// Biotech and Pharma Therapeutics
Multiple Sclerosis: New Treatment Hailed Vital for Patients’ ‘Freedom’
July 15, 2021 / Neurology / Multiple Sclerosis / Pharmaceuticals
A first-of-its-kind medication for multiple sclerosis has been hailed as a way to stop patients getting “chained” to regular hospital visits. Figures published on Tuesday showed 450 new patients were diagnosed with the condition in Scotland in 2020.
Healthy Adults Should Take Statins Even if They Don’t Have Heart Problems as the Benefits are Worth the Mild Side Effects, Study Says
July 14, 2021 / Cardiovascular / Pharmaceuticals
Healthy adults should take statins even if they don’t have heart problems as the benefits are worth the mild side effects, a major study has concluded. Researchers at Oxford University looked at data from 120,000 patients to establish if those who do not have existing heart disease still benefit from statins as a preventative measure.
Scientists Stopped COVID-19 From Replicating in Humans Using CRISPR Gene Editing
July 14, 2021 / COVID-19 / Genomics
In what has been hailed as a breakthrough, scientists from Melbourne’s Doherty Institute and Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre have used CRISPR gene-editing technology to successfully block the replication of the SARS-CoV-2, the virus which causes COVID-19, in infected human cells, according to a study published in the journal Nature Communications.
// 4th Industrial Revolution
‘The Party is Winding Down’: States and Insurers Resurrect Barriers to Telehealth, Putting Strain on Patients
July 13, 2021 Digital / Telemedicine / Reimbursement
Telemedicine is here to stay. But its free-for-all era may be coming to an end. State-issued emergency declarations and insurer policies that were issued at the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and that were meant to encourage the use of telemedicine are being phased out across U.S. states, one by one.
CMS Proposes to Cover Mental Health Virtual Visits Through 2022
July 14, 2021 / Digital / Telemedicine / Reimbursement
In the 1,747-page rule, which will be finalized later this year, CMS proposes expanding access to telehealth for behavioral healthcare, including for the first time allowing Medicare to pay for mental health virtual visits when they are provided by rural health clinics and federally qualified health centers and letting providers offer audio-only telehealth visits for certain services.
Should We Trust Big Tech With Our Health Data?
July 14, 2021 / Digital / Privacy / Artificial Intelligence
Digital diagnostic tools such as this that use AI, are springing up to help tackle all kinds of health conditions. Such as pattern-recognition technology assisting the detection of cancers, or analysing the brain scans of acute stroke patients.
// Business & Markets
Big Pharma Companies Acquire Two SoCal Biotech Startups
July 14, 2021 / Private Equity & Venture Capital / Acquisitions / New Frontiers
Two Southern California biotech startups got swallowed up this week as big pharma benefitted from the record-breaking year of investment in the industry. Pharmaceutical giant Eli Lilly plucked up a Pasadena startup Protomer Technologies for $1 billion.
Eli Lilly’s $1B Buyout Bet for Protomer Brings the ‘Next frontier’ in Smart Insulin Tech Under the Big Pharma’s Wing
July 14, 2021 / Private Equity & Venture Capital / Acquisitions / New Frontiers
Eli Lilly is looking to shore up its future diabetes franchise by putting $1 billion on the table to buy out next-gen biotech Protomer. Six-year-old Protomer is engineering protein therapeutics that can sense molecular activators in the body.
Kriya Grabs $100M to Launch Gene Therapies into the Mainstream, Starting with Diabetes
July 14, 2021 / Private Equity & Venture Capital / Gene Therapies / New Frontiers
Kriya Therapeutics is looking beyond the bread and butter of gene therapy—rare diseases—to instead focus on programs for more complex and common diseases like diabetes. And now, the Redwood City, California-based company has banked another $100 million to support the work.
Castor Raises $45M Series B to Modernize the Clinical Trial Process and Maximize the Impact of Research Data on Patient Lives
July 14, 2021 / Private Equity & Venture Capital / Clinical Trials / Technology
Castor, a leading provider of clinical trial software, announced today the closing of a $45 million Series B financing round, bringing the company’s total funding to $65 million.
Startup Genexa Raises $60 Million From VC-Led Group, Including Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle
July 14, 2021 / Private Equity & Venture Capital / OTC / Health & Wellness
Over-the-counter medicine company Genexa Inc. raised $60 million of funding from venture-capital firms and celebrities including Gwyneth Paltrow and Don Cheadle. The round values the company at roughly $200 million.
// Legal & Regulatory
Court Overturns F.D.A. Ban on School’s Electric Shock Devices
July 15, 2021 / FDA / Behavior
A Massachusetts school can continue to use electric shock devices to modify behavior by students with intellectual disabilities, a federal court said this month, overturning an attempt by the government to end the controversial practice, which has been described as “torture” by critics but defended by family members.
Listen: The FDA’s Future, Biden’s Tight Ship, & the Latest Aduhelm Twist
July 15, 2021 / FDA / Podcast
We cover all that and more this week on “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. First, we’ll talk about the future of the FDA, whose acting commissioner will have to step down in November unless she’s given the permanent job.
// Research & Development
“Game-changer”? Tarantula Venom May Yield Powerful Pain Medication to Help Curb Opioid Epidemic
July 14, 2021 / Opioids / Research
Researchers at the University of California-Davis are trying to use the venom from tarantulas to develop a pain medication to help curb the opioid epidemic, reports CBS Sacramento. “Nature offers such a wide diversity of proteins that basically, for us, are building blocks of future medicines,” Dr. Vladimir Yarov-Yarovoy of UC-Davis Health says.
Eating Junk Food Just Once a Day Raises the Risk of Inflammatory Bowel Disease by Two-thirds, Study Warns
July 14, 2021 / Inflammatory Bowel Disease / Research
Consuming just one ultra-processed snack a day may increase your risk of developing inflammatory bowel disease by two thirds. A study published in the British Medical Journal found those who ate junk food five times a day were 80 times more likely to get IBD than those on a healthy diet.
// Politics
Vulnerable House Democrats Call for Sweeping Drug Pricing Reforms in Spending Plan
July 14, 2021 / Drug Pricing / Healthcare
More than a dozen of the House’s most vulnerable Democrats are urging their leadership to include a major set of drug pricing reforms in their party’s upcoming multitrillion-dollar spending plan, a move that could help pay for the proposal.