Healthcare Industry News Weekly Wrap-Up: January 26, 2024

// Biotech and Pharma Therapeutics

Lilly gene therapy finding puts focus on hearing loss treatment pipeline

January 24, 2024 / Eli Lilly / Gene Therapy / Drug Target / Hearing loss

An 11-year-old boy who was born deaf can hear after receiving an experimental gene therapy, developer Eli Lilly reported on Tuesday. The boy, identified as Aissam Dam by The New York Times, was the first participant treated in a small study Lilly is running to test the therapy, which is designed to correct a particular type of inherited hearing loss.

New cardiac device offers noninvasive diagnosis for heart failure in the home

January 23, 2024 / Med Tech / Heart Failure / Ventric Health

Sean Brady, CEO and cofounder of Ventric Health, is doing his part to turn this problem around. He is head of the team behind a newly FDA-cleared cardiac device designed to help manage the challenges around heart failure. Advanced algorithms for noninvasive diagnosis are meant to be an alternative to conventional methods, enabling treatment in home and outpatient settings that previously could only be done in the hospital.

Annovis blames ‘data cleaning’ efforts for delaying phase 3 Parkinson’s readout

January 24, 2024 / Parkinson’s Disease / Alzheimer’s Diseases / Clinical Data

The winding journey of Annovis Bio’s potential Parkinson’s disease therapy through the clinic isn’t over quite yet, with the biotech revealing today that much-anticipated phase 3 data won’t be published this month as planned.

Novo Nordisk puts $255M on the line to bag another obesity asset, turning to EraCal for novel approach

January 23, 2024 / Novo Nordisk / Obesity / Weight Loss / Licensing Deals

Novo Nordisk has piled yet another obesity program on its plate. Seeking to build on its early lead in the blockbuster market, the Danish drugmaker has agreed (PDF) to pay EraCal Therapeutics up to 235 million euros ($255 million) to work on a novel mechanism of action for controlling appetite and body weight.

Southern Research opens new Station 41 biotech incubator for startups

January 24, 2024 / Incubator / Startups / Station 41

On Tuesday, Southern Research marked the official opening of its Station 41 biotech incubator, which is one of four programs that make up the newly launched Station 41 biotech commercialization hub. The incubator provides wet lab space and office space, shared lab equipment and services to support biotech startup growth.

// 4th Industrial Revolution

ML Model Predicts Complications Following Cardiovascular Interventions

January 25, 2024 / Machine Learning / AI

A research team from the University of Michigan has developed a machine learning tool capable of accurately predicting death, major bleeding events, and the need for blood transfusion in patients undergoing angioplasty and stent placement, according to a study published this month in the European Heart Journal.

AI innovator talks personalized treatment, telehealth enhancement and ethics

January 22, 2024 / AI / Telehealth / Ethics / Patients

Artificial intelligence has the potential to revolutionize the way healthcare is delivered. And many healthcare professionals are exploring exactly what AI can do and deploying systems to help health systems manage care and patients manage their health.

Samsung’s premium X-rays to be integrated with Lunit’s AI and more partnership briefs

January 19, 2024 / Samsung / AI / Lunit / X-rays

South Korean medical AI provider Lunit has signed a three-year supply contract with Samsung Electronics. The deal is for the integration of Lunit’s two chest X-ray AI solutions – Lunit INSIGHT CXR and Lunit INSIGHT CXR Triage – into Samsung’s line of premium X-ray devices.

Merck finds drug discovery DALL-E, becoming early user of small molecule generative AI tool

Jaunary 25, 2024 / Merck & Co. / Generative AI / Drug Discovery

Merck & Co. is taking a look at a generative AI platform. As an early user of Variational AI’s technology, the Big Pharma will assess the ability of the platform to generate novel small molecules that match its target product profiles (TPPs).

