Texas Medicaid agrees to fully cover gene therapy for Afghan refugees’ infant
After a months-long fight with Texas Medicaid over coverage of a gene therapy, Afghan refugees…
Category: Exclusive
STAT+: AI therapy and ICU training: A first look at health apps for Apple Vision Pro
Apple Vision Pro, the company’s most important new product in a decade, promises to envelop…
STAT+: Ultima Genomics launching high-end DNA sequencers that can read genome for $100
Ultima Genomics, an upstart some observers have called a “dark horse” in the world of…
The Afghan father aided U.S. soldiers. Now Texas Medicaid won’t pay for his son’s gene therapy
On a sweltering day in August 2021, as the engines of a hulking C-17 cargo…
STAT+: Former Sage executives join biotech VC Cure Ventures
Cure Ventures, a Boston-based venture capital firm founded in 2021 by a trio of veteran…
STAT+: HHS names inaugural chief competition officer
The Department of Health and Human Services will name Stacy Sanders as its new chief…
STAT+: Backed by Mayo Clinic and Microsoft, a nonprofit forms to test AI tools used in health care
A group of academic hospitals and technology companies will form a new nonprofit venture to…
STAT+: Insitro, biotech AI’s quiet unicorn, unveils efforts in ALS, liver disease, and cancer at JPM
New artificial intelligence technologies made headlines last year for their ability to do everything from…
STAT+: Feng Zhang’s year-old CRISPR delivery startup Aera lays off quarter of staff
Aera Therapeutics, a startup launched by the CRISPR pioneer Feng Zhang last year to solve…
STAT+: Amy Abernethy to step down as Verily’s chief medical officer in latest departure from company
Amy Abernethy, the president of product development and chief medical officer at Verily, a health…
Sanofi says it has 12 blockbusters in its back pocket. Will investors believe it?
NEW YORK — The top executives at French drug giant Sanofi on Wednesday defended their…
Sweeping bill to fight opioid addiction will be considered by Senate health committee
The Senate health care committee will consider a sweeping bill next week meant to combat…
A nonprofit group is pushing to get estrogen FDA approved for gender-affirming care
Hormone replacement therapies have long been approved by the Food and Drug Administration for use…
STAT+: CRISPR’s pioneers reflect on the first gene-editing treatment
The revolution started in silence. Jennifer Doudna and Emmanuelle Charpentier, now Nobelists, published their first…
STAT+: FDA’s latest reorganization puts a new emphasis on its investigations
WASHINGTON — There’s about to be a new acronym in town. The Food and Drug…
STAT+: UnitedHealth pushed employees to follow an algorithm to cut off Medicare patients’ rehab care
The nation’s largest health insurance company pressured its medical staff to cut off payments for…
Apple and Anthem’s experimental asthma app shows promising results but an uncertain future
Apple has for years promised that its devices can help people live healthier, but it…
Cancun abortion clinic will give Americans a new reason to visit the Mexican resort
MEXICO CITY — More than 5.6 million U.S. tourists head to Cancun every year, drawn…
STAT+: UnitedHealth discontinues a controversial brand amid scrutiny of algorithmic care denials
UnitedHealth Group and Optum are getting rid of the name of their tech-driven care management…
Zuckerberg and Chan announce a New York biohub to build disease-fighting cellular machines
Meta founder Mark Zuckerberg and his wife, pediatrician and philanthropist Priscilla Chan, will announce on…
STAT+: In an unusual arrangement, UnitedHealth’s board chair also owns a personal investment firm
Stephen Hemsley, the former CEO of UnitedHealth Group and its current board chair, also owns…
STAT+: How one scientist’s determination made Novo Nordisk an obesity-drug powerhouse
Lotte Bjerre Knudsen was still getting used to all the empty benches in her lab…
STAT+: Failed biotech gives a rare peek inside the tough breaks — and tough choices — that led to its demise
SAN DIEGO — It was spring 2020, and Histogen, a small biotech with big ambitions…
STAT+: Key Senate panel eyes action on drug shortages
WASHINGTON — One of the top health care committees in the Senate is assembling ideas…
STAT+: Biogen shutters digital health group, nixes Apple study, as part of cost cuts
Biogen, the iconic but embattled biotech firm, is shuttering Biogen Digital Health, its roughly 150-person…
