Healthcare & Laboratory News

Abstract Not Available

The New York Times (5/29, Mandavilli) reports the Trump Administration canceled a “nearly $600-million contract to the drugmaker Moderna that was intended to develop a shot for humans against bird flu.” The action was “not entirely unexpected,” as HHS “said earlier this year that it was reviewing the contract.” Additionally, HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. “has repeatedly questioned the safety of mRNA technology, which is used in Moderna’s Covid vaccine,” although experts have “said his views were out of step with the science.” Moderna previously “said it would explore alternatives for developing the vaccines covered by the contract, which were to be designed for several types of flu viruses that have the potential to cause a pandemic.” The decision also forfeited the Administration’s “right to purchase doses ahead of a pandemic, and canceled an agreement set up by the Biden administration in January to prepare the nation for a potential bird flu pandemic.”

Cystic Fibrosis News Today (5/29, Maia) reports, “Using inhaled antibiotics can help control the growth of certain bacteria in the lungs, but it may increase the risk of fungal infections with Aspergillus fumigatus in people with cystic fibrosis (CF), according to a study.” Investigators came to this conclusion after analyzing data on “2,800 children and adults diagnosed with CF.” The findings were published in the Journal of Cystic Fibrosis.

Abstract Not Available

MedPage Today (5/29, Lou) reports, “Large-scale genetic testing turned up pathogenic variants for inherited cardiomyopathies in a meaningful proportion of the general population – especially among certain racial groups.” MedPage Today adds, “A 0.7% prevalence of known-pathogenic or likely pathogenic variants in cardiomyopathy genes was detected for men and women alike in the large nationwide All of Us cohort.” The data indicated that “the prevalence of these variants was 1.2% among people with South Asian ancestry, 0.8% both with European and with African ancestry, and 0.5% with East Asian ancestry.” The “carriers of these variants were at greater risk than non-carriers of developing the following: Heart failure: 3.05 vs 1.37 per 1,000 person-years (adjusted HR 2.30, 95% CI 2.04-2.60); Cardiomyopathy: 2.38 vs 0.54 per 1,000 person-years (aHR 4.31, 95% CI 3.73-4.97); Arrhythmia: 3.93 vs 2.09 per 1,000 person-years (aHR 2.12, 95% CI 1.78-2.53).” The findings were published in Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine.

Abstract Not Available

Fierce Healthcare (5/29, Landi) reports that healthcare executives “are trying to keep pace with rapid changes” in US economic and regulatory policies under the second Trump Administration. According to a new PwC May pulse survey (5/29) of 700 business executives across six industries, 48% of respondents “rank economic policy among the top three factors driving strategic change over the next one to two years.” Among healthcare executives, “persistent policy and market volatility is a bigger concern, with six out of 10 (61%) rethinking short-term business strategies due to economic policies.” Other key factors affecting short-term strategy changes include: “AI and data regulations (56%), U.S. trade policy (44%) and U.S. federal government spending and budget policy (37%).” Notably, 90% of healthcare executives flag cyber attacks “as a moderate or serious risk – the highest among all industries – reflecting the ongoing fallout from major cyber incidents that have disrupted healthcare systems.”

Abstract Not Available

Bloomberg Law (5/28, Phengsitthy, Clason, Subscription Publication) reports Tuesday’s decision by HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to “pull the Covid-19 vaccine from the CDC’s recommended immunization list for healthy children and pregnant women means health plans must navigate whether to keep providing coverage for the shot.” Experts anticipate the change will “likely curtail access to the Covid-19 vaccine for children and pregnant women if health plans drop coverage or increase cost-sharing after no longer being required to pay for the shots. That move would not only leave patients to start paying out of pocket for the vaccines, but place insurers in a tough spot with beneficiaries who are vulnerable to the virus or seeking to prevent it.”

The New York Times (5/28, Ravindranath) reports that “some anti-aging influencers, along with a handful of scientists, believe exchanging the plasma in your blood can...help slow biological aging.” A small study examining plasma exchange for anti-aging in humans, published Tuesday in the journal Aging Cell, suggests that “those who got plasma exchange therapy over the course of a few months had lower concentrations in their blood of the biological compounds that accumulate with age, compared with a control group.” In the study, the authors “hypothesized that treatments could get less effective over time as the body adjusts to the infusions.” Many scientists still remain skeptical of plasma exchange therapy, noting its anti-aging benefits for healthy people have “never been proven” in large clinical trials.