Credit Rating Downgrades Hitting Dozens Of Health Systems

Modern Healthcare: Hospitals, Health Systems Facing Credit Rating Downgrades
Dozens of hospitals and health systems have faced credit rating downgrades this year as the industry continues to wrestle with a challenging operating environment. As of the end of August, more than 60 hospitals and health systems have been downgraded by at least one of the three largest credit rating agencies. ... Reports from the agencies often cited operating losses stemming from labor shortages and high costs plus dwindling liquidity, high debt-to-cash ratios and/or possible default on debt agreements as reasons for the downgrades. (Hudson, 9/28)

Stat: Data Show Record Exodus Of Life Scientists From Academia 
New data released Thursday by the National Science Foundation show the exodus of young life scientists from the Ivory Tower to industry has reached the highest level in nearly three decades, deepening concerns about the future of academic science in the U.S. (Wosen, 9/28)

In other industry news —

The Wall Street Journal: FemHealth Ventures Closes $32 Million Fund For Women’s Health Investments
FemHealth Ventures, which invests in companies focused on women’s health, has closed a $32 million debut fund despite a difficult fundraising environment for new venture firms. (Gormley, 9/28)

The Boston Globe: Harbinger Health Raises $140 Million For Blood Test To Screen For Cancers
A Cambridge biotech run by the former head of the Food and Drug Administration has raised $140 million to complete the study of a blood test it developed to screen for cancers in people without symptoms. Harbinger Health, founded in 2020 by Flagship Pioneering, the venture capital giant that created the vaccine-maker Moderna, is testing the cancer screening technology in a clinical trial of 10,000 volunteers. Some trial results are expected next year. Saltzman, 9/28)

The Philadelphia Inquirer: Jefferson Forms Mammography Joint Venture With Private Equity-Backed Solis Mammography
Jefferson Health continued a recent push into money-raising deals with outside partners with an announcement on Thursday that it will put its 13 mammography clinics into a joint venture with Solis Mammography, which already had a partnership with Einstein Healthcare Network before it was acquired by Jefferson in 2021. ... Based in Addison, Texas, Solis is owned by Madison Dearborn Partners, a private equity firm based in Chicago. (Brubaker, 9/28)

In Massachusetts —

Stat: How The Dana-Farber Split Will Change Cancer Care At Brigham
The severing of ties between two of Boston’s biggest health care giants has placed one of the nation’s largest health care systems in the position of figuring out how, exactly, to fill a new hole in its oncology services, at a time when cancer care is changing rapidly. (DeAngelis, 9/28)

Axios Boston: InSpring To Remedy Nursing Shortage With International Students 
While hospitals struggle with nursing shortages, a Massachusetts startup is preparing to train hundreds of foreign-born students to fill those roles. Boston-based InSpring plans to admit its first cohort of 20-30 international students with bachelor's degrees in the U.S. and other countries this winter, co-founder and CEO Chris Hoehn-Saric tells Axios. (Solis, 9/28)

The Boston Globe: Broad Institute Co-Founder Scales Back His Role
Stuart L. Schreiber, one of the four founding members of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, is scaling back his work at the renowned biomedical research center in Cambridge. Schreiber, a Harvard professor known for his role in the development of the field of chemical biology, is “transitioning his status to founding core institute member emeritus as he enters the next phase of his career,” David Cameron, a Broad spokesman, confirmed Thursday. He had no further details. (Saltzman, 9/28)

Also —

Crain's Cleveland Business: Duly Health And Care Lays Off Workers, Reducing Services
After overhauling its C-suite, Chicago’s largest physicians group is shedding staff, cutting compensation and reducing services as it battles industrywide headwinds and lugs a heavy debt burden from a 2017 private-equity deal. Downers Grove-based Duly Health & Care laid off a number of workers in September across the organization, the second round of job cuts in recent months, current and former employees say. (Davis, 9/28)

Reuters: GSK Lifts Growth Target For HIV Business On Demand For Long-Acting Drug
GSK on Thursday lifted its medium-term growth forecast for its HIV drugs business ViiV, encouraged by strong sales of long-acting injections that aim to replace daily pills for preventing and treating the infection. The ViiV business, in which Pfizer and Shionogi hold small stakes, is a key element of a push by group CEO Emma Walmsley to improve investor confidence in the strength of GSK's drug development pipeline, which has lagged that of its rivals. (Burger, 9/28)

Reuters: Eli Lilly Settles Whistleblower Lawsuit Over Manufacturing Problems 
Eli Lilly and Co and a former employee agreed to settle a lawsuit in which the worker claimed she was terminated after pointing out poor manufacturing practices and data falsification involving one of its blockbuster diabetes drugs, according to court filings. The former human resources officer, Amrit Mula, contended in the lawsuit that she repeatedly urged leaders at a New Jersey plant to remedy problems involving several biologic drugs, including Type 2 diabetes medicine Trulicity. (Levine and Taylor, 9/28)

In other news —

The Hill: FDA Approves Exxua For Depression Treatment After Multiple Rejections Over More Than Two Decades
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) on Thursday approved the medication Exxua to treat major depressive disorder – a significant step after a decades-long battle for approval. Exxua is unique for its ability to target the serotonin 1A receptor, which is a regulator of mood and emotion. In doing so, it avoids undesirable side effects that often come with drugs that treat anxiety and depression disorders, including sexual dysfunction and weight gain, according to the press release from drug manufacturer Fabre-Kramer Pharmaceuticals. (Fortinsky, 9/28)

Reuters: Merck's Blood Vessel Disorder Therapy Receives US FDA's Priority Review
Merck said on Thursday the U.S. health regulator will review its experimental therapy to treat a type of progressive blood vessel disorder on a priority basis. The drugmaker had gained rights to the therapy, sotatercept, through its $11.5 billion acquisition of Acceleron Pharma in 2021. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has set March 26, 2024 as a target action date for the review, Merck said. (9/28)

Reuters: Amicus' Muscle Disorder Therapy Gets US FDA Nod But Restricted Label Drags Shares
Amicus Therapeutics' treatment for a rare muscle disorder called Pompe disease was approved by the U.S. health regulator, the drugmaker said on Thursday, ending its years-long efforts to launch the therapy. (Roy, 9/29)

Reuters: J&J's Lung Cancer Therapy Succeeds In Head-To-Head Study With AstraZeneca's Drug
Johnson & Johnson said its cancer drug combination increased the time patients with a type of non small-cell lung cancer live without the disease worsening compared to AstraZeneca's Tagrisso in a late-stage study. J&J said on Thursday it expects the combination to become a first-line treatment for non small-cell lung cancer (NSCLC) patients with a type of mutation in EGFR protein that causes rapid tumor cell growth. (Satija, 9/28)

Stat: Setback For Rare Diseases As Taysha Gene Therapies Pulls Back
In 2020, as biotech stocks surged amid the pandemic, a startup called Taysha Gene Therapies raised over $300 million off an audacious promise: It was going to license and develop gene therapies for at least 18 different rare and serious neurological diseases. (Mast, 9/29)