STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: Moderna gets $1.5 billion U.S. contract for Covid-19 vax; state out-of-pocket caps saved residents money
Hello, everyone, and how are you today? A bright shiny sun and cool breezes are…
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Opinion: We need new antimicrobials to prevent the next infectious disease crisis
Imagine if scientists had seen Covid-19 coming years in advance yet did little to prepare….
STAT Plus: 4 questions for neurology startups as venture investors pour millions into the field
As pharmaceutical companies stepped back from developing new drugs for neurological conditions, venture capitalists took…
Long after the fire of a Covid-19 infection, mental and neurological effects can still smolder
Early on, patients with both mild and severe Covid-19 say they can’t breathe. Now, after…
STAT Plus: Out-of-pocket spending on specialty drugs dropped dramatically after states capped costs
Amid efforts to blunt rising medicines costs, a new analysis finds three states succeeded in…
STAT+ Conversations: How pharma is influencing the 2020 election
Editor’s note: A livestream of this conversation will be embedded above at 1 p.m. ET. …
Telemedicine shines during pandemic but will glow fade?
Racked with anxiety, Lauren Shell needed to talk to her cancer doctor. But she lives…
STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: Russia registers a Covid-19 vaccine amid skepticism; can monoclonal antibodies combat the coronavirus?
Rise and shine, everyone, another demanding day is on the way. We can tell if…
STAT China: Big news at Simcere, and a breakthrough designation for Legend Biotech
A version of this digest first appeared in the weekly STAT China newsletter. To receive…
Inspired by llamas’ unique antibodies, scientists create a potent anti-coronavirus molecule
Inspired by a unique kind of infection-fighting antibody found in llamas, alpacas, and other camelids,…
Opinion: With Covid-19 halting clinical trials, wearables could be key — but data ‘wild west’ gets in the way
The biotech and pharma industries are at a pivotal moment, facing a pandemic that’s caused…
STAT Plus: With Livongo’s arsenal of health devices, Teladoc is poised to move into remote monitoring
As part of its landmark $18.5 billion deal to buy Livongo, telehealth giant Teladoc Health…
STAT Plus: AAMC, the medical school trade association, gave $500,000 to dark-money group in 2018
WASHINGTON — The dark-money group Citizens for Truth in Drug Pricing, which has run several…
Antibody drugs could be one of the best weapons against Covid-19. But will they matter?
From the moment Covid-19 emerged as a threat, one approach to making drugs to treat…
Genomic sequencing to screen apparently healthy newborns raises more false alarms than routine blood tests, study finds
With advanced technology, clinicians can now sequence the genomes of newborn babies, seeking to turn…
STAT Plus: Seizing on India’s lax standards for Covid-19 drugs, critics push for an overhaul on transparency
As Indian regulators endorse controversial treatments for Covid-19, a group of high-profile physicians and activists…
STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: One in three Americans would refuse a Covid-19 vaccine; pharma donates big-time to Congress
Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was…
STAT Plus: Seres announces positive late-stage results for its microbe-based drug
Four years after a devastating clinical trial failure, Seres Therapeutics seems to have found success….
Opinion: Collective intelligence and collaboration around 3D printing: rising to the challenge of Covid-19
As Covid-19 raced across the globe, health care systems faced shortages in personal protective equipment….
