Restoring balance to the No Surprises Act
2026-03-30
STAT+: Health care jobs growth is stagnating at the biggest for-profit firms
2026-03-30
Over the past five years, the American workforce has grown in large part due to the health care industry. But large, for-profit health care companies have not been driving that job growth.
Some parts of health care — notably, health insurers — are cutting jobs, some of which has not been previously reported. And considering the Trump administration and Republicans in Congress signed off on billions of dollars in Medicaid cuts in the near future, economists think it’s possible some organizations — particularly hospitals and others that actually deliver care — will lay off employees.
To understand how the health industry workforce is changing, STAT analyzed the number of employees listed in the annual filings of 50 of the largest publicly traded health care companies. They include hospitals, pharmaceutical companies, medical device firms, health insurers, distributors, and other life sciences and equipment manufacturers. The findings reveal a lot of variance by sector, and muted total job growth.
Opinion: Remembering public health pioneer Barry Bloom: a scientist, a mentor, a mensch
2026-03-30
When Barry R. Bloom was diagnosed with pancreatic cancer, he decided to be a data point. He signed up for clinical trials, and, as was his way, he read all the papers and came to his appointments with questions and wanting to learn as much as he could. When he entered a Phase 1 study of a molecular inhibitor of his tumor’s KRAS mutation and saw a tremendous response, he knew it was temporary. A single inhibiting agent was bound to select for resistance — he knew it was a matter of time.
He used that time well: writing his memoir for his 5-year-old grandson, seeing friends, going to the symphony.
7 big challenges for the next CDC director
2026-03-30
Public health experts watching the leadership void at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention have been predicting for a while that finding someone to head the agency would be a Herculean task.
In the first 15 months of the second Trump administration, the agency has had a Senate-confirmed director for a mere four weeks — Susan Monarez, who was fired last August in a clash over vaccination policy with health secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr.
Opinion: STAT+: Washington is on the verge of true PBM reform
2026-03-30
Consumer groups, independent pharmacies, and drugmakers rightly complained for years that pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) have used their position as supply chain middlemen to benefit themselves at the expense of patients and payers.
At last, relief is in sight. Congress and the Department of Labor are now poised to align PBMs’ incentives with employers and patients, including making PBMs legally accountable as fiduciaries.
I’ve been studying PBMs for as long as the complaints have been piling up. My research with colleagues at the USC Schaeffer Center shows that PBMs negotiate, but patients and payers too often do not benefit from it. For example, between 2014 and 2018, PBMs’ share of insulin expenditures nearly tripled with no overall savings to payers. At the same time, higher rebates led to higher list prices — roughly $1.17 in higher list price for every additional dollar in rebates — which inflates out-of-pocket costs for patients whose cost-sharing is tied to list prices.
STAT+: AI drug developer Insilico Medicine and Lilly ink commercialization deal worth up to $2.75 billion
2026-03-29
Alex Zhavoronkov, CEO of Insilico Medicine, can’t stop complimenting Eli Lilly. “Lilly is better in AI than Insilico, and no other company is better in AI than us … except for these guys,” he said.
He insisted he wasn’t saying nice things about Lilly just because the pharma giant has signed a new deal with Insilico that’s worth $115 million up front and approximately $2.75 billion in biobucks, which are contingent on achieving regulatory and commercial milestones. After calling Lilly’s tirzepatide, which he is on, “the best drug ever invented by humans,” he said he’s been consistently singing Lilly’s praises for a year. “Mounjaro makes me so happy every day. I want to develop the next one.”
It looks like Zhavoronkov might have the opportunity to do just that — his AI drug development company’s new deal with Lilly, announced on Sunday, includes rights for the Mounjaro and Zepbound manufacturer to develop, manufacture, and commercialize some of Insilico’s preclinical AI-discovered candidates for oral therapeutics. Though he declined to say which assets Lilly licensed, he said that the company is the “absolutely best partner” for the candidates and that “nobody is better than them” in these disease areas. Insilico’s pipeline webpage recently was updated to note that a candidate targeting GLP-1 has been out-licensed to an undisclosed partner.
STAT+: Amid focus on food, FDA leader briefs lawmakers on priorities
2026-03-27
WASHINGTON — Food and Drug Administration officials briefed senators on the agency’s plans for food policy for 2026, according to a person familiar with the meeting.
The agency plans to focus on infant formula safety, updating food labels, defining ultra-processed foods, expanding inspections of food processing plants, and bolstering seafood safety programs, according to a document shared with lawmakers, obtained by STAT.
The meeting comes amid a shift in the administration’s health agenda toward food issues and away from vaccine policy. In recent polls, food reforms have been more popular than the vaccine agenda, catching the attention of administration officials looking to sharpen their message for the midterms.
