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The Trump administration has revised the terms of a pilot effort that will allow some drugmakers to offer rebates to certain hospitals and clinics for purchased medicines, a controversial move that may transform a key tenet of a federal drug discount program. The anticipated pilot for the 340B Drug Pricing Program, which is slated to go into effect on Jan. 1, 2027, will allow pharmaceutical companies to provide “timely” rebates, rather than offering upfront discounts. The progra

Hired someone new and exciting? Promoted a rising star? Finally solved that hard-to-fill spot? Share the news with us, and we’ll share it with others. That’s right. Send us your changes, and we’ll find a home for them. Don’t be shy. Everyone wants to know who is coming and going. And here is our regular feature in which we highlight a different person each week. This time around, we note that Bexorg hired Bruce Car as chief scientific officer. Bu

And so, another working week will soon come to a close. Not a moment too soon, yes? This is, you may recall, our treasured signal to daydream about weekend plans. Our agenda is still taking shape, but we plan on promenading with the official mascots, catching up on our reading, and manicuring the Pharmalot campus. We also hope to hold still another listening party, where the rotation will likely feature this, this, this, this and this. And what about you? If the weather cooperates, the possibili

Novo Nordisk said Friday that its investigational anti-inflammatory drug did not reduce the risk of major heart events in a pivotal trial, raising questions about the increasingly popular approach of targeting inflammation to prevent cardiovascular complications. In a Phase 3 study that enrolled over 6,300 people with heart disease, kidney disease, and inflammation, the drug, ziltivekimab, did lower markers of inflammation, Novo said. However, that did not translate into a reduction in risk o

Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here. What dish will health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. make on the first episode of his new cooking show? Wrong answers only. Read the rest…

Nine years ago in these pages, we — columnists for STAT at the time — praised the American Diabetes Association for standing up to a researcher in Brazil who had sued the group in U.S. federal court for issuing expressions of concern on four of his published articles. We even named the ADA the inaugural winner of our Doing the Right Thing award.  Times certainly have changed, and the ADA is no longer what we’d call a profile in courage. The nation’s leading di

When I was first diagnosed with limb girdle muscular dystrophy (LGMD), I was devastated to learn there wasn’t any treatment or cure. For those of us living with progressive diseases, time is not neutral. Every month a promising therapy is delayed, we will have irreversible loss of muscle function. Rare disease drug development is in the midst of an extraordinary era of scientific innovation. Researchers are advancing gene therapies and targeted treatments unimaginable just a decade ago

First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them. You can submit a Letter to the Editor here, or find the submission form at the end of any First Opinion essay.Read the re

SAN DIEGO — She first came to Park Boulevard for the money and the snacks. A friend told her there was a place they could go with free fruit gummies, granola bars, and rice crispy treats — and she could make $20 if she answered some survey questions. It sounded like a dream. GB had been spending her nights crinkling through garbage bags for bottles and cans. Aluminum got $1.66 per pound; to make $20, she had to collect hundreds of empties. As far as she understood, on Park Boulevar

Is the Food and Drug Administration taking inconsistent approaches to Duchenne muscular dystrophy drugs? How will a new batch of drug executives shake up their companies? And why is Adam talking to a recruiter? We discuss all that and more on this week’s episode of “The Readout LOUD,” STAT’s biotech podcast. Read the rest…

WASHINGTON — The Senate health committee approved two nominees for key health roles Thursday, including the director of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention and a pandemic preparedness leader, after Chair Bill Cassidy (R-La.) once again set aside his reservations to support Trump administration leadership picks. The vote on Erica Schwartz for CDC director was approved by all Republicans and by Tim Kaine (D-Va.), with other Democrats opposed. Sean Kaufman won support from all

BOSTON — In an order issued Thursday, a federal judge denied 26 states’ request to postpone the implementation of Medicaid work requirements announced in June. The case seeks to alter a piece of one of President Trump’s biggest legislative priorities. The suit is focused on the implementation of a work requirement for people who receive Medicaid, the details of which were issued in June with the target of implementing the changes by Jan. 1. But states must also communicat

The war with Iran has driven oil prices up, prompting concern that the supply of some medicines will be disrupted. But there is another consideration. In a new report, Unitaid emphasized that essential medicines are exposed to oil price volatility. Specifically, the global health agency examined the effect rising oil prices could have on one HIV medication and found that manufacturing costs could rise by 15% if oil reaches $120 per barrel, and 85% of those higher costs are driven by petrochemica

Top of the morning to you, and a fine one it is. Skies are gray but rain is not expected on the Pharmalot campus today, making it possible for the official mascots to eat breakfast on the deck and take long, luxurious naps. As for us, we are firing up the trusty kettle to make another cuppa stimulation. Our choice today is English breakfast, another old standby from the pantry. Please feel free to join us. Meanwhile, here are a few items of interest. Hope you have a meaningful and productive day

Get your daily dose of health and medicine every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here. Good morning. Earlier this week, STAT’s Anil Oza went to our regular sandwich place to get lunch, and the folks working asked him where his friend was. That’s me! I had packed my own lunch — but I might never do that again, now that I know I’m known.Read the rest…

A group of outside experts convened by the Food and Drug Administration on Thursday voted in favor of Replimune’s experimental treatment for advanced melanoma. In a 10-3 vote, the advisers determined that the biotech company has collected sufficient data to allow the FDA to review RP1, an engineered viral immunotherapy for melanoma. The agency tends to follow the recommendations of its expert panels but is not bound by them. What comes next could be seen by some as a signal of how t

Starting next week, Nebraskans on Medicaid will be at risk of losing their health coverage unless the state can verify that they work, volunteer, or attend school for 80 hours per month. Come January, millions of other low-income Americans will face the same cliff.  While some working-age people are exempt, including those with young children and those deemed “medically frail,” new rules about who can opt out have led to widespread confusion. For patients with complex medic

First Opinion is STAT’s platform for interesting, illuminating, and provocative articles about the life sciences writ large, written by biotech insiders, health care workers, researchers, and others. To encourage robust, good-faith discussion about issues raised in First Opinion essays, STAT publishes selected Letters to the Editor received in response to them. You can submit a Letter to the Editor here, or find the submission form at the end of any First Opinion essay.Read the re

When I met Tesfaye at Boru Meda General Hospital, he vaguely remembered the thorn. He was 15 when it pricked his foot, out in the fields somewhere in Mekdela, in north-central Ethiopia. He had noticed it in passing, then forgot about it. Seventeen years later, that prick had severely damaged his foot, destroying its bones.Read the rest…

This story, published in partnership with The Examination, is part of an investigative collaboration involving The Examination, The Bristol Cable, Daraj, Investico, Paper Trail Media, Der Spiegel, Der Standard, and the Toronto Star. On a winter morning in a Long Island town about two hours east of New York City’s skyscrapers, a Dutch researcher told local officials that their concerns about mixing heavily caffeinated energy drinks with alcohol were overblown.Read the rest…