OmniLIfe Health, based in Lexington, Kentucky, won the MedCity News INVEST Pitch Perfect contest on May 23, beating five other payer/provider startups. The company works to streamline workflows for organ transplants.

The HER2 protein targeted by the approved cancer drug Enhertu is found on a wide range of tumors. Interim Phase 2 data reported at the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology suggest the AstraZeneca and Daiichi Sankyo drug has potential to treat many of these cancers.

Prana Thoracic, a startup focused on earlier detection and intervention for lung cancer, recently won the medical devices track of the MedCity News INVEST Pitch Perfect contest. The company is developing a minimally invasive electrosurgical device to help thoracic surgeons better excise smaller and intermediate-size lung nodules.

If a drug’s FDA approval could be overturned by any judge, anywhere, anytime the pharmaceutical industry would be severely impacted. While mifepristone is no blockbuster, a legal precedent allowing courts to overturn the FDA’s approval could be applied to other drugs like blockbuster drugs like Viagra, Humira, or the new diabetes, weight-loss drugs Ozempic or Wegovy.

Doulas — who provide physical, emotional and informational support to expectant mothers — have shown to improve maternal health outcomes, but there’s little insurance coverage of their services. That’s starting to change, however, particularly in Medicaid programs.

In a confirmatory Phase 3 test of ImmunoGen’s Elahere, the ovarian cancer drug handily beat chemotherapy with results that clinicians say could make the treatment the new standard of care for certain patients. The data were presented during the annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

A Servier drug candidate acquired as part of a $1.8 billion deal kept a particular type of brain cancer from progressing in a Phase 3 clinical trial. The study results were presented during the 2023 annual meeting of the American Society of Clinical Oncology.

New York-based startup Ezra recently received FDA clearance for an AI tool it plans to use to launch “the world’s first 30-minute full body MRI scan.” The tool, named Ezra Flash, enhances the quality of MR images so that radiologists can detect cancer earlier.

Partum Health, a maternal health startup, recently won the consumer/employer track of the MedCity News INVEST Pitch Perfect contest. The direct-to-consumer company supports families during fertility, pregnancy and postpartum.

The use of LLMs in healthcare is still incredibly nascent, so many experts are calling for a safety framework to make this uncharted territory feel safer. There are still a lot of unknowns, but avoiding clinical use cases and not inputting patients’ health information seem to be the most important guardrails providers are putting around LLMs at the moment.

BioNTech and OncoC4 reported Phase 1/2 data in non-small cell lung cancer for an immunotherapy called gotistobart. Earlier this year, the German company inked a deal to share in the development of the drug in various types of solid tumors.

A federal lawsuit brought to court by two transgender women alleges that Tennessee and its insurance committee are discriminatory because they denied the plaintiffs coverage for gender-affirming surgery.

Digital maturity will require shared data standards, strategies for streamlining data management and a collaborative approach that involves all players in the biopharma supply chain.

Digital biomarkers today serve as a valuable monitoring tool, providing details about a patient’s general health and response to treatment. But, as technology continues to develop, they could fuel predictive insights about a patient’s future health outcomes and disease trajectory, as well as demonstrate measurable quality of life improvements.

Hyro — a New York-based startup selling a conversational AI platform for providers — recently closed a $20 million Series B funding round. The platform is “mostly plug-and-play” and requires minimal effort and resources from providers, CEO Israel Krush said.

Recent regulations from the Office of the National Coordinator for Health IT (ONC) and Centers […]

About 87% of those with a behavioral health condition also have one or more medical conditions, according to a new analysis from the Evernorth Health Research Institute.

A new decentralized network of the future exists and is in operation today. Large payers and providers are already beginning to use it for administrative transactions, although clinical transactions are also envisioned.

Medicare will cover Alzheimer’s disease drugs granted traditional FDA approval, CMS announced. But the decision keeps the spirit of an earlier coverage determination, which called for the gathering of more evidence about the safety and efficacy of these therapies.

Dr. Ala Stanford, founder of the Black Doctors Covid-19 Consortium, provided hundreds of thousands of Covid-19 tests and vaccines to Black and Brown people in Philadelphia’s underserved neighborhoods during the pandemic. In her view, her was impactful because she acted promptly and focused on community-based patient engagement.