What a US Exit From the WHO Means for Global Health

For decades, the United States has held considerable power in determining the direction of global health policies and programs. President Donald Trump issued three executive orders on his first day in office that may signal the end of that era, health policy experts said. Trump’s order to withdraw from the World Health Organization means the…

Read More

Exercise Benefit in a Pill: BioAge Labs Goes Public, Raising More Than $200M for Clinical Trials

BioAge Labs’ lead drug candidate, azelaprag, is in Phase 2 testing in combination with Eli Lilly’s weight management medication Zepbound. The biotech’s oral drug activates a receptor it says can mimic certain biological effects of exercise. The post Exercise Benefit in a Pill: BioAge Labs Goes Public, Raising More Than $200M for Clinical Trials appeared…

Read More

How Routine Medical Care Fuels America’s Opioid Crisis

By MATT McCORD When most Americans undergo surgery, they expect to recover quickly and return to their normal lives. Few realize that something as routine as a shoulder surgery, a hernia repair, or a mastectomy can mark the beginning of a life-altering opioid addiction. This often-overlooked connection between routine medical care and opioid dependence demands…

Read More

AHIP to simplify prior authorization process

AHIP (formerly America’s Health Insurance Plans) released a statement yesterday saying that their health plan members “announced a series of commitments to streamline, simplify and reduce prior authorization.” 48 US health plans signed off on the statement. What were AHIP’s 6 commitments? Standardizing Electronic Prior Authorization. Participating health plans will work toward implementing common, transparent submissions…

Read More

Startup Glycomine Lands $115M for Clinical Trial in Ultra-Rare Disease With No Approved Drugs

Glycomine’s lead program is an experimental treatment for PMM2-CDG, an ultra-rare enzyme deficiency often misdiagnosed as cerebral palsy. With encouraging results from an open-label Phase 2 study, the biotech startup is now preparing for a placebo-controlled test that could potentially support a regulatory submission. The post Startup Glycomine Lands $115M for Clinical Trial in Ultra-Rare…

Read More

How a New PE-Backed RCM Company Plans to Fix the ‘Transactional Bowels of US Healthcare’

Providers need a revenue cycle management platform that is more affordable and accurate, said Jeremy Dekinsky, CEO of Smarter Technologies, during MedCity News’ INVEST conference. New Mountain Capital formed Smarter Technologies this week by combining three separate platforms it had already acquired. The post How a New PE-Backed RCM Company Plans to Fix the ‘Transactional…

Read More

Seriously, Aon, you think weight loss drugs save money?

By AL LEWIS Last month Aon, the major benefits consulting firm, released a “study” claiming: A significant opportunity to reduce healthcare costs for employers and enhance overall workforce health through a comprehensive obesity management program that includes GLP-1 medications. This, of course, is the opposite of what most researchers have shown.  And in the immortal…

Read More