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  • ✇STAT
  • STAT+: Orexin discoverers awarded prestigious Lasker award Elaine Chen and Allison DeAngelis
    Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. First came the new teaser for Nathan Fielder’s documentary on Elizabeth Holmes. Now come the memes. Bring it on. FDA names permanent heads of drug and biologics centers For the past few months, key centers at the FDA have been led by acting officials. The agency said yesterday it will now make them permanent. Michael Davis will be director of the Center for Drug Ev
     

STAT+: Orexin discoverers awarded prestigious Lasker award

9 September 2026 at 21:38

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox.

First came the new teaser for Nathan Fielder’s documentary on Elizabeth Holmes. Now come the memes. Bring it on.

FDA names permanent heads of drug and biologics centers

For the past few months, key centers at the FDA have been led by acting officials. The agency said yesterday it will now make them permanent. Michael Davis will be director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research, and Karim Mikhail will be director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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  • ✇STAT
  • STAT+: FDA names acting heads of drug and vaccine centers to permanent roles Margaret Manto
    WASHINGTON — The Trump administration permanently filled four key leadership roles at the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, after it nominated Heidi Overton to lead the agency late last month.  Three of the officials are serving in an acting capacity, and will take the same roles permanently, the administration said. They are Michael Davis, a psychiatrist who will be director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research; former Merck official Karim Mikhail, who will be director of th
     

STAT+: FDA names acting heads of drug and vaccine centers to permanent roles

9 September 2026 at 05:15

WASHINGTON — The Trump administration permanently filled four key leadership roles at the Food and Drug Administration on Tuesday, after it nominated Heidi Overton to lead the agency late last month. 

Three of the officials are serving in an acting capacity, and will take the same roles permanently, the administration said. They are Michael Davis, a psychiatrist who will be director of the Center for Drug Evaluation and Research; former Merck official Karim Mikhail, who will be director of the Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research; and Bret Koplow, an attorney who has been at the FDA since 2011 and will serve as director of the Center for Tobacco Products. 

The fourth appointee, Jared Seehafer, will serve as the FDA’s first deputy commissioner for technology and artificial intelligence. He joined the FDA as an adviser in 2025 after founding a life science software company and working in investment advising in biotech, according to his LinkedIn. Under the Trump administration, the agency has pushed its staff to use AI to speed up its review processes. 

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  • STAT+: UnitedHealth’s Democrat investment, and surprise billing bloat debate Bob Herman
    This is the online version of STAT’s weekly email newsletter Health Care Inc. Sign up here. I hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend. Robots may be able to run extremely fast now, but at least we know how to stop. Run your thoughts to me anytime: bob.herman@statnews.com. A cash parade for a top House Democrat UnitedHealth Group’s top executives, including CEO Stephen Hemsley, and board members recently flooded the campaign coffers of Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 2 D
     

STAT+: UnitedHealth’s Democrat investment, and surprise billing bloat debate

8 September 2026 at 22:51

This is the online version of STAT’s weekly email newsletter Health Care Inc. Sign up here.

I hope you all had a good Labor Day weekend. Robots may be able to run extremely fast now, but at least we know how to stop. Run your thoughts to me anytime: bob.herman@statnews.com.

A cash parade for a top House Democrat

UnitedHealth Group’s top executives, including CEO Stephen Hemsley, and board members recently flooded the campaign coffers of Rep. Katherine Clark of Massachusetts, the No. 2 Democrat in the House who just beat two opponents in a closely watched primary.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

© Jenn Ackerman for STAT

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  • STAT+: FDA approves AstraZeneca breast cancer drug Meghana Keshavan
    Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox. Today, we delve into how an FDA approval paradoxically complicated access to Revolution Medicines’ new pancreatic cancer drug for some patients, see standout mid-stage results for Roivant’s pulmonary hypertension drug, and more. Hope you had a lovely long weekend! Estoy trabajando en este Readout de la Biblioteca Vasconcelos en la CDMX.Continue to STAT+ to read the fu
     

STAT+: FDA approves AstraZeneca breast cancer drug

8 September 2026 at 22:09

Want to stay on top of the science and politics driving biotech today? Sign up to get our biotech newsletter in your inbox.

Today, we delve into how an FDA approval paradoxically complicated access to Revolution Medicines’ new pancreatic cancer drug for some patients, see standout mid-stage results for Roivant’s pulmonary hypertension drug, and more.

Hope you had a lovely long weekend! Estoy trabajando en este Readout de la Biblioteca Vasconcelos en la CDMX.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

© ANDREW YATES/AFP via Getty Images

  • ✇STAT
  • STAT+: AstraZeneca’s experimental COPD treatment posts strong results in late-stage studies Andrew Joseph
    In a pair of late-stage trials, a drug from AstraZeneca reduced the dangerous flare-ups that drive the worsening of COPD, positioning it as a potential new option for the vast numbers of patients with the debilitating lung condition, according to data released Tuesday.  Results from the Phase 3 trials of the drug, called tozorakimab, also amount to a re-assuring victory for AstraZeneca, which is known for its metronomic success in trials but has seen some notable misses in recent months, most
     

STAT+: AstraZeneca’s experimental COPD treatment posts strong results in late-stage studies

8 September 2026 at 19:45

In a pair of late-stage trials, a drug from AstraZeneca reduced the dangerous flare-ups that drive the worsening of COPD, positioning it as a potential new option for the vast numbers of patients with the debilitating lung condition, according to data released Tuesday. 

Results from the Phase 3 trials of the drug, called tozorakimab, also amount to a re-assuring victory for AstraZeneca, which is known for its metronomic success in trials but has seen some notable misses in recent months, most dramatically with a heart disease drug. Analysts and the company have projected that “tozo,” as the injectable drug is dubbed, could reap billions in annual sales if approved, both in COPD — which, as the third-leading cause of death globally, remains greatly underserved — and in other conditions including asthma. 

In the trials, tozo reduced COPD exacerbations — any sudden worsening of the disease requiring medical care, whether a severe cough or breathlessness — by about 30% across all patients over a year, according to data presented at the European Respiratory Society’s annual conference in Barcelona and published in the New England Journal of Medicine. That finding makes tozo competitive with other COPD treatments that have reached patients in recent years, but notably, the tozo trials included participants not eligible for the other new drugs. The benefits seen in those patients could give AstraZeneca a large segment of the market to itself.

Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…

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