Healthcare leaders feeling their way into, through AI adoption

January 23, 2024 / Healthcare / AI

More than 90% of newly surveyed healthcare leaders expect AI adoption will help make or break their institution’s prospects for success over the long haul, meaning five years out and beyond. However, many seem to believe time is on their side: Only one-third of the same cohort anticipate AI integration will help determine success levels over the next 12 months. Meanwhile, some 70% are splitting the difference. They expect AI to play a decisive role in the implied equation—successful deployment vs. missed opportunity—over the next three to four years.

// Business & Markets

Instacart, DispatchHealth partner to tackle food insecurity

January 23, 2024 / Instacart / DispatchHealth / Denver / In-home Care

In-home care provider DispatchHealth and grocery delivery company Instacart announced a partnership to provide Dispatch’s in-home care professionals with tools to prescribe food to patients using Instacart Health.

Novo strikes another obesity drug deal

January 24, 2024 / Novo Nordisk / Obesity / Ozempic / Wegovy

Hoping to stay on top of an obesity market revolutionized by its Ozempic and Wegovy drugs, Novo Nordisk is on a dealmaking spree. In August, Novo agreed to buy biotech Inversago Pharma in a takeover that may be worth as much as $1.1 billion and comes with a drug already in human testing.

Sanofi to buy Inhibrx in deal worth up to $2.2B

January 23, 2024 / Sanofi / Inhibrx / San Diego

The focus of the deal is an experimental drug Inhibrx is developing for a rare lung disease known as alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency. Sanofi will acquire the drug via a buyout of Inhibrx following the spinout of the biotech’s other assets and employees into a new publicly traded company that will inherit the Inhibrx name.

Calluna Pharma announces €75m series A financing for immunological diseases

January 24, 2024 / Calluna Pharma / Immunological Diseases / Oxitope Pharma / Arxx Therapeutics

Oxitope Pharma and Arxx Therapeutics have announced their merger to form Calluna Pharma, which has raised €75m in a series A financing, to develop novel therapies for immunological diseases. The new company will combine Oxitope’s and Arxx’s expertise to develop novel therapies that harness the transformative potential of the body’s immune system.

Turquoise Health Raises $30M for its Price Transparency Software

January 23, 2024 / Turquoise Health / San Diego

Hospitals’ compliance with price transparency laws has increased significantly in the past year, with most hospitals currently displaying the cost data they need to in order to adhere to the regulations. That wasn’t always the case, though. Hospitals had a difficult time meeting CMS’ price transparency requirements during the first two years they were enforced — a JAMA study published a year and a half after the rule went into effect showed that fewer than 6% of U.S. hospitals were fully compliant.

// Legal & Regulatory

FDA orders new cancer warnings for CAR-T therapies

January 23, 2024 / FDA / CAR-T / Cancer

The CAR-T therapies — Abecma and Breyanzi from Bristol Myers Squibb, Carvykti from Johnson & Johnson and Legend Biotech, Kymriah from Novartis, and Tecartus and Yescarta from Gilead — can drive deep and durable responses in patients with lymphoma, leukemia and multiple myeloma who have progressed following numerous other treatments.

Johnson & Johnson inks $700M deal to resolve talc consumer protection claims from 42 states

January 23, 2024 / Johnson & Johnson / Talc Litigation / Settlement / Bankruptcy

After failing to resolve a mountain of talcum-powder lawsuits through two unsuccessful bankruptcy attempts, Johnson & Johnson has agreed to a $700 million settlement that would free the company from some consumer protection claims—and a small part of the talc litigation that it faces.

Generic group sues Illinois over a price-gouging law with ‘draconian regulations’

January 25, 2024 / Illionis / Regulations / Lawsuit

The trade group for generic drug companies in the U.S. has filed a lawsuit alleging a new Illinois law that is designed to prevent price gouging is unconstitutional, the latest effort to push back against states attempting to lower the cost of medicines.

