Alzheimer’s Drug Woes Push Biogen To Lay Off Staff

Stat: With Aduhelm In Limbo, Biogen Starts Laying Off Employees
Biogen’s largest-ever corporate restructuring began Wednesday, as employees around the world got word they would be laid off by the struggling biotech company, STAT has learned. A Biogen spokesperson confirmed the layoffs but would not provide an exact number of affected employees. People close to Biogen have said the company will cut about 1,000 jobs — more than 10% of its workforce — through layoffs, voluntary resignations, and the elimination of open positions. Biogen has said it hopes to save about $500 million a year in the process. (Feuerstein and Garde, 3/3)

In other health care industry developments —

Detroit Free Press: Michigan Medicine Data Breach May Have Exposed Patients' Information
Michigan Medicine is notifying about 2,920 patients that some of their health information may have been exposed when an employee's email account was compromised. The email account was compromised Dec. 23, resulting in a cyberattacker gaining access to and using the account to send phishing emails, the health system said in a news release Thursday. The employee learned about the breach when suspicious activity occurred Jan. 6 and immediately reported the situation to the health system's information technology department. The email account was disabled and immediate password changes were made. (Hall, 3/3)

The Boston Globe: Mass General Brigham Ads Touting Expansion Are Ruffling Feathers
The state’s largest health system wants to expand, and it wants your support. For weeks, Mass General Brigham has splashed its teal ads across newspaper pages, television screens, and the Internet to rally support behind its proposed $2.3 billion expansion. The campaign, which experts estimate cost millions of dollars, has angered competitors and a legislator, who say the health system is using its deep pockets to relay misleading information to regulators and the general public. Mass General Brigham, for its part, says it’s using the ads to dispel misinformation spread by critics and to speak directly to patients. “It is important people know the facts, and advertising is just one way to make sure those facts are publicly known and set the record straight from unfounded claims,” said Jennifer Street, a spokesperson for MGB. (Bartlett, 3/3)

Stat: Even As It Struggles, Startup Insurer Bright Health Deepens Its Ties To Cigna
Bright Health is hemorrhaging money, raising questions not only about its future but also about its increasingly close relationship with Cigna, which has become a major investor. Bright, one of the largest startups combining health insurance and doctor clinics, disclosed this week that it lost almost $1.2 billion in 2021 and will lose upward of $800 million this year, suggesting it will quickly burn through the $550 million cash injection Cigna extended in January. Some of those losses were expected, but some — such as Bright struggling with basic medical claims technology — were surprising. (Herman, 3/3)

Stat: Black Biotech Leaders Struggle For Funding Amid Industry Diversity Pledges
Paul Mola tried his best to keep cool. But inside, he was reeling. On a mid-February afternoon, he spoke to a room of students and San Diego life science leaders about his journey as a Black entrepreneur and founder of a local biotech company. As the CEO of Roswell Biotechnologies, “I truly try to have a team that is empowered, where they feel supported,” he told the audience. None of them knew that two days later he’d lay off nearly half his company after failing to raise enough money. (Wosen, 3/4)

Modern Healthcare: Sutter Health Trial Highlights Not-For-Profit Status Isn't Tied To Charity Care
When a top Sutter Health executive claimed in federal testimony Wednesday that her health system isn't required as a not-for-profit to provide free or discounted care to low-income patients, it raised a surprisingly thorny legal question. The trial, Sidibe vs. Sutter Health, isn't about hospitals' financial assistance policies, but they've come up more than once as the $13 billion health system works to paint itself as an altruistic organization. Sutter is defending against allegations that its anticompetitive practices caused Northern Californians to overpay for healthcare by more than $400 million over six years. (Bannow, 3/3)

In obituaries —

The Boston Globe: Dr. W. Hardy Hendren III, ‘A Legend In The Pantheon’ Of Pediatric Surgeons, Dies At 96
The go-to surgeon when miracles were needed, Dr. W. Hardy Hendren was affectionately known as Hardly Human, a nickname that paid tribute to his superhuman endurance during operations that lasted more than 24 hours and to his ability to heal patients who couldn’t be cured anywhere else in the world. For Dr. Hendren, who taught medical residents to always put the patient first, his devotion to surgery was its own life lesson. “What was important was that you do a good job in the operation,” he once said. “You never walk away from the table knowing that you had not done well.” (Marquard, 3/3)