Marz Medical.

MassDevice

The Texas Medical Center is now seeking applicants for a new biodesign fellowship. Applications will be taken until August 2 for eight spots for a new, yearlong program.

“There has been a convergence of skill sets: engineering, computer sciences, and the medical design businesses coming together to create a shift in healthcare innovation,” says Sandeep Burugupalli, a business analyst at TMC’s accelerator, TMCx.

Xconomy

PAYERS-PROVIDERS

Several national hospital groups have responded to an IRS request to provide evidence that housing should be counted as a “Community Benefit” activity in Part I of Schedule H – a form used by tax-exempt hospitals to provide information on the community benefit provided by hospital and non-hospital healthcare facilities.

Becker’s Hospital Review

Children’s Health will acquire Our Children’s House at Baylor in Dallas, which was expected to close later this year.

Dallas Business Journal

TECH

China-based sleep technology company Sleepace has raised $7 million for its sleep tracking device in a financing round that was led by Luolai Home Textile with participation from JD.com, which has also invested in Misfit Wearables. Sleepace has also used Indiegogo to fund its company. MobiHealthNews

A new project called Leada has launched as a way for professors to supplement their teaching and enable students to apply what they’ve learned in tech-driven data science courses to actual real-world problems. VentureBeat

POLITICS

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration today announced the winners of the 2014 FDA Food Safety Challenge, a prize competition to advance breakthrough ideas on how to find disease-causing organisms in food – especially Salmonella in fresh produce.

FDA News Release

A LITTLE BIT EXTRA

Space is hot this year for investors.

Silicon Valley VCs have contributed $1.7 billion into space-related companies just this year. Elon Musk’s SpaceX raised $1 billion of that, but still the market has attracted almost twice as much money in 2015 as in the past three years combined.

re/code

Photo: Flickr user Dennis Goedegebuure

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