Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Should Obesity Drugs Be Prioritized? Genetics Test Could Help Decide
As everyone in health care is trying to figure out which patients should get pricey new weight-loss drugs, a biotech company spun out of the Mayo Clinic is betting the genetics-based approach it's pioneering may hold the answer. (Reed, 1/31)
Ultima Genomics, an upstart some observers have called a 鈥渄ark horse鈥 in the world of DNA sequencing, will soon launch a line of high-power instruments that can read a human genome for as little as $100, the company鈥檚 leadership told STAT. (Wosen, 1/30)
Cancer treatment maker 2seventy bio said it will sell all its experimental cell therapies to Regeneron Pharmaceuticals to focus on its only approved product Abecma, sending 2seventy's shares up more than 14% in premarket trade. (1/30)
Danish seniors who received the quadrivalent (four-strain) high-dose influenza vaccine (QIV-HD) had fewer hospitalizations for flu and other conditions compared to their peers who received the standard quadrivalent flu vaccine (QIV-SD), according to a post-hoc analysis published late last week in Clinical Microbiology and Infection. (Schnirring, 1/29)
Hospitals can leverage their position between the ultimate buyers and sellers of drugs to retain a substantial share of insurer pharmaceutical expenditures. (James C. Robinson, Ph.D., Christopher Whaley, Ph.D., and Sanket S. Dhruva, M.D., 1/25)