FDA Misses PDUFA Date for Liquidia’s NDA for Inhaled Blood Pressure Drug

January 25, 2024 / FDA / PDUFA / Blood Pressure

Liquidia remains stuck in regulatory limbo as the FDA extended its review period for Yutrepia’s New Drug Application. The company announced Thursday in an update that the regulator missed its Jan. 24 PDUFA goal date and the agency’s review remains ongoing.

FDA lifts remaining hold on Pharvaris’ HAE drug, clearing path to phase 3

January 22, 2024 / Pharvaris / FDA / Clinical Hold / Hereditary Angioedema

Two oral versions of deucrictibant—a capsule for rapid onset to treat acute attacks and an extended-release pill for prophylaxis—are being developed by Pharvaris with the goal of reducing the treatment burden for patients with HAE.

// Research & Development

Researchers advance blood tests’ ability to detect cancer earlier

January 23, 2024 / Cancer / MIT / Harvard

Researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard have improved blood tests’ ability to detect and monitor cancer.

Mammograms are less effective for women with dense breast tissue. Medical experts disagree on what to do about it

January 23, 2024 / Mammograms / Women’s Health / Cancer

Millions of American women over age 40 receive regular mammograms to screen for breast cancer. About half of them turn out to have dense breast tissue — which makes screening significantly more complicated.

Chinese Gene Therapy Restores Hearing in Five of Six Treated Children

January 25, 2024 / Gene Therapy / China / Hearing

An experimental gene therapy being developed in China was able to restore the hearing in five of six treated children with genetic deafness, according to the results of a small study published Wednesday in The Lancet.

Fake versions of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic linked to 3 dangerous hypoglycemia cases in US: Reuters

January 24, 2024 / Ozempic / Novo Nordisk / FDA / Regional Center for Poison Control

Dangerously low levels of blood sugar—attributed to counterfeit versions of Novo Nordisk’s Ozempic—hospitalized three people in the United States last year, the American Association of Poison Control Centers (AAPCC) told Reuters.

GSK and Elegen Team Up to Develop DNA-Based Medicines and Vaccines

January 24, 2024 / GSK / Elegen / DNA

When Matt Hill, PhD, was in graduate school, the human genome sequence was more or less finished and companies like 454 and Solexa were starting to make waves in next-gen sequencing (NGS).

// Politics

The White House has a pharmacy — and it was a mess, a new investigation found

January 23, 2024 / White House / Pharmacy / Government

There’s a pharmacy in the White House — or, at least, there’s a sign that says “Pharmacy,” though the people in charge insist it isn’t one. Whatever they call it, the office has had enough internal complaints to warrant a government watchdog investigation.

Merck CEO refused to testify in Senate because he’s not an expert in drug pricing, Bernie Sanders says

January 25, 2024 / Merck / CEO / Senate / Bernie Sanders

Sen. Bernie Sanders on Thursday jabbed the CEO of Merck for telling congressional staff that he didn’t have the expertise to testify at a Senate hearing on prescription drug prices because he’s a tax attorney.

Sanders threatens to subpoena J&J, Merck CEOs over drug prices

January 19, 2024 / Sanders / J&J / Merck / CEOs / Drug Prices

A Congressional committee may subpoena the CEOs of Johnson & Johnson and Merck & Co. to testify about the differences between the costs of their drugs in the U.S. compared to other countries.

Pharma’s attack on Medicare drug price negotiation might benefit Biden

January 23, 2024 / Medicare / Biden / Price Negotiation

Pharmaceutical companies are doing anything they can to stop President Biden’s Medicare program from being able to negotiate prices for their products, including suing the government. Experts say their efforts might actually benefit Biden by reminding voters that he’s taking on big drug companies.

Key Senate panel considers Medicare bonuses for hospitals that prevent drug shortages

January 25, 2024 / Senate / Drug Shortages / Medicare

A key Senate committee is proposing that Medicare pay bonuses to hospitals that take measures to prevent drug shortages. It also wants to change the way doctors are paid to administer drugs in outpatient settings.