Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Blue Cross Won't Appeal North Carolina State Worker Health Care Contract
AP: Aetna Set To Run North Carolina Worker Health Care As Blue Cross Will Not Appeal Judge's Ruling
Aetna is poised to manage health coverage plan benefits for North Carolina state workers and teachers starting early next year because Blue Cross and Blue Shield of North Carolina said Monday it won’t appeal a judge’s decision that upheld Aetna as the next contract winner. An administrative law judge last week determined evidence showed that the State Health Plan conducted properly the procurement process for a third-party administrator, which has been Blue Cross for over 40 years. (7/15)
Chicago Tribune: Former Outcome Health Leaders Appeal Their Fraud Convictions
The former leaders of Outcome Health — who were recently sentenced for fraud — have filed notices that they’re appealing their convictions. Former Outcome CEO and co-founder Rishi Shah and former co-founder and President Shradha Agarwal filed their notices appeal on Monday and Friday, respectively. They are appealing their convictions to the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Seventh Circuit. (Schencker, 7/15)
In other industry news —
Stat: Thyme Care Raises $95 Million For Value-Based Oncology Services
A cancer care navigation startup has raised $95 million from prominent tech investors to help payers and providers spend less on cancer patients while improving their health — including by doling out incentive payments to providers and keeping a cut of insurers’ savings. (Ravindranath, 7/16)
Reuters: Healthcare Firm Concentra Eyes $3.3 Bln Valuation In US IPO
Concentra Group, a Select Medical unit, is eyeing a valuation of $3.30 billion in its U.S. initial public offering, joining a growing list of firms testing the market after a near two-year dry spell. The occupational health services company is aiming to sell 22.50 million shares in the offering, priced between $23 and $26 apiece, to raise as much as $585 million, it revealed in a regulatory filing on Monday. (7/15)
Reuters: ISS Recommends Masimo Investors Elect Activist Politan Candidates To Board
Institutional Shareholder Services on Monday recommended that Masimo shareholders elect both director candidates proposed by activist investment firm Politan, arguing change is needed at the medical device maker. ISS, the proxy advisory firm whose recommendations often influence how investors decide on proposed mergers and who serves on boards, wrote that change is necessary even after Politan won two board seats last year in a vote. (7/15)
Reuters: Novo Owner Backs Swiss Biotech Asceneuron In $100 Million Round
Swiss biotech company Asceneuron said on Tuesday it had raised $100 million from investors including the controlling shareholder of Wegovy maker Novo Nordisk to fund clinical development of its Alzheimer's disease drug. The Series C round was led by Novo Holdings, the investment arm of the Novo Nordisk Foundation, which will hold a board seat on the Lausanne-based company. Asceneuron's lead experimental drug ASN51 is from a new class of drugs called O-GlcNAcase (OGA) inhibitors. (Fick, 7/16)
Obituaries —
AP: Tuskegee Syphilis Study Whistleblower Peter Buxtun Has Died At Age 86
Peter Buxtun, the whistleblower who revealed that the U.S. government allowed hundreds of Black men in rural Alabama to go untreated for syphilis in what became known as the Tuskegee study, has died. He was 86. Buxtun died May 18 of Alzheimer’s disease in Rocklin, California, according to his attorney, Minna Fernan. Buxtun is revered as a hero to public health scholars and ethicists for his role in bringing to light the most notorious medical research scandal in U.S. history. (Stobbe, 7/15)
The New York Times: Bengt Samuelsson, Biochemist And Nobel Laureate, Is Dead At 90
Dr. Bengt Samuelsson, a biochemist who shared the 1982 Nobel Prize in medicine for helping to define the biological activities of potent hormone-like molecules in the body called prostaglandins, and whose breakthrough discoveries led to drugs that treat inflammation, glaucoma and allergies, died on July 5 at his home in Molle, on the west coast of Sweden. He was 90. His daughter Astrid Samuelsson Norhammar said the cause was heart disease. (Ricks, 7/15)
