STAT+: Flush with cash from Covid-19 vaccine, BioNTech founders have outsized ambitions
BOSTON — BioNTech CEO Uğur Şahin had been in marathon meetings since he arrived in…
Author: STAT
Opinion: Why the U.S. needs a public benefit biopharma industry
The biopharma industry is failing Americans, economically and medically. U.S. biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, like…
STAT+: Alphabet’s AI predicted the structure of 200 million proteins. Can it really speed up drug discovery?
Every two years since 1994, scientists have come together for an experiment — better described…
STAT+: Differences in countries’ regulations keep some cell and gene therapies from reaching patients
CARLSBAD, Calif. — Biotech companies developing cutting-edge cell and gene therapies often are tripped up…
STAT+: Merck pays $250 million to license a Moderna skin-cancer vaccine candidate
Merck on Wednesday agreed to extend an ongoing collaboration with Moderna to develop a personalized…
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STAT+: FDA and large compound pharmacies settle a long-running dispute over a key list for ingredients
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration and a trade group that represents large compound pharmacies…
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Human neurons implanted in a rodent’s brain lead a rat to water — and make it drink
The scientist flicked on a laser, filling the rat’s brain with blue light. The rodent,…
FDA authorizes updated Covid-19 boosters for kids as young as 5
The Food and Drug Administration on Wednesday authorized updated Covid-19 boosters for kids as young…
STAT+: Pharmalittle: Walmart joins rivals in entering clinical trial work; Maiden Pharma failed to do quality tests on cough syrups
Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. After all, there…
Virtual Event: Biosimilars’ Meteoric Moment
Editor’s note: A livestream of the conversation will be embedded below at 1 p.m. ET….
Opinion: Maternity care in the U.S. is in crisis. It’s time to call the midwife
After pushing for several hours, my patient looks exhausted but happy, clutching her seconds-old newborn…
STAT+: Triplet Therapeutics, biotech company focused on Huntington’s, quietly shuts down
A biotech company co-founded by venture capital firm Atlas Venture has shut down after running…
Opinion: Listen: The Supreme Court set public health back 50 years. The next term could be even worse
It took the U.S. Supreme Court just seven days last June to set back public…
When is a doctor not a doctor? Often, when patients address women physicians
In her inbox on the Mayo Clinic patient portal, the dermatologist Jamison Harvey receives some…
STAT+: Even as large health systems bleed money, children’s hospitals are faring well
Children’s hospitals were spared from the worst ravages of the pandemic, putting them in a…
STAT+: Bright exits ACA health insurance marketplaces to stay afloat
Bright Health Group is drastically cutting back its health insurance offerings for next year, including…
U.S. preventive health group recommends anxiety screening for kids 8 to 18
An influential national panel of preventive health experts on Tuesday recommended for the first time…
STAT+: Pharmalittle: BIO CEO resigns amid board disagreements; Pfizer exec denies allegations over EU Covid-vaccine deal
Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine thank you,…
Opinion: CBO’s dismissal of health care price transparency is based on faulty premises
Can price transparency meaningfully reduce the outrageous cost of health care and coverage? I believe…
Opinion: Medicare’s cuts to home health are a step in the wrong direction
My grandmother lived at the top of a hill overlooking the magical mountains and valleys…
STAT+: For Swedish professor and his tiny biotech, Alzheimer’s drug means vindication and a fortune
Last month, word spread that a drug was finally shown to slow Alzheimer’s disease, and…
STAT+: As small-town telepharmacies struggle to stay open, national chains eye an opportunity
In February 2019, the town of Albion, Ind. — population 2,500 — welcomed its first…
A minuscule new HHS office has a mammoth goal: tackling environmental justice
WASHINGTON — Ask 10 people how a federal health care agency might tackle “environmental justice,”…
Maternity care ‘deserts’ on the rise across the U.S., report finds
The home birth had been going well, with the baby having been delivered safely, when…
STAT+: European Commission says preliminary findings indicate Teva violated antitrust rules
After three years of probing, the European Commission has reached a preliminary decision that Teva…
Which diet and health habits are backed by science? Now there’s a tool for that
Does eating red meat increase one’s risk of heart disease? Would eating more vegetables help?…
STAT+: Merck touts positive results on key drug from $11.5 billion Acceleron merger
Merck said Monday the key drug from its $11.5 billion purchase of the biotech Acceleron…
Opinion: The cost of doing nothing: Congress is missing a rare opportunity to improve FDA policies and help people with deadly illnesses
Congress has taken the necessary step of including critical reauthorizations for the Prescription Drug User…
STAT+: Second U.S. oncology provider plans to go public
The U.S. is about to have not just one, but two, standalone publicly-traded oncology providers….
