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Opinion: STAT+: Cardiology’s finally prioritizing prevention — but what will it look like?
NEW ORLEANS — The opening session of the American College of Cardiology’s annual gathering — one of medicine’s largest conferences, with more than 16,000 attendees — can feel a bit theatrical. In typical fashion, this year’s conference kicked off last Saturday with a local brass band marching and playing its way through the crowd. Beads were thrown. The mood was festive. And based on the pre-conference buzz, the field seemed to be celebrating a long-forgotten section of cardiology: prevention.
Prevention is normally relegated to the periphery of national conferences. Lacking the adrenaline of interventional cardiology or the industry attention of electrophysiology, its meetings would take place in half-empty conference rooms, away from the main action. There would be no free lunch or swag.
But the attention economy of cardiology is rapidly changing. At this year’s ACC, prevention trials occupied primetime slots. At a talk covering the new cholesterol guidelines, a crowd stood behind a sea of occupied chairs. Ushers, minding fire department regulations, turned attendees away. Large industry booths advertised, among others, PCSK9 inhibitors, renal denervation therapies, and increasingly sophisticated cardiac CT scans pitched as the future of prevention. The field was having its Expo Hall moment.
NEW ORLEANS — The opening session of the American College of Cardiology’s annual gathering — one of medicine’s largest conferences, with more than 16,000 attendees — can feel a bit theatrical. In typical fashion, this year’s conference kicked off last Saturday with a local brass band marching and playing its way through the crowd. Beads were thrown. The mood was festive. And based on the pre-conference buzz, the field seemed to be celebrating a long-forgotten section of cardiology: prevention.
Prevention is normally relegated to the periphery of national conferences. Lacking the adrenaline of interventional cardiology or the industry attention of electrophysiology, its meetings would take place in half-empty conference rooms, away from the main action. There would be no free lunch or swag.
But the attention economy of cardiology is rapidly changing. At this year’s ACC, prevention trials occupied primetime slots. At a talk covering the new cholesterol guidelines, a crowd stood behind a sea of occupied chairs. Ushers, minding fire department regulations, turned attendees away. Large industry booths advertised, among others, PCSK9 inhibitors, renal denervation therapies, and increasingly sophisticated cardiac CT scans pitched as the future of prevention. The field was having its Expo Hall moment.
BioNTech, in a move to streamline its operations, is set to close its factory in Singapore that it bought from Novartis just over three years ago.
The facility at the Tuas Biomedical Park, which employs …
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STAT+: Merck’s experimental HIV prevention pill could be made for less than $5 a year, researchers say
An experimental HIV prevention pill being developed by Merck could be mass produced for less than $5 per patient a year according to a new analysis. Advocates argue the low cost means the company should find it easier to license the drug so that low- and middle-income countries can gain easy access.
The pill, dubbed MK 8527, is currently undergoing a pair of late-stage clinical trials that are expected to determine whether the medicine can lower HIV transmission when given to people at high risk of infection. The results are due in the latter half of 2027, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.
Already, the pill is generating considerable interest after Merck released mid-stage results last summer showing its drug holds promise. In addition to being safe and effective, the study found it could protect against infection, a form of prevention known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, within 24 hours after being taken. Merck noted the pill works in a novel way.
An experimental HIV prevention pill being developed by Merck could be mass produced for less than $5 per patient a year according to a new analysis. Advocates argue the low cost means the company should find it easier to license the drug so that low- and middle-income countries can gain easy access.
The pill, dubbed MK 8527, is currently undergoing a pair of late-stage clinical trials that are expected to determine whether the medicine can lower HIV transmission when given to people at high risk of infection. The results are due in the latter half of 2027, according to ClinicalTrials.gov.
Already, the pill is generating considerable interest after Merck released mid-stage results last summer showing its drug holds promise. In addition to being safe and effective, the study found it could protect against infection, a form of prevention known as pre-exposure prophylaxis or PrEP, within 24 hours after being taken. Merck noted the pill works in a novel way.
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Opinion: STAT+: Former Geisinger CEO: U.S. health systems must replace huge numbers of people with AI
About 20 years ago, I stepped on stage at one of our Geisinger town halls and looked out upon a sea of people: thousands of full-time employees at an integrated health system charged with the health and well-being of millions of Pennsylvanians.
Only a fraction of the people in that room were clinicians.
That was the first time I fully visualized the problem: We employed more people in our revenue cycle department to process bills and reconcile data than we did doctors. And we weren’t alone. It’s the same story at every health system in America, large and small, and over the past two decades, the ratio has become dramatically more disparate.
About 20 years ago, I stepped on stage at one of our Geisinger town halls and looked out upon a sea of people: thousands of full-time employees at an integrated health system charged with the health and well-being of millions of Pennsylvanians.
Only a fraction of the people in that room were clinicians.
That was the first time I fully visualized the problem: We employed more people in our revenue cycle department to process bills and reconcile data than we did doctors. And we weren’t alone. It’s the same story at every health system in America, large and small, and over the past two decades, the ratio has become dramatically more disparate.
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