Current medical news and unique business news for anyone who cares about the healthcare industry.
FDA rejects Contrave: What it means. “If there was one pill in the latest crop of experimental weight-loss medicines that stood a chance of getting the nod from the Food and Drug Administration, it looked like Orexigen’s Contrave,” writes NPR’s Scott Hensley. But that didn’t happen. Instead, the FDA rejected the drug. As a result, “The field of obesity drugs is effectively dead,” writes Matthew Herper on Forbes.
“The clear lesson is that weight-loss medicines simply do not have enough of a benefit to justify any risk – and that this makes getting them approved just about impossible,” Herper added.
The newest coursework in medical school… art, writing, literature and — hopefully — empathy.
Healthcare reform repeal update. The Senate will get a repeal vote afterall. Meanwhile, states that were party to the Florida ruling that nullified last year’s healthcare reform legislation are split on how to respond to the ruling.
Layoffs at Zimmer, Pfizer. Orthopedics company Zimmer Holdings announced an unspecific number of layoffs; while Pfizer is laying off 1,100.
Eight out of 10 Internet users… search the Web for health information, making it the third most common use of the Internet behind e-mail and using search engines.
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Streamlined stem cells. Johns Hopkins researchers say they have a better way to create induced pluripotent stem cells that will make the cells more reliable in research studies, among other things.
Dealflow and more. Proton therapy specialists ProCure raised $40 million; wound care business Spiracur raised $35 million; spinal implant company VertiFlex raised $14 million.