Markey and Manchin urge FDA to stop its study of opioids for chronic pain
Two Democratic senators are warning the Food and Drug Administration not to proceed with a…
STAT+: David Liu startup to focus on getting CRISPR therapy to hard-to-reach cells
David Liu, the Broad Institute biochemist behind two powerful forms of genome editing, is launching…
STAT+: Eli Lilly CEO donates big to Mike Pence presidential super PAC
WASHINGTON — David Ricks, who leads Eli Lilly, made a major early donation to a…
Senators push IRS to launch nonprofit hospital probe
WASHINGTON — A bipartisan group of senators wants federal tax regulators to probe nonprofit hospitals’…
STAT+: White House drug shortage task force held rare in-person meeting with industry
WASHINGTON — A new White House task force on drug shortages held a rare in-person…
STAT+: Verily hires former Apple Health leader Andrew Trister as chief scientific officer
As Verily aims to get on track, the Alphabet life science company has hired Andrew…
National panel will explore requiring free Covid tests
WASHINGTON — The U.S. Preventive Services Task Force will discuss recommending Covid-19 screening, the first…
STAT+: Truvian presents data for its desktop blood-testing device in a field still in Theranos’s shadow
SAN DIEGO — Truvian Health, a San Diego blood diagnostics company, shared data on Tuesday…
STAT+: App developer Twill hunts for pharma partner to market its digital depression treatment
In another sign of the business headwinds facing prescription mental health apps, developer Twill will…
STAT+: Key House panel plots a new health care package — complicating the chamber’s agenda
WASHINGTON — It’s two weeks until Congress leaves town in August, and a prominent House panel…
STAT+: Blue Cross Blue Shield plans in California evaded $170 million in taxes, whistleblower says
Two dominant Blue Cross Blue Shield companies in California intentionally underreported premiums of certain health…
STAT+: House panel expected to mark up pandemic-preparedness bill next week
WASHINGTON — A House subcommittee will next week mark up a package of public health…
STAT+: Top federal lobbyist at PhRMA leaves
WASHINGTON — The top federal lobbyist for the brand drug lobby PhRMA is leaving, two…
White House ‘naloxone summit’ omitting prominent advocates for lower costs
The invite list for the White House’s upcoming “summit” on naloxone pricing and accessibility has…
STAT+: Biotech executive nominated to Biogen board is mother of director’s child, records show
Biogen, a biotech giant plagued by years of boardroom strife, said late Monday that the…
How a now-retracted study got published in the first place, leading to a $3.8 million NIH grant
The scientific paper inspired international headlines with its bold claim that the combination of brain…
STAT+: Ted Love, BIO’s first Black board chair, aims to rehab biotech’s image in Washington
WASHINGTON — Ted Love has pretty much done everything there is to do in biotech. He’s…
Hospitals want to buy doctors’ happiness with Nuance’s AI scribe. What they’re paying varies
Microsoft-owned Nuance Communications sells its AI medical scribe platform to health care providers on a…
‘A target on my back’: New survey shows racism is a huge problem in nursing
A family nurse practitioner in New York City, Jose M. Maria has come to expect…
Sen. Elizabeth Warren probes abortion access amid states’ patchwork plans
WASHINGTON – Sen. Elizabeth Warren (D-Mass.) is launching a fresh round of questioning on states’…
STAT+: With Fat Joe concerts and Super Bowl ads, a cadre of billionaires is mounting an unorthodox campaign against hospitals
WASHINGTON — At a waterfront concert in one of this city’s swankiest neighborhoods, rappers Busta…
‘Worse than what we thought’: New data reveals deeper problems with the Bureau of Prisons’ Covid response
WASHINGTON — The incarcerated people at Federal Medical Center Devens should have been some of…
Biden drug czar: ‘All options are on the table’ for expanding methadone access
WASHINGTON — The federal government is aggressively exploring ways to increase access to methadone, a…
STAT+: Biden drug czar to summon naloxone makers to White House to discuss pricing
WASHINGTON — The White House is summoning naloxone manufacturers for a roundtable focused on the…
From fusion to retooling cancer trials, Eric Lander wants his new group to ‘go after big problems’
Throughout his storied career, Eric Lander has led science projects in just about every setting…