2017 saw the dawn of numerous new partnerships, policies, technologies and concepts in the world of healthcare. But the year wasn’t complete without some bad news as well, whether about a company or an individual.
Out of all the healthcare news this year, a few stories stood out among the rest. Below are the top five most-read stories published in 2017, beginning with the most popular.
The Funding Model for Cancer Innovation is Broken — We Can Fix It
Closing cancer health equity gaps require medical breakthroughs made possible by new funding approaches.
Former IBM Watson Health employee on AI: The truth needs to come out
Multiple companies in the AI space have called out IBM Watson for overstating its capabilities. In an interview, a former IBM employee who worked in the company’s life sciences group told Arundhati Parmar that large marketing dollars yielded a lot of hype, but failed to bring about an off-the-shelf product.
“It was all proof of concept,” he said.
An IBM Watson Health spokeswoman said Watson for Drug Discovery is a commercialized product used by Pfizer and other organizations.
Transforming Patient Care: The Role of AI-Powered Assistants
The progress in artificial intelligence (AI) is reshaping patient care, across various dimensions, from facilitating faster discharge to curating treatment plans and suggesting lifestyle changes.
Drug patents expiring in 2017? It’s all smoke and mirrors
At one point in time, reporters could put a finger on which drug patents would expire in a given year. Not so today. As Juliet Preston reported, expirations are now foggier as the pharma industry has become skilled at prolonging the life of patents.
“I see a lot of articles talking about, ‘this patent for this biologic expires in 2020,'” said Janet Xiao, co-chair of the Global Life Sciences Group at Morrison Foerster. “That may not be the complete story.”
Here’s an infographic of drug patents expiring in 2017
Despite the challenges that accompany unearthing expiring patents, Dickson Data released an infographic highlighting which ones were set to lapse this year.
In early January, the company predicted a total of 22 drug patents would lose protection in 2017. That happens to match the number of new drugs approved in 2016, as noted by Juliet Preston.
5 of the best juror excuses in the Martin Shkreli case thus far
For U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto, selecting a jury for the high-profile Martin Shkreli securities fraud case proved to be a challenge. According to the New York Post, she screened through more than 200 candidates in two days and approved none of them.
Though many potential jurors were excused for family or work issues, the article written by Juliet Preston pinpoints a few of the most colorful reasons for exclusion.
“In my head, I said, ‘That’s a snake,’” one woman told attorneys. Another juror said Shkreli “kind of looks like a dick.”
Three blockchain companies you should know
A little-understood technology — blockchain — is becoming the new frontier in several industries. An article written by Erin Dietsche zeroes in on three companies using the technology.
YouBase uses it to give patients power over their health data. Hashed Health initially focuses on forming workgroups, which meet regularly to learn about blockchain opportunities. SimplyVital Health leverages the technology while keeping an eye on the shift toward value-based care.
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