Opinion: Lost, and sometimes found, in the emergency department at Christmas
Last Christmas, I traded my cozy bed for a shift working in my hospital’s accident…
Author: STAT
We wish we’d written that: STAT staffers share their favorite stories of 2019
As we look back on 2019, we at STAT find ourselves a little jealous. There…
3 stories to watch in health tech in 2020
Judging by the numbers, digital health companies had another huge year in 2019. Total investment…
Opinion: Star Wars and the U.S. health care system share this: bloat
The final film in the epic Star Wars saga, “Star Wars: The Rise of Skywalker”…
STAT Plus: Sarepta sells international rights to Duchenne gene therapy to Roche
Sarepta Therapeutics said Monday that it will receive $1.15 billion in cash and an equity…
Opinion: To make advanced therapies, we need to industrialize personalization
What’s the best way to measure the real rate of progress in personalized cell therapies,…
Opinion: Tech and health care need their own ‘Hippocratic oath’ to make digital health work
When a whistleblower revealed the details of Project Nightingale, a collaboration between Google and the…
As more states legalize marijuana, pregnant women and their doctors grapple with how to talk about it
As more states legalize marijuana, more women are talking to their doctors about pot use…
The debate over America’s drug-pricing system is built on myths. It’s time to face reality
America’s drug-pricing system is broken. Any system in which the list price of insulin triples…
STAT Plus: Most Americans misunderstand approvals and FDA’s role in overseeing drug ads
The Food and Drug Administration may be a high-profile government agency, but a new survey…
Watch: What is vitamin E acetate, and why does it seem to make some vapers so sick?
Health officials believe they have at least one likely culprit to blame for an outbreak…
New evidence strengthens link between vitamin E acetate and vaping illness
New evidence strengthens the suspected link between a substance known as vitamin E acetate and…
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STAT Plus: Prosecutors seek a 15-year jail sentence for former Insys CEO for his role in the opioid crisis
For his role in fomenting the opioid crisis, federal officials want to sentence Insys Therapeutics…
2019 was supposed to be the year Washington lowered drug prices. What happened?
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers of all stripes made an agreement the day following the midterm elections…
Opinion: Biologics lose protection as U.S.-Canada-Mexico trade agreement moves forward
The excision of a key term in the pending United States-Mexico-Canada trade agreement (USMCA), which…
Unorthodox Alzheimer’s researcher Robert Moir dies at age 58
When science reporters look for researchers to profile, we put a premium on the importance…
Opinion: Aducanumab isn’t the simple solution to the complicated Alzheimer’s crisis
This year’s Clinical Trials on Alzheimer’s Disease meeting began in mid-December with a bang and…
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Scientists aren’t sure why identical twins differ. Armadillo quads offer an answer
One of the armadillo quadruplets runs away when she hears Amanda Withnell approaching; her three…
STAT Plus: Creating Pig3.0, the world’s most CRISPR’d animal, raises hopes of transplantable organs
A biotechnology company that is trying to create CRISPR-edited pigs so their organs could be…
Maraganore victorious in best biopharma CEO tally; Vounatsos tops worst list
Polls are closed and the votes have been counted. STAT readers have crowned the best…
FDA approves an Ebola vaccine, long in development, for the first time
The Food and Drug Administration announced Thursday it has approved an Ebola vaccine developed by…
Listen: The decade in breakthrough drugs, the year in bad CEOing, and the viruses that cure disease
Which drug defined the decade? Who’s the worst CEO in biopharma? And how does gene…
STAT Plus: As families in Europe clamor for its pricey gene therapy, Novartis creates a lottery
Seeking to provide its pricey gene therapy to patients in countries where the drug is…
Opinion: Orphan Drug Act’s ‘nonprofitability’ loophole needs to be closed
Last month, the Food and Drug Administration took the unusual step of admitting it had…
Waning treatment for immune deficiency is a warning for all ‘one-and-done’ therapies
As a new mother, she didn’t know to look for blue-tinged lips. She could just…
STAT Plus: One drug maker has a lot more to lose than others, under early drafts of drug importation plans
WASHINGTON — President Trump’s plan to let states and drug wholesalers import medicines from Canada…
Top Republican blasts McConnell for derailing bipartisan drug pricing bill
WASHINGTON — Sens. Chuck Grassley (R-Iowa) and Ron Wyden (D-Ore.), the bipartisan duo behind the…
Experimental vaccine patch embeds invisible dots under the skin, leaving record of immunization
Ana Jaklenec readily acknowledges she’s inspired by “Star Trek.” The Massachusetts Institute of Technology scientist…
New study in mice points to why melanoma spreads — and perhaps how to prevent metastasis
In some melanoma patients, the tumor cells stay in the skin where they started, never…
STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: Trump proceeds with plan to allow importation; most Americans misunderstand FDA approvals
Hello, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just splendidly, thank you, despite…
Opinion: Manufacturing: the next breakthrough in gene therapy
I never thought I’d see the day when words like “process,” “scale,” and “automation” would…
At Mayo Clinic, AI engineers face an ‘acid test’: Will their algorithms help real patients?
