Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Researchers Develop New Lyme Disease Test For Faster, More Reliable Results
CIDRAP: New Test Promises Faster, More Accurate Lyme Disease Diagnosis, Researchers Say
Researchers at Dartmouth Hitchcock Medical Center have developed a way to detect Lyme disease more rapidly and reliably than current testing methods. The team presented the new molecular test late last week at the Association for Molecular Pathology 2025 Annual Meeting & Expo. The project originated with a patient whose antibody tests showed evidence of previous, but not current, Lyme infection (existing serologic tests cannot distinguish between active and past infection). (Bergeson, 11/18)
In other pharma and tech developments —
Stat: Novo Nordisk Testing Its Blockbuster GLP-1 Drugs In Alzheimer's
Within the next two weeks, Novo Nordisk is expected to announce the results of perhaps the most ambitious studies yet of its blockbuster GLP-1 drug semaglutide — whether the medicine can help slow the progression of Alzheimer’s disease. (Chen, 11/19)
Bloomberg: Pfizer Raises $6 Billion In Bond Sale For Metsera Deal
Pfizer Inc. sold $6 billion of US dollar bonds on Tuesday to help fund its acquisition of Metsera Inc. The pharmaceutical company priced the bond offering across seven parts, according to a person with knowledge of the matter, who asked not to be identified discussing private details. The longest portion of the deal, a 40-year bond, yields 1 percentage point more than Treasuries, compared with initial price talk of about 1.25 percentage point, the person added. (Gambale, Smith and Mutua, 11/18)
CIDRAP: New Online Hub For Antimicrobial Resistance Data Launches
The European Molecular Biology Laboratory's European Bioinformatics Institute (EMBL-EBI) today announced the launch of a new online hub for global antimicrobial resistance (AMR) data. Launched with the aim of making global AMR data more accessible and usable for researchers, the AMR portal will collect and present data on resistance phenotypes, AMR genes, and genome sequences, along with sample metadata, including information about the included bacteria, experimental methods, and the provenance of the dataset. The first release is based on a dataset from Imperial College London. (Dall, 11/18)
Becker's Hospital Review: How Accurate Are Smartwatches For Detecting Afib?
Several smartwatches claim to be able to detect atrial fibrillation in wearers. But how accurate are they? That was the focus of an October meta-analysis in JACC: Advances that reviewed 28 studies spanning 17,349 patients. (Bruce, 11/18)
On smoking and alcohol use —
ABC News: As Few As 2 Cigarettes Per Day Linked To 50% Increased Risk Of Heart Disease: Study
Just 100 cigarettes over the course of someone's life may be enough to raise their risk of heart disease and death, a new study suggests. Researchers at Johns Hopkins University, who looked at the smoking habits of more than 300,000 adults for almost 20 years, found that men and women who smoked as few as two cigarettes daily had a 60% increased risk of death from any cause compared to those who never smoked. (Malhotra, 11/18)
The New York Times: Smoking Weed Could Lead To Less Drinking, New Study Suggests
In a makeshift bar on a college campus, researchers studied how smoking cannabis affected alcohol consumption. (Blum, 11/19)
