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yocarditis is a heart condition where the muscle of the heart is inflamed, which can cause chest pain and shortness of breath. In severe cases, myocarditis can weaken the heart, leading to blood clots that can cause strokes or heart attacks. This condition is a rare, but serious side effect of mRNA vaccines for COVID-19, particularly for young men. It’s also associated with COVID-19 infections.
A new report published in the Journal of the American Medical Association studied the prognosis for patients who were hospitalized for myocarditis after a vaccination, myocarditis after COVID-19 infection and conventional cases of myocarditis. Patients with these conditions were monitored for 18 months after initial hospitalization.
The researchers behind the study found that patients who got myocarditis post-vaccination were much less likely to be rehospitalized or suffer other cardiovascular complications than patients who got the condition from a COVID-19 infection. Complications for those patients were seen at about the same rate as those seen for patients with conventional myocarditis. These findings are consistent with previous, shorter-term studies that also found that post-vaccine myocarditis is less severe than myocarditis caused by COVID-19 infection itself.
Based on their findings as well as past studies, the researchers concluded that post-vaccine myocarditis patients “have a lower frequency of cardiovascular complications” than those who get it from COVID-19 infection or conventionally. However, post-vaccine myocarditis patients still require monitoring and the authors of the study note that “these elements should all be taken into account for ongoing and future mRNA vaccine recommendations.” The FDA approved updated COVID-19 vaccines from Pfizer and Moderna last week to protect against currently circulating variants ahead of the fall and winter surge in respiratory viruses.
A Billionaire Saved A Nonprofit. Then Things Got Ugly.
Through his family foundation, billionaire drug inventor and entrepreneur Patrick Soon-Shiong agreed to give the then-struggling Access for Advanced Health Institute $26 million over three years starting in 2022 and joined the nonprofit’s board as its new chair. ImmunityBio, a clinical-stage biotech company controlled by Soon-Shiong, also agreed to pay the institute $2 million per year to support its research efforts and $5.5 million per year to license the nonprofit’s vaccine technology.
The relationship has since soured. Earlier this year, Soon-Shiong’s foundation declined to pay its third and final $8 million payment to AAHI; ImmunityBio has also not paid the $7.5 million it owes as part of its annual commitment. And now, some of AAHI’s leaders are claiming that Soon-Shiong is holding up the money because they refused his demands to redirect his grant money to a separate philanthropic initiative rather than its core areas of focus of biotech research.
Soon-Shiong isn’t having it. The tycoon has accused Casper, Decaire and Mocarski of “clumsily attempting a corporate coup” that was designed in part to “halt a Board investigation of AAHI’s misuse of grant funds.”
Read more here.
Pipeline & Deal Updates
Diabetes: The FDA has expanded the clearance for Insulet’s SmartAdjust technology to include patients with type 2 diabetes. This technology combines continuous glucose monitoring with an automated insulin pump to adjust the dose of insulin depending on a patient’s real-time blood sugar levels. This is the first such FDA thumbs up for this technology for type 2 diabetes.
Pharma D2C: This week, Pfizer launched PfizerForAll, a direct-to-consumer digital platform providing access to telehealth appointments with care providers, home delivery of prescriptions and OTC drugs, and appointments for vaccines. Eli Lilly has launched a new program that will allow self-pay patients to purchase the weight-loss drug Zepbound for as little as $399 per month in single-use vials injected via a syringe, as opposed to the auto-injector pen Zepbound is typically sold in.
Precision Medtech: Openwater, which is developing ultrasound and infrared imaging technology to treat diseases ranging from cancer to depression, raised a $54 million extension to its series A, bringing its total funding to $100 million.
Knee Surgery: The FDA has expanded the approval of Vericel’s MACI treatment to include arthroscopic surgical delivery. The treatment helps the body regrow cartilage in the knee where it has been damaged.
Autoimmune disease: Navigator Medicines, which is developing antibody treatments for inflammatory diseases, announced it has raised a $100 million series A round.
Flagship Deals: Flagship Pioneering entered into a collaboration deal with GSK to develop up to 10 new vaccine or therapeutic programs. GSK will pay $150 million upfront for initial research and each program developed is eligible for up to $720 million in milestone payments plus royalties. The firm also announced that it’s working with Pfizer on two research programs with its company Quotient under the research agreement it signed with the pharma giant last summer.
Sensor Startup Butlr Raised $38 Million To Ease The Staffing Crunch In Senior Living
Butlr, a startup that makes people-detecting sensors to anonymously measure space and movement inside buildings, raised $38 million in a Series B round to expand its presence in senior living communities across the United States, with the hopes of countering the massive labor shortages by using its sensors to track the health and well-being of people living in those communities.
Read more here.
Other Healthcare News
Everything To Know About The Listeria Outbreaks—As More Deaths, Hospitalizations Reported
Surgeon General Urges More Governmental Support For Parents Amid Mental Health Struggles
Dr. Fauci Recovering From West Nile Virus Amid Mosquito Season Warnings
Semaglutide Reduces Risk Of Harmful Cardiovascular Events And Death In People With Heart Failure, New Study Suggests
Across Forbes
38 Great Colleges With Less Admissions Stress
Profits At Mar-a-Lago Have Quadrupled Since Trump Left The White House
The World’s Highest-Paid Tennis Players 2024
What Else We are Reading
Vaccine hesitancy eats into back-to-school shots (Axios)
Women Harmed by Doctors, Then Failed by US Civil Rights Watchdog (Bloomberg Law)
UnitedHealth pledged a hands-off approach after buying a Connecticut medical group. Then it upended how doctors practice (STAT)