ROCHESTER, Minn. — It would be easy to wonder what Zachi Attia is doing in…
STAT Plus: Cutting-edge therapies promise one-time cures, but not without risk. Can biotech make them safer?
When Dr. Akshay Sharma sits down with his sickle cell disease patients to discuss potentially…
One in five high school seniors vaped marijuana in the last year, fueling concern among health officials
One in five high school seniors report having vaped marijuana in the past year, according…
The FTC moves to block DNA sequencer Illumina’s acquisition of PacBio, calling company a ‘monopolist’
The Federal Trade Commission is challenging DNA sequencing giant Illumina’s proposed $1.2 billion purchase of…
STAT Plus: Feds says a CVS long-term-care pharmacy improperly refilled prescriptions, jeopardizing patients
Omnicare, the nation’s largest long-term-care pharmacy, was accused by federal authorities of fraudulently billing government…
STAT Plus: Lawmakers slip a win for pharma into federal spending package
WASHINGTON — Lawmakers quietly tucked a boost for the pharmaceutical industry in the massive, end-of-year…
Purdue, maker of OxyContin, quietly splits ways with PhRMA as it pulls back from lobbying
WASHINGTON — Purdue Pharma, the embattled opioid maker, has quietly split ways with PhRMA, the…
And now, your nominees for worst biopharma CEO of 2019. Let the voting begin!
I feel a touch of shame admitting that I enjoy compiling my annual list of…
STAT Plus: In novel partnership with cancer group, biotech venture firm doles out grants for research
The whole point of a biotech venture capital firm is to make money for itself…
Female researchers are less likely than men to frame their work with positive words, study finds
Are men more impressed with their own scientific research than women? Or are women warned…
STAT Plus: Bankrupt uBiome preliminarily sells patents for 1% of the poop-testing startup’s original valuation
Bankrupt microbiome-testing startup uBiome, once valued at $600 million by Silicon Valley investors, preliminarily sold…
STAT Plus: Lawmakers say a Lilly program to offer half-price insulin is a bust
Several months ago, Eli Lilly (LLY) launched a new version of its Humalog insulin at…
STAT Plus: Axsome’s depression drug succeeds in late-stage trial
An experimental pill from Axsome Therapeutics had a rapid and significant effect on major depression…
Here are the nominees for best biopharma CEO of 2019. Vote for your favorite!
People often ask me how I select the nominees for best biopharma CEO of the…
STAT Plus: These 7 startups acquired by Apple are central to its health care strategy
Of all the tech companies aiming to shakeup health care, few have proclaimed as bold a…
FDA approves Amarin fish-oil-derived drug to prevent heart attacks and strokes
The Food and Drug Administration on Friday expanded the approval of Vascepa, a fish-oil-derived medicine,…
Opinion: Deadline looms to stop the Health Insurance Tax — but Congress has been there before
It has become something of an unintentional tradition in Congress to allow key votes to…
STAT Plus: Amid fears of superbugs, sales of antibiotics used in food-producing livestock rose last year
In a surprise showing, the sale of medically important antibiotics given to food-producing livestock rose…
STAT Plus: Pharmalittle: FDA does about-face on rare disease drug; patent office pulls lawyer from Gilead case
And so, another working week will soon draw to a close. Not a moment too…