STAT Plus: FDA’s reopening plan will keep biologics labs shuttered far longer than other government labs
WASHINGTON — The FDA is keeping its biologics labs shuttered far longer than other government…
Winter is coming: Why America’s window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19 is closing
The good news: The United States has a window of opportunity to beat back Covid-19…
Pharma is showering Congress with cash, even as drug makers race to fight the coronavirus
WASHINGTON — The world’s biggest drug makers and their trade groups have cut checks to…
Study finds racial bias in the government’s formula for distributing Covid-19 aid to hospitals
The federal government has systematically shortchanged communities with large Black populations in the distribution of…
STAT Plus: FDA approves first oral treatment for a rare muscle-destroying disease
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday approved the first oral therapy for spinal muscular…
STAT Plus: Hospital president wrote opinion piece critical of drug pricing efforts, but didn’t disclose role on Moderna board
Dr. Elizabeth Nabel, president of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, earlier this year criticized efforts to…
STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: Trump’s ‘Buy American’ order raises doubts; Gilead looks to boost global remdesivir output
And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too…
The FDA accepted Biogen’s Alzheimer’s drug submission. Next up, a highly anticipated outside expert review
The Food and Drug Administration has agreed to review a marketing application submitted by Biogen…
STAT Plus: AbbVie pays $24 million to settle lawsuit over using ‘nurse ambassadors’ to boost Humira sales
After two years of wrangling, AbbVie (ABBV) agreed to pay $24 million to settle a…
Opinion: When the treatment is torture: ICE must stop using solitary confinement for Covid-19 quarantine
After months of social distancing, many of us are feeling its effects. Experts have delineated…
The story of a scientist’s mea culpa on Covid-19 vaccines — and a rough week on Twitter
The development of Covid-19 vaccines is progressing at an unprecedented speed. Vaccines that were mere…
Nursing homes grapple with a dual crisis: preparing for hurricane season amid the Covid-19 pandemic
Nursing homes face an impossible decision during hurricane season this year — whether or not…
As mindfulness app Headspace booms, its popularity outpaces its scientific evidence
This has, by all accounts, been a banner year for Headspace. Demand for the mindfulness…
Listen: A health tech mega-deal, a Twitter vaccine debate, and media criticism from Operation Warp Speed
Does the future of health tech look like Facebook? Can we cut corners with Covid-19…
STAT Plus: Italy becomes first country to require pharma to disclose public funding for R&D costs
Amid growing clamor for more transparency from the pharmaceutical industry, Italy has become the first…
STAT Plus: Pressure mounts on FDA chief to stick with science for Covid-19 vaccine approvals
As pressure mounts to develop a successful Covid-19 vaccine, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Stephen…
STAT Plus: Biogen strikes $1 billion deal with Denali to advance Parkinson’s drug based on approach that was nearly abandoned
Biogen said Thursday it will pay more than $1 billion to the biotech firm Denali…
Trump to order government to buy certain drugs solely from U.S. factories, setting up major shakeup for industry
WASHINGTON — President Trump will sign an executive later today directing the federal government to…
STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: AstraZeneca strikes first Covid-19 deal with a Chinese company; vaccine trials face distrust from minority groups
Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you,…
Opinion: As clinicians are redeployed for Covid-19, onboarding takes on extra importance
Think back to your first day at a new job. It was probably difficult to…
This California company has a better version of a simpler, faster Covid-19 test
In some parts of the U.S. right now, it can take weeks to get results…
How a Zoom forum is changing the way ICU doctors treat desperately ill Covid-19 patients
It was late April, near the height of the Covid-19 pandemic in the big cities…
STAT Plus: 10 burning questions about Teladoc’s $18.5 billion deal to buy Livongo
It’s hard to recall a deal that scrambled the dynamics of the health tech industry…
Blackstone agrees to buy Ancestry in $4.7 billion deal
Investment firm Blackstone announced on Wednesday that it was scooping up direct-to-consumer genetics company Ancestry…
Virtual Event: CRISPR’s forward march
Editor’s note: A livestream of this virtual event will be posted above at 1 p.m….
STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: J&J to supply U.S. with 100 million Covid-19 vaccine doses; Feds seek $18 billion from Purdue in opioid probe
Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. Yes, indeed, the middle…
Teladoc Health and Livongo merge in an $18.5 billion deal
Telemedicine provider Teladoc Health and diabetes coaching company Livongo have agreed to merge in an…
STAT Plus: Earnings season highlights how health tech companies fared in the first full quarter of the pandemic
It’s earnings season for health tech companies — and that’s opening a window into how…
Opinion: Yes, we need a vaccine to control Covid-19. But we need new treatments, too
Hopes for a relatively quick return to normalcy are riding high on promising news about…
Opinion: Ventilation should be part of the conversation on school reopening. Why isn’t it?
Like every other parent with a school-age child, I want schools to reopen in the…
Telemedicine is booming — but many people still face huge barriers to virtual care
As Covid-19 drives many patients away from in-person care and toward virtual visits, experts warn…