Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Eli Lilly Becomes First Health Care Company To Hit $1 Trillion In Value
CNBC: Eli Lilly Hits $1 Trillion Market Value, First For Health Care Company
Eli Lilly reached a $1 trillion market capitalization on Friday, the first health-care company in the world to join the exclusive club dominated by tech firms. Eli Lilly briefly hit the $1 trillion mark in morning trading before retreating. It was last trading around $1,048 a share. Eli Lilly is the second nontechnology company to reach the coveted $1 trillion mark in the U.S. after Warren Buffett’s Berkshire Hathaway. (Constantino and Pramuk, 11/21)
Bloomberg: Bayer Drug Cut Stroke Risk After First Hitting Roadblock
Bayer AG said an experimental stroke-prevention drug showed positive results in a late-stage study, a boost for the German company as it seeks to counter sales declines from aging blockbuster medicines. Patients who took a 50-milligram dose of asundexian once a day, along with standard antiplatelet therapy, had a significantly lower risk of another stroke occurring compared with those who took a placebo, the drugmaker said Sunday. The news is positive for Bayer, which is struggling with dwindling sales for some of its blockbuster drugs and litigation over its Roundup herbicide. (Wind and Schroers, 11/23)
More health industry developments —
St. Louis Post-Dispatch: 'Micro-Hospital' To Open In North St. Louis
A Houston-based for-profit health care company says it will restart emergency care at a "micro-hospital" on the site of the short-lived Homer G. Phillips Memorial Hospital at Jefferson and Cass avenues. Archview ER & Hospital plans to open before the end of the year in the 15-bed healthcare facility completed in 2023 as part of North St. Louis landowner Paul McKee's 15-year-old NorthSide Regeneration plan. (Barker, 11/21)
Minnesota Public Radio: University Of Minnesota To Restart Negotiations With Fairview And M Physicians
After several weeks of turmoil over funding the state’s largest medical school, all parties will soon return to the negotiating table. Last week, Fairview Health Services and University of Minnesota Physicians, a nonprofit clinical practice for the faculty of the University of Minnesota Medical School, announced they had reached a deal to support physician training and academic health programs and fund the medical school for the next 10 years. (Zurek, 11/21)
Modern Healthcare: CMS' TEAM Model Leaves Hospitals Scrambling Before 2026 Launch
Hospitals are running out of time to prepare for a new mandatory Medicare bundled payment model, and there’s lots left to do. Starting in January, more than 700 hospitals will be held accountable for coordinating care and constraining costs for five common procedures under a five-year bundled payment demonstration called the Transforming Episode Accountability Model, or TEAM. The model, which the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services finalized last November, will test bundled payments for 30-day episodes of care in fee-for-service Medicare. (Early, 11/21)
NPR: The U.S. Relies On Immigrant Physicians. What If They No Longer Want To Come?
Michael Liu grew up in Toronto, Canada, then moved to the U.S. for college and medical school because, to him, America was the premiere destination for fulfilling his aspirations to become a physician and researcher. "You know, in chase of the American Dream, and understanding all the opportunities — that was such a draw for me," says Liu, who attended Harvard University. He is now 28 and has deep personal and professional roots in Boston, where he's an internal medicine resident at Mass General Brigham. (Noguchi, 11/24)
