The outbreak of measles continues to spread

In this week of Innovationrx we look at the worsening measles outbreak, a clinical test for a non-invasive brain computer implant, to replace heart valves with robots and more. To get it in your inbox, Subscribe here.

THe movers outbreaks Keep spreading. In Texas, the epicenter of the disease where One child died, The number of confirmed cases has now reached 223. Cases have now surfaced in a dozen states, Including New Mexico (where an adult who has tested positively on the disease died), New Jersey and Maryland.

Measles is one of the most contagious diseases, but the speed of protective vaccinations has decreased as the wrong information about them circulates online. Health and Human Services -Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has called vaccinations a ‘personal choice’ while talking vitamin A, liver oil and steroids. “Entries of liver oil and vitamins [are] Just distract people from what the only message should be, namely raising the vaccination percentage, “Dr. Amish Adalja, a doctor and senior scholar at the Johns Hopkins Center for Health Security, NPR told

As the cases continue to rise, some cities in Texas get out of the MMR vaccine (measles, mumps and rubella) while people want to vaccinate themselves and their children. At the Walgreens locations in Austin, none of the pharmacists had the MMR vaccine in stock at the end of last week, according to The guardian. In ft. Worth and Lubbock, where most of the 23 patients admitted to the hospital are treated, the vaccines were also scarce.

According to the CDC, 90.8% of the children Throughout the country, two doses of the MMR vaccine have received against the age of two. That sounds high, but measles is so contagious that a vaccination speed of At least 95% is required for herd immunity. In the Gaines County countryside, the most importantly affected area of ​​Texas, the vaccination percentage is among toddlers Only 82%. Most children who got sick with measles were not vaccinated.

Despite the risks, the National Institutes of Health cancels more than 40 subsidies for research into why some people are reluctant to be vaccinated and how they can increase their admission, according to a internal e -mail obtained by The Washington Post.

With this startup, paralyzed people can use computers – without a chip in their heads

RAbbi Yitzi Hurwitz has spent a decade with only his eyes. Diagnosed with amyotrophe lateral sclerosis (ALS), aka “lou gehrig’s illness” in 2013, meant the rapid loss of muscle management that he can only “speak” by spelling words with an eye diagram. It is just as frustrating and demoralizing as you could imagine.

One of the 30,000 Americans who are currently life (every year is around 5,000 new cases), Hurwitz has had few options for exemption, although new ones are slowly coming up. Among them there is a developed by Andreas Forsland, CEO of Cognixion. It is an interface of the brain computer who can help help patients deal with computers and communicate paralyzed patients. And unlike similar technologies from the Neuralink from Elon Musk, it does not require the surgical implantation in the skull. The company today announced that it has launched its first clinical study, which will study the technology with 10 as patients. Rabbi Hurwitz, there is one and he has been training on the device three days a week.

Read more at Forbes.

Biotech and Farma

Pharmaceutical Gigant Gilead has released new data, Published in The LancetThis suggests that a new formulation of his HIV -profylactic Lenacapavir can be effective for a whole year. The new findings come after phase 3 tests of the current formulation showed effectiveness in preventing HIV for six months. The FDA is currently investigating this formulation for approval. The Lancet Research showed that patients maintained high levels of the new formulation in their blood after 56 weeks. The Company said It is planning to launch a phase 3 test of the new formulation before the end of the year.

Digital health and AI

Lila Sciences came from Stealth with AI software that was said to unlock the troves of scientific data and make it in physical results with $ 200 million in seed financing of flagship pioneering, general catalyst and others. Cambridge, mass. The company founded the company in its laboratories in 2023 with the aim of creating “Scientific super intelligence.” In projects that demonstrate technology, Lila’s AI has generated new antibodies to combat diseases and developed new materials for carbon collection, According to the New York Times. The announcement comes less than a month after Google has released its AI “co-science”. Other major technology and health companies develop comparable programs, but such as tech crunch reports, many research scientists remain skeptical About the usefulness of these tools.

Plus: Elsevier rolled out scienceirect ai, A generative AI tool for researchers with whom users can search and get answers from the full text of 14 million articles and book chapters. The largest platform in the world for peer-reviewed research said that the new tool would help scientists shorten their literature research time in two.

Medtech

Two patients have successfully had their mitral valve, which controls the blood flow between the upper and lower rooms of the second side of the heart, replaced by robot surgery. Most patients who have problems with this valve are not good candidates for a replacement surgery with current technology. The robot arm used in the operation was developed by Capstan Medical, based in Santa Cruz, who developed a way to replace the valve with a catheter -based procedure instead of conventional open heart surgery.

Public Health and Hospitals

Utah becomes the First is to ban fluoride In public water systems. The Republican Governor Spencer Cox of Utah said that he would sign a bill to ban its use, starting at the beginning of May, against the recommendations of public health experts in favor of their use to prevent tooth decay. The mineral strengthens teeth and reduces cavities. Utah will be the first state to prohibit fluoride, something that HHS secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has resolve against Since before his confirmation. In a letter to Governor Cox who opposes the prohibition, the American Dental Association wrote That “water fluoridation is mentioned as one of the ten great performance of public health of the last century by the American Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, in accordance with vehicle safety measures, healthier mothers and babies and reduced deaths from Heart Diseases.”

Deal of the Week

India’s Sun Pharmaceuticals, which is checked by billionaire Dilip Shanghvi, agreed to acquire the American biotech company Checkpoint Therapeutics in a deal with a value of $ 355 million. In December, the FDA approved Checkpoint’s Drugslilyt, an antibody that treats advanced skin cancer by binding to PDL1, a protein that inhibits the natural immune reactions of the body to cancer. The deal is expected to close this summer, pending the approval of supervisors and the shareholders of Checkpoint.

Plus: Jazz Pharmaceuticals plans to acquire Chimerix – and its promising medicine for brain cancer – for almost $ 1 billion. And virtual physiotherapy company Hinge Health, worth $ 6.2 billion in the previous financing round, submitted for an IPO that could be Pick up up to $ 500 million In what is expected to be an important sign for the appetite of the public markets for the HealthTech offer.

What we read

USAID employees were ordered by acting director Erica Carr Destroyed classified documents And staff registers.

Doge’s staff cuts at veteran cases slow down clinical tests and disrupt the advanced edge Treatment for veterans. Deeper cuts are planned.

Proposed cuts on Medicaid in the budget that passed the Republican controlled house can close rural hospitals And the faltering national health care system of America destroyed.

Former NIH director Francis Collins warned With a stand -up for science rally that “running major health research programs” in serious risk “because of Trump’s cuts.

How Walgreens went from a health giant of $ 100 billion “Private-equity Salvage Project” In 10 years as the industry changed.

Hundreds of thousands of people with tuberculosis Can’t get tests or treatments Because of the cuts of USAID. In the meantime, Johns Hopkins, the best spender of the nation on science R&D, is planning to dismiss After losing $ 800 million in federal subsidies.

An Australian man survived 100 days With an artificial heart before it was replaced by a donor.

More from Forbes

ForbesThis fintech helps you to get more credit card recleases at retailers and on vacationBy means of Jeff KaflinForbesThe National Weather Service cannot replace this startup. But it might have to beBy means of Alex KnappForbesHow Fico scores became a profit machineBy means of Stephen Pastis