Author: healthadmin

The days of off-label speculation may soon be over for patients with the rare autoimmune disease MOGAD, as Roche’s Phase 3 win for Enspring suggests a first-of-its-kind FDA approval may not be far away. Data from the phase 3 Meteoroid trial, the first randomized controlled trial in the field, showed that Enspryn (satralizumab) reduced the risk of MOGAD recurrence by 68% compared to placebo, according to results presented at the 2026 American Academy of Neurology Annual Meeting. MOGAD (Myelin Oligodendrocyte Glycoprotein Antibody-Associated Disease) is a rare disease in which the immune system attacks the myelin sheath that protects nerve fibers,…

You’re reading the web version of DC Diagnosis, STAT’s twice-weekly newsletter about health and medical politics and policy. Sign up here to get it in your inbox on Tuesdays and Thursdays. In celebration of National Library Week, STAT is offering 60% off subscriptions. Send your news tips and fiction suggestions to (email protected) Or Signal’s John_Wilkerson.07. Senate Republican doctors question RFK Jr. Four Republican doctors are sitting on two of the Senate committees on which Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will testify this week. The two have criticized President Kennedy’s anti-vaccine policies, and it will be interesting to see…

Andrew Bohm, M.D., chief strategist at Pfizer, is leaving his position two years after joining the New York drugmaker after a long stint as a biopharmaceutical equity research analyst. Boehm will leave his role as Pfizer’s chief strategy and innovation officer to become a senior strategic advisor to the company’s CEO, Dr. Albert Bourla, before completely separating from the company by the end of this year, Reuters reported on Monday, citing a BMO Capital Markets memo. BMO analysts said the move “likely reflects the company’s continued operational simplification rather than a major strategic shift,” Reuters reported. Pfizer did not immediately…

AstraZeneca’s Ultomiris, already approved for the treatment of four rare diseases, has also shown potential in another rare disease, IgA nephropathy (IgAN). In a Phase 3 study in adults at risk of developing kidney disease, Ultomiris produced clinically meaningful and statistically significant reductions in urinary protein after 34 weeks, AZ announced Tuesday. According to the company, a reduction in proteinuria was already evident after 10 weeks of treatment. Interim results indicate that the study met one of its two primary endpoints. The other primary endpoint, change from baseline in estimated glomerular filtration rate (eGFR), will be assessed at week 106.…

WASHINGTON – The Trump administration will ask states to create new plans to verify health care workers paid by federally funded health programs as part of a broader effort to combat fraud in government programs, Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said Tuesday. Oz told Politico’s Health Summit that his administration will ask states within the next month to develop plans to re-examine health care providers in “high-risk” areas and determine whether they exist and have the right to provide services. The announcement is another step in the administration’s aggressive and highly publicized attack on…

Researchers have developed a powerful new imaging technique that reveals ultrafast phenomena in the microscopic world in far more detail than ever before. These processes have traditionally been difficult to study because they occur incredibly quickly, often within a few hundred femtoseconds. New approaches will allow scientists to observe and analyze these rapid changes with great clarity and speed. “Many important phenomena occur incredibly quickly in the fields of physics, chemistry, biology and materials science,” said Yunhua Yao, research team leader at East China Normal University. “Our new technique can capture the complete evolution of both an object’s brightness and…

People systematically underestimate how often things go wrong in the world. Researchers call this the “failure gap.” This huge project Journal of Personality and Social Psychology. We rely on our perception of what events are common when forming opinions, making decisions, and supporting policies. Previous research has shown that these perceptions are highly biased. Much literature focuses on optimism. For example, people tend to believe that good outcomes are more likely to occur and bad outcomes are less likely to occur, especially if those outcomes affect them. But does this trend extend beyond our personal lives to broader social issues…

After winning two clinical trials for intractable and early-stage kidney cancer, Merck & Co.’s blockbuster candidate Wellireg surprisingly failed to inspire hope as a first-line treatment. Wellireg did not improve progression-free survival or overall survival when given in addition to Merck’s Keytruda and Lenvima combination therapy as a first-line treatment for advanced clear cell renal cell carcinoma (ccRCC), the company announced Tuesday. The negative results from the pre-specified interim analysis of the Phase 3 Litespark-012 trial were a major surprise. After two positive Phase 3 results, first-in-class HIF-2 alpha inhibitor We are preparing for Setting new standards of care Patients…

Researchers at the XPANCEO Emerging Technologies Research Center, in collaboration with Nobel Prize winner Professor Konstantin Novoselov (University of Manchester and National University of Singapore), have discovered an unusual optical behavior in the van der Waals semiconductor crystal arsenic trisulfide (As2S3). Their findings show that this material can be permanently changed by light and shaped even at the nanoscale using simple continuous wave (CW) light. This approach eliminates the need for costly cleanroom manufacturing and sophisticated femtosecond laser systems. The key concept behind this discovery is the refractive index, which describes how much a material bends or slows light. Materials…

Get the health information and medications you need every weekday with STAT’s free newsletter Morning Rounds. Sign up here. good morning. I confess. Yesterday was the first time I logged into the patient portal to review my medical records. I saw this in a clinical note a few years ago and it made me laugh. “I live with my cat.” Excitement and anxiety over President Trump’s psychedelic order President Trump signed an executive order over the weekend aimed at deregulating psychedelic drugs as a mental health treatment. The announcement was largely praised by supporters, but some fear it risks politicizing…