Opinion: The first malaria vaccine is here. Let’s meet the moment
One child dies every two minutes from malaria. Wider use of a new vaccine can…
A doctor’s humbling journey treating long Covid: ‘The second we think we know what we are doing, we fall flat on our face’
I first met Wes Ely in 2016, when I wrote about ICU delirium and Ely’s…
In gold-standard trial, colonoscopy fails to reduce rate of cancer deaths
For decades, gastroenterologists put colonoscopies on a pedestal. If everyone would get the screening just…
After tough period for lobby, BIO chief Michelle McMurry-Heath goes on leave
WASHINGTON — Michelle McMurry-Heath, one of the most prominent faces of the drug industry in Washington,…
To boost rural vaccination rates, health officials head for NASCAR
WASHINGTON — The federal government, which has long struggled to increase Covid-19 vaccinations in rural…
STAT+: Merck’s Covid-19 pill was no better than placebo in lowering the risk of hospitalization
A Merck pill used to combat Covid-19 failed to demonstrate it can lower the risk…
STAT+: Medicare Advantage quality ratings plunge as government resets to pre-pandemic standards
Federal officials significantly reduced the quality scores of next year’s Medicare Advantage plans, a move…
STAT+: Biogen CEO search focuses on scientists, with former J&J exec as a leading candidate
A senior researcher who was most recently at Johnson & Johnson has emerged as a…
STAT+: Pharmalittle: Medicare can still penalize drugmakers for hiking prices to privately insured patients; FDA explains push to withdraw premature-birth drug
And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too…
Opinion: Certified nursing assistants do important work. They deserve to be paid a living wage for it
In mid-April 2020, as Covid-19 shutdowns and lockdowns were being put in place across the…
Opinion: FDA’s plan to define “healthy” for food packaging: Better than the existing labeling anarchy, but do we really need it?
The FDA has announced the set of rules it proposes to enforce for manufacturers to…
Another potential roadblock to wider telemedicine abortion: state medical boards
In the post-Roe landscape, advocates for abortion rights are pinning hopes on telehealth as one…
STAT+: Health plans say texting could help reach underserved patients. But a federal rule is getting in their way
Health plans trying to reach low-income and underserved customers say they’re being stymied by a…
Biden pardons thousands for possession of marijuana and moves toward reclassification
WASHINGTON — President Joe Biden is pardoning thousands of Americans convicted of “simple possession” of…
STAT+: Drugmakers will be penalized if they hike prices on patients in private insurance market
WASHINGTON — Democrats’ drug pricing law will still penalize drugmakers if they hike prices on…
STAT+: FDA and Covis release dueling documents over the fate of a controversial drug for premature births
In the run-up to an extremely unusual hearing later this month, newly released documents underscore…
Listen: Nobels for science, biotech dealmaking, & a friendly FTC
What can we learn from mummy DNA? Is Pfizer single-handedly propping up biotech? And how…
Youth vaping rates appear to be dropping, but regulators and advocates aren’t satisfied
WASHINGTON — A new survey from the CDC and the FDA suggests that youth vaping…
Citing Ebola outbreak in Uganda, U.S. to screen all passengers arriving from there
The United States is going to direct travelers arriving from Uganda, where a fast-growing Ebola…
STAT+: Pharmalittle: Vertex exec says prices for gene therapies are ‘in the ballpark’; insulin access in poor countries remains spotty
Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. And this is especially…
STAT+: ‘Patchy efforts’ by major insulin makers mean access lags in many poor countries
The three companies that dominate the global market for insulin have launched various programs to…