Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
A Majority Of Doctors Worry Over AI's Role In Diagnoses, Treatments
The Hill: 2 In 3 Physicians Concerned About AI Driving Diagnosis, Treatment Decisions: Survey
Nearly 2 in 3 physicians are concerned about artificial intelligence’s (AI) influence on diagnosis and treatment decisions, according to a recent survey. According to the Medscape survey released Monday, 65 percent of physicians in the survey are “very” or “somewhat” concerned about AI driving diagnosis and treatment decisions. Meanwhile, 36 percent said they were “not very” or “not at all” concerned about AI driving diagnosis and treatment decisions. (Suter, 10/31)
On Eli Lilly —
Bloomberg: Lilly To Pay Beam Up To $600 Million For DNA-Editing Tech
Eli Lilly & Co. is buying rights from Beam Therapeutics Inc. to develop and sell treatments for heart disease that make use of an experimental gene-editing technology. Lilly will pay Beam $200 million upfront and make a $50 million equity investment in the company, the companies said Tuesday in a statement. Lilly, which has deep expertise in heart disease, will pay as much as an additional $350 million if the programs hit certain goals. (Smith, 10/31)
Stat: Eli Lilly To Pay $200M For Beam’s Stake In Gene-Editing Firm Verve
Eli Lilly said Tuesday that it will pay $200 million to gene-editing firm Beam Therapeutics for Beam’s stake in Verve Therapeutics, another gene-editing company focused on treatments for heart disease. (Herper, 10/31)
In other health industry news —
Reuters: GSK Lifts Annual Forecasts On Strong Launch Of RSV Vaccine
GSK (GSK.L) on Wednesday raised its full-year profit and sales forecasts for a second time, after better-than-expected quarterly sales of its newly-launched respiratory syncytial virus (RSV) vaccine. (Mathews, 11/1)
AP: A Continuing Decline In Sales Of COVID-19 Products Clips Revenue At Pfizer
Pfizer lost more than $2 billion in the third quarter as an expected COVID-19 product sales decline clipped revenue. Sales of the drugmaker’s COVID treatment Paxlovid and the vaccine Comirnaty slid 97% and 70%, respectively, as Pfizer, like its competitors, switched to selling on the commercial market instead of to governments. (Murphy, 10/31)
Reuters: AstraZeneca To Invest $245 Mln In Cellectis To Boost Gene Therapy Prospects
AstraZeneca (AZN.L) said on Wednesday it would invest $245 million in French biotechnology company Cellectis (ALCLS.PA) in a deal aimed at speeding up the development of therapeutics in areas including oncology, immunology and rare diseases. Cellectis' gene-editing technology and manufacturing capabilities to design novel cell and gene therapy products will help strengthen AstraZeneca's growing offering in the space, it said. (11/1)
Modern Healthcare: IKS Health Acquires AQuity For $200M
IKS Health, a clinical documentation, coding and revenue tech company, acquired AQuity Solutions for $200 million, the companies said Tuesday. While IKS Health has primarily focused on products for the ambulatory market, AQuity has offered similar solutions in acute care settings. The combined company will have revenue of $330 million and employ 14,000 people. (Perna, 10/31)
Modern Healthcare: Olive AI Sells Remaining Assets To Waystar, Humata Health
Olive AI, a company that was once a ‘unicorn’ and valued at $4 billion, has sold its remaining assets and is winding down operations. The company, which developed technology to help providers and insurers automate the revenue cycle, sold its patient access software product to Waystar and its prior authorization business to Humata Health, Olive said Tuesday in a post on its website. (Perna, 10/31)
Modern Healthcare: Option Care Health’s John Rademacher Pivots After Amedisys Deal Fails
Option Care Health is sticking to what it knows best when it comes to acquisitions, following its failed $3.6 billion bid to buy home health giant Amedisys last spring. After losing out to UnitedHealth Group’s $3.3 billion all-cash offer for Amedisys, President and CEO John Rademacher said the home infusion company will use capital to buy companies more closely aligned with Option Care Health’s core business. (Eastabrook, 10/31)
Modern Healthcare: Calibrate CEO Isabelle Kenyon Steps Down
Isabelle Kenyon, founder and CEO at weight loss telehealth company Calibrate, is stepping down as CEO, she said Tuesday in a post on the user-generated publishing website Medium. Kenyon said she will continue to work with Calibrate, efforts that will include "evangelizing our mission, vision, and values" and helping increase access to the company's weight loss programs. (Turner, 10/31)