STAT+: In private meetings, White House works to win pharma companies’ support for drug pricing bill
2026-03-27
WASHINGTON — The White House has drafted legislative text for its drug pricing policy, and officials are in the process of sharing it with more than a dozen major pharmaceutical companies, according to people familiar with the meetings.
The legislative text, according to a White House official, closely follows the outlines of the voluntary deals the administration made with pharma companies. The draft includes a policy that would allow drugs purchased in cash to count toward a patient’s deductible.
The Trump administration’s push for drug price legislation is part of a larger effort to get health reforms signed into law. The president’s focus on his affordability agenda in an election year has heightened the profile of the effort.
STAT+: China’s biotech boom is rewriting everything
2026-03-27
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The NIH’s foreign subaward crackdown is scrambling global collaborations, while China’s rapid ascent is reshaping drug development. Meanwhile, Wave Life Sciences sheds half its value on underwhelming obesity results.
Also, breaking: I’m adopting a rogue backyard tortoise and will name it Philbert.
The impact of NIH restrictions on foreign institutions
2026-03-27
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Good morning. We’re down to the final four in our annual STAT Madness competition. In one matchup, research on a biomarker for Alzheimer’s has a solid lead over an AI cell modeling project. In the other, a smart floss that tracks hormones trails a study on the connection between triglycerides and aneurysms. Vote today, vote tomorrow!
STAT+: Up and down the ladder: The latest comings and goings
2026-03-27
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 Averna Therapeutics hired Robert Mabry as chief scientific officer. Previously, he worked at Hillstar Bio, where he was chief executive officer. And before, Mabry was global head of biologics at Takeda Pharmaceuticals.
But all work and no play can make for a dull chief scientific officer.
STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about Novo Nordisk boosting consumer focus, FDA approving a gene therapy, and more
2026-03-27
And so, another working week will soon draw 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 shaping up, although we do plan to attack our to-do list of chores and errands, promenade with the official mascots, and escort Mrs. Pharmalot to a soiree. We also hope to hold yet another listening party, where the rotation will likely include this, this, this, this and this. And what about you? Now that spring has sprung, there is opportunity to explore the great outdoors. Depending on your mood, you could hike a trail, stroll a city street, or, our favorite activity, take a long drive to nowhere. For those of you who prefer to stay home, there is always a good book or a flick on the telly. The possibilities are endless. Well, whatever you do, have a grand time. But be safe. Enjoy, and see you soon. …
Novo Nordisk appointed Poul Weihrauch, who is chief executive officer of the Mars candy company, as board observer amid a move by the drug maker to strengthen its position in the highly competitive U.S. obesity market, Reuters points out. Novo Nordisk and its majority shareholder, the Novo Nordisk Foundation, carried out a leadership shake-up last year, replacing the chief executive officer and restructuring the board. This included the consolidation of Lars Rebien Sorensen’s leadership role through his appointment as board chair in addition to his role as chair of the foundation. Sorensen has promised to strengthen the board’s pharmaceutical and commercial expertise after criticizing the previous board for being slow to address U.S. market challenges. Novo is trying to boost consumer credentials in the U.S. market in a number of ways under its new management. In January, it launched its Wegovy pill across multiple cash-pay channels, rather than solely through traditional insurance routes.
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved a gene therapy for severe leukocyte adhesion deficiency type 1 (LAD-1), an ultra-rare disease that leaves children vulnerable to life-threatening infections, STAT notes. The therapy, marketed as Kresladi, was developed by Rocket Pharma and was initially rejected by the agency in 2024 over manufacturing concerns. Recently, though, the FDA has indicated its willingness to relax some of its manufacturing requirements to ease such therapies along. Rocket is likely to charge millions of dollars for the one-time treatment, but Kresladi is not expected to be a major money maker. LAD-1 is thought to affect only around 1 in a million people, with Rocket estimating around 25 new cases per year. The approval, however, will earn the company an FDA priority review voucher that can be used to have another drug approved in just six months, rather than the typical 10.
Decades after Vietnam War, research links Agent Orange exposure to MDS blood cancer
2026-03-27
Decades after the Vietnam War, hematologist-oncologist Mikkael Sekeres began seeing veterans in his clinic with myelodysplastic syndromes, a group of blood cancers known as MDS. Many of the vets had been exposed to Agent Orange, a blend of herbicides that the military used to peel back dense foliage during the war.
This exposure has long been linked to many serious diseases, including several cancers, but not MDS — until now. In data published this month in Blood Advances, Sekeres and his colleagues were able to provide clear evidence that Agent Orange exposure is linked to MDS and can cause earlier, more aggressive disease.