TOP STORIES
After a brief uptick last year, Americans’ perceptions of the pharmaceutical industry have turned negative once again in 2015, according to a Gallup poll.
Just 35 percent of the more than 1,000 people surveyed last month indicated a favorable view of pharma, while 43 percent said they had a negative perception, for a net -8 rating. That makes pharma 23rd among the 25 industries Gallup asked people about, just behind the healthcare sector (-6) and more popular than only the oil and gas industry (-13) and the federal government, bringing up the rear with a -29 rating.
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Employees who enjoy their benefits are more inclined to stay with their company. A 2025 Marsh McLennan Agency report said 73% of employees would remain if plan options were better.
Not surprisingly, pharma scored much better among those who consider themselves Republicans than those identifying as Democrats. — Gallup
LIFE SCIENCES
Another impact of the biotech bubble: pushing prices for medium-sized companies with experimental drugs in late-stage development out of reach for acquisition, says Roche’s CEO. – Reuters
More from Roche’s CEO: multiple sclerosis is our next big winner and ocrelizumab’s big unveil in October is the company’s “most important (clinical) read-out this year, without any doubt.” – Retuers
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Thomas Insel is going to lave as director of the US National Institute of Mental Health and join Google Life Sciences. – Nature
Biopharma Intra-Cellular Therapies got positive results from its Phase 3 clinical trial of its schizophrenia. treatment. – Globe Newswire
Breathe Technologies says it is going to get CMS reimbursement for its Life2000 ventilation system, which treats respiratory issues and neuromuscular diseases. – MassDevice
Look at how Australia is betting on biotech and digital health. – Wall Street Journal
Orphan drug developer Amicus Therapeutics says its meeting with the FDA about its treatment of Fabry disease gives them enough confidence they’ll submit an NDA. – Globe Newswire
The worldwide market for biotechnology will grow by 12.3 percent annually between 2012 and 2020. So says Hexa Research. — PR Newswire
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
More research showing poverty plays a role in readmissions. – Reuters
The Colorado Office of Suicide Prevention wants to break the stigma of mental health treatment among men 25-54. Enter Man Therapy. — mantherapy.org
Citing data showing that “the majority of women are in the dark” about gynecological health, a D.C.-area OB/GYN practice has begun a public education (some might say “marketing”) campaign about minimally invasive procedures for treating uterine fibroids, endometriosis and other serious problems with the lady parts. — PRNewswire
The College of Healthcare Information Management Executives named three new board members: Cletis Earle, Theresa Meadows and Donna Roach. — CHIME
A real estate investment trust is paying upwards of $1.1 billion to acquire the parent company of Trilogy Health Services, operator of 96 eldercare facilities in four Midwest states. — PRNewswire
Four independent practices in the Cincinnati area are closing after 26 of their physicians took jobs with the much larger Columbus Radiology. — Cincinnati Business Courier
TECH
The CEO of a major British hospital has resigned because of a growing financial deficit and “significant performance and quality concerns” in its e-hospital program. Guess who its EMR vendor is? – Digital Health (hat tip HISTalk)
China digital health provider DJ HealthUnion Systems received $12.5 million from HAO Capital. – PE Hub
Silicon Valley startup iHealth Lab had introduced a wireless body-composition scale and companion smartphone app. — PR Newswire
POLITICS
Learn how different states are tailoring Obamacare to their needs. – Politico
CMS is not budging on its rule about out-of-pocket limits. – Modern Healthcare
Dr. Stephen Monroe has become the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention’s first 0– overseeing handling of dangerous pathogens by more than 2,000 scientists in the agency’s more than 150 labs. – Reuters
A LITTLE EXTRA
Mark Zuckerberg isn’t the only billionaire putting big money behind public schools. “Secretive hedge fund legend” Jim Simons has been paying 800 New York City math and science teachers $15,000 a year each through his Math for America Charity. — Business Insider
Photo: Flickr user Images_of_Money