Peter Wehrwein, Managing Editor

Researchers reported positive results at the AHA meeting today from a small, 48-patient study of lepodisiran, a short interfering RNA therapy designed to reduce lipoprotein(a) levels.

Ten patients have been treated with the CRISPR-based gene therapy, the drug developer's chief scientific officer announced today, and high doses have had the intended effect of lowering LDL cholesterol. One study volunteer died five weeks after the infusion from cardiac arrest, but the company says the death was unrelated to the therapy and no changes were made to the study.

A study that randomized villages in China to an intensive blood pressure-lowering program or usual care showed a 15% decrease in all-cause dementia from the program.

Positive findings from their placebo-controlled trial show that angioplasty is an evidence-based, first-line treatment for patients with stable angina and that they needn't necessarily be treated first with antianginal medications, say the ORBITA-2 investigators.

Results from the SELECT trial presented at the American Heart Association Scientific Sessions meeting suggest that the GLP-1 inhibitor may have a role in cardiovascular disease protection beyond weight loss and diabetes.

Otsuka American Pharmaceutical is tracking payer practices and attitudes about digital therapeutics with a series of four surveys.

One patient had complications that resulted in no light perception — effectively, blindness — in the the treated eye.

Approximately one-third of the patients assigned to 16-week intervals of 8-mg formulation of Eylea changed to a 24-week interval during the second year of. the study, according results presented at the annual meeting of the American Academy of Ophthalmology. The PHOTON study enrolled people with diabetic macular edema.

Albert S. Khouri, M.D., a professor of ophthalmology at the Rutgers New Jersey Medical School, discusses teleophthalmology’s role in outreach efforts and improving ophthalmic care in the emergency room.

Albert S. Khouri, M.D., says ophthalmic care lends itself to telehealth because it is image based. As with many other areas of medicine, the COVID-19 pandemic accelerated adoption.

Delivering medication in the suprachoroidal space would be less invasive than intravitreal injections used to deliver many eye treatments.

Private equity (PE) can bring capital investment to retina specialty practices and significantly increase the incomes of the physicians, said a proponent during a debate on private equity at the AAO meeting. The retina specialist arguing against PE said physicians lose control of their practices and the loyalty of their staff and that profits get prioritized over patients.

Suber S. Huang, M.D., MBA, a panelist for a session about late-breaking research, said the presentation about Syfovre complications among patients treated at the Wolfe Eye Clinic in Iowa is one of the most important of this year's annual meeting. Five patients experienced complications from the new drug for geographic atrophy.

Results at 96 weeks were similar to those at 48 weeks. The FDA approved the 8-mg formulation of Eylea (aflibercept) in August 2023.

About 1,700 hospitals will receive lump sums after the Supreme Court ruled that CMS was wrong when it cut reimbursement rates for Part B drugs.

Nemolizumab quelled the itching caused by prurigo nodularis, a rare skin condition. By inhibiting interleukin-31, the experimental drug seems to have a downstream effect on other interleukins secreted during type 2 inflammation.

Shawn Gremminger, M.P.P., has worked for a variety of healthcare organizations in legislative affairs and policy roles.

When interleukin (IL)-31 stimulates nerves that create itchiness it may also have a downstream effect that tempers inflammatory processes, according to mouse model research done by investigators at the University of California, San Francisco.

Managing Editor of Managed Healthcare Executive, Peter Wehrwein, had a discussion with William Shrank, M.D., a venture partner with Andreessen Horowitz, a venture capital firm in Menlo Park, California, about how artificial intelligence's role is improving healthcare, where we are today with value-based care and the ongoing efforts of reducing waste in the healthcare space for this episode of the "What's on Your Mind" podcast series.

Results of a randomized trial reported in The Lancet Digital Health suggest a role for internet-based cognitive behavioral therapy, but many of the study volunteers were left with symptoms that would classify them as having major depressive disorder.

The Minnesota-based pharmacy benefit manager says a program that resulted in patients switching from two incretin therapy prescriptions to one yielded $7,500 in savings per patient and a total of $3.5 million.

The program yielded savings of $25,000 per patient in its pilot phase but is not expected to produce savings as a routine offering because reimbursement for home infusion was matched to reimbursement at a facility. Horizon executive Timothy O’Shea, Pharm.D., M.S., says cost savings were a “secondary outcome” of the program and noted the high patient satisfaction.

Just over 160 patients have participated in the insurer's oncology home infusion program since it started in late 2020. Patient satisfaction is high, according to Horizon officials, who are looking to expand the program with other providers in its market and to include more drugs that patients could be treated with at home.

Melissa Andel, M.P.P., sees delinking of administrative fees to drug prices and various transparency and disclosure provisions as likely to make it into a final pharmacy benefit manager (PBM) legislation making it into a final bill.

The increase is close to inflation and wage growth but much steeper than the atypically small increase in 2022.

Melissa Andel, M.P.P., of CommonHealth Solutions LLC, says there has been some retreat from earlier proposals for severe regulation to an emphasis on disclosure and transparency.

Melissa Andel, M.P.P., of CommonHealth Solutions LLC, thumbnailed the four pieces of legislation advancing through Congress that would tighten regulation and oversight of pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs).

Mark Dybul, M.D., the keynote speaker for the closing session of the IDWeek meeting in Boston, delivered an impassioned defense of the U.S. President's Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief (PEPFAR) as its reauthorization by Congress has got ensnarled in abortion issues.

Cytomegalovirus (CMV) expert Sallie Permar, M.D., Ph.D., of NewYork-Presbyterian/Weill Cornell Medical Center spoke about the phase 3 trial of Moderna’s mRNA vaccine against CMV and another candidate being developed by Merck that showed some promise in a phase 2B trial.