Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Pandemic Boosts Integrating Dental Care Into Typical Medical Checks
Modern Healthcare: Enlisting Medical Teams For Dental Care
As patients continue to put off dental care during the COVID-19 pandemic, some health systems are rolling it into their medical appointments in hopes of getting more teeth checked and cavities filled. The movement toward medical-dental integration is hardly new, but providers on both sides said it's gained particular importance at a time when people continue to put off care amid the most recent COVID-19 wave. Dental care was the most skipped type of care in a new Robert Wood Johnson Foundation survey that found 11% of adults had delayed or forgone care in the past 30 days over coronavirus concerns. (Bannow, 8/19)
Modern Healthcare: SSM Health And Medica Enter Partnership To Improve Patient Care
SSM Health will partner with fellow not-for-profit Medica, which offers individual health and dental plans, to create products for their members in the midwest. Medica plans to invest in Dean Health Plan of Madison, Wisconsin, a subsidiary of SSM Health, and work to improve the patient experience through its operations, technology and value-based care enablement, the companies announced in a press release. The strategic agreement is expected to be finalized toward the end of 2021, pending regulatory approvals. (Devereaux, 8/18)
And in pharmaceutical and biotech news —
Modern Healthcare: J&J Partners With AI Startup To Identify Early Lung Cancer Cases
A Johnson & Johnson division focused on developing tools to combat lung cancer is partnering with a clinical decision-support startup that recently achieved regulatory clearance for an early detection tool, the companies announced Wednesday. The Lung Cancer Initiative, a program that cuts across Johnson & Johnson's consumer, diagnostic, medical device and pharmaceutical businesses, has entered into an agreement with Optellum, a startup that uses artificial intelligence to flag patients with early-stage lung cancer, so that clinicians can intervene with treatments sooner. (Kim Cohen, 8/18)
Stat: Startup Spotlight: Vigil Neuroscience Hopes To Take On Rare Disease ALSP
Vigil Neuroscience has revealed the first condition that it will target: a rare, genetic neurodegenerative disorder called ALSP, or adult-onset leukoencephalopathy with axonal spheroids and pigmented glia. The Cambridge, Mass.-based company, which bought the rights to all its current drug candidates from Amgen, also announced a $90 million series B financing round on Wednesday. (Sheridan, 8/18)
Stat: Illumina Purchases Grail Without Clearance From FTC Or European Union
Illumina, the DNA sequencing giant, said Wednesday it has closed its $8 billion purchase of Grail, a cancer diagnostics firm, even though the U.S. Federal Trade Commission has sued to block the deal and the European Union is investigating it. Grail is developing blood tests that aim to detect multiple types of cancer early, before they become deadly. Illumina is the leading maker of the basic technology on which such tests, which are being developed by multiple firms, are based. (Herper, 8/18)
