Top Story

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 7:55 am

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

presented by

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

presented by

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