HOWARD G. SMITH MD,AM-Immunology
Healthcare Business News. 2nd Week of May, 2022
Let’s review some the healthcare-related business news for this 2nd week of May, 2022
Bill Gates just tested positive for CoVid despite the fact that he is fully vaccinated and boosted. His case so far is symptomatically mild. He is attending the first in-person meeting that the Gates Foundation has had in several years, but he will be doing so virtually. Ironically, his latest book “How to Prevent the Next Pandemic” was published last week.
https://www.businessinsider.com/bill-gates-says-he-has-tested-positive-for-covid-19-2022-5
Yelp and Microsoft now join Citibank, Apple, Tesla, and Amazon in adding a unique health benefit for their employees. In support of access to a full panel of reproductive health care including pregnancy termination, these companies and likely others will pay travel costs if services are unavailable in in an employee’s home state.
https://www.businessinsider.com/yelp-exec-abortion-travel-expenses-benefit-miriam-warren-2022-4
https://www.reuters.com/world/us/microsoft-help-cover-us-employees-travel-costs-abortion-2022-05-10/
The home healthcare coordination startup Reverence has scored $9 million from the VC firm Target Global. Based in NYC and helmed by former Google exec Lee Teslik, the company is developing digital solutions to the problem of staffing and delivering at-home care. Expect to see the company seal contracts with health insurance companies seeking to move patients out of hospitals more quickly yet safely.
https://www.businessinsider.com/pitch-deck-reverence-home-care-target-global-2022-5
BioMarin Pharmaceuticals is about to launch its cutting edge gene therapy for those with hemophilia, and there is bad and good news. The bad news: the one-time treatment is VERY costly with an expected pricetag of $2-3 million. The good news: BioMarin is offering a money-back guarantee and a pay-for-performance model for a result that could last years or a lifetime. The California biotech company, said to be worth $15.6 billion, thinks this approach will get insurance companies onboard. The process, named Roctavian, is being reviewed in Europe and will be submitted to the FDA next month. By the way, standard hemophilia therapy can cost upwards of half-million dollars EACH YEAR, so Roctavian may be cost-saving
https://www.businessinsider.com/biomarin-ceo-plans-to-guarantee-its-hemophilia-gene-therapy-works-2022-5
Noom, the weight loss app that has promised users individualized cognitive behavioral therapy and around the clock access to advice, is laying off up to 25% of its staff. The company, said to be worth $3.7 billion, has been criticized for over-promising and under-delivering services from staff who seem overworked and burned out. Despite complaints that Noom coaches are merely providing canned advice, the company claims that it is committed to the individualized services.
https://www.businessinsider.com/weight-loss-app-noom-laying-off-coaching-staff-2022-4