interesting. it was reported today that Neuralink raised $600m, a tad over the $500m is was rumored to be raising back in April, but the story doesn't name the investors. anyone know who's involved here? www.semafor.com/article/05/2...
PS: I don't do group texts with sources.
excited to announce I'll officially be spending more time diving deep into the stories shaping the future of healthtech. tldr: my purview's no longer limited to stories w/ a deal element. (but keep deal news coming!) if you're building, investing in, analyzing, or advising in this space, let's talk!
scoop: Next Life Sciences is looking to raise $20M to further develop male contraceptive product Plan A.
the San Luis Obispo company is courting investors and hopes to close the round by this June to power early feasibility trials in Australia and Canada and to prep for a 2027 U.S. FDA submission.
this headline appears to suggest the other VC firms aren't *already* in Washington... www.politico.com/newsletters/...
I've gotten a lot of good feedback about this story — if there's more to share, pls contact me on Signal at @erin.14 or via email at erinbecca@proton.me.
calling all San Diegans: Join me this Friday at 9am for an event about the challenges in today’s pain treatment landscape and the current state of pain, featuring Stanford University’s Beth Darnall. what smart Qs should I ask her? theprognosisforamericaspainmanagement.splashthat.com/newsletters
Board member of Meta hugs it out with Andrew Tate, well known heinous person www.washingtonpost.com/entertainmen...
Sadly unsurprising
Francis Collins, the NIH Director for 12 years, led the Human Genome Project and other NIH efforts for 32 years, resigned today. Key words from his resignation letter
www.nytimes.com/2025/03/01/u...
Screenshot showing before and after text from Pfizer’s website. The highlighted changes remove references to diversity and delete links to organizations that represent historically underrepresented populations.
Yesterday I caught Pfizer making some telling changes to their DEI page. @elaineywchen.bsky.social tried to get the company to explain, but they only gave her a generic statement.
Judge for yourself, we’ve got all the edits here, annotated:
www.statnews.com/2025/02/27/p...
The first measles death in the US in a decade -- the tragic, preventable death of a child whose parents chose not to protect them with vaccination -- should spark an immediate nation-wide campaign to ensure all children are protected against preventable diseases. Anything less is unconscionable.
Breaking: FDA's March meeting to select flu shot strains for 2025-2026 season has been canceled per email sent to committee members, a VRBPAC member told me. drug companies need about 6 months leeway to make shots in time for fall vax campaigns. #healthpolicy
My colleagues and I have been working to break news + write stories holding powerful people accountable.
These are the top stories on our homepage right now, one of which I worked on.
Our newsroom work is continuing.
No one has ever told me what to write. If that changes, I’d speak out and leave.
I heard a ski instructor tell a little kid on a ski lift recently "it's not win-lose. it's win-learn." and I think I'm just going to have to accept that as my slogan for 2025
Talkspace, which NYC paid $26M to provide free online therapy to teens, was leaking data about who visited the website to TikTok, Meta, Snap, and other social media companies that the city is currently suing for harming teen mental health. gizmodo.com/teen-mental-...
Excellent piece from PLOS co-founder and Nobel laureate, Harold Varmus: "If the attacks on our scientists and their institutions are allowed to continue, our envisioned future of longer, healthier lives will happen more slowly, in other countries, or not at all."
www.nytimes.com/2025/02/14/o...
important note for anyone interested in healthcare: FDA cleared *does not* mean FDA approved. FDA clearance can simply mean the agency is allowing you to advertise and sell your product. in many cases, it simply means a product is "substantially equivalent" to other cleared products.
“This is a parallel overlaying of authority over the entire structure of the U.S. government.“
Scoop: With its unprecedented hospital deal officially closed, General Catalyst is setting up shop in Ohio. www.axios.com/pro/health-t...
for this story, I interviewed leaders at UC Davis, Kaiser, Providence, and UCSF. all who'd share said they were using tools from just two companies: Abridge and Microsoft. that's despite dozens of AI scribe companies attracting a total of $800M — in just 2024.
new: racing to combat burnout, health systems are flocking to technology at an unprecedented pace as they test and trial AI medical scribes. with investors flooding the zone, the landscape is primed for a massive shakeout. www.axios.com/pro/health-t...
So sorry to hear this.
DATA! 📊 Health care policy analyst @charlesgaba.com has downloaded the entire CDC site. Access it below.
