Recon: Trump administration boosts 2026 Medicare Advantage payments; Federal commission urges U.S. to invest $15B in biotech to counter China

• ‘They fired all FDA communicators from top to bottom’: HHS comms decimated in employee purge (PR Week)
• Republicans are proud of creating Medicare Advantage. Now some are urging reform amid runaway costs (STAT)
• Study shows how UnitedHealth uses coding to rake in extra cash from Medicare Advantage (STAT)
• Trump gives major lift to 2026 Medicare Advantage payments (STAT)
• The Trump administration should rescind the NIH ‘access planning’ rule (STAT)
• HHS says it may revisit anti-obesity drug policies after dropping Biden-era proposal (Endpoints)
• Federal commission calls for $15 billion in new biotech funding to counter China’s rise (STAT)

• European pharma companies warn Trump's tariffs could expedite shift to US (Reuters)
• Japan Identifies Drugs ‘In Urgent Need’ Of Development (Pink Sheet)
• Biosimilars Industry Celebrates EMA’s Plan to Reduce Clinical Trials (Pink Sheet)
• Commission Needs To Prioritize Devices Agency Above All Else (MedTech Insight)

• A brash biotech VC speaks out on headwinds in the industry, and what the future may hold (STAT)
• Q&A: Lundbeck’s head of R&D on letting ‘biology speak’ in neuroscience (STAT)
• Exclusive: Merida Biosciences gets $121M to treat autoimmune and allergy diseases at their roots (Endpoints)
• Rallybio ends development in rare disorder; ImmunityBio raises $75M (Endpoints)
• ‘This is self-inflicted’: Leerink’s David Risinger on the market shock and hits to biopharma (Endpoints)
• Stock market melts down over Trump’s tariffs, and biotech's pain keeps growing (Endpoints)
• CVS taps ex-UPS finance chief Brian Newman in latest turnaround move (Reuters)
• Belluscura withdraws 2025 outlook over U.S. tariff impact (Reuters)
• Walgreens beats profit estimates ahead of Sycamore Partners deal (Reuters)

• New thought-to-speech brain device allows for ‘natural conversation’ (STAT)
• J&J starts IVL trial in ‘difficult-to-cross’ coronary arteries (MedTech Dive)
• RFK Jr. won’t appear before Senate panel this week (MedTech Dive)
• Labcorp launches blood test to accelerate Alzheimer’s diagnosis (MedTech Dive)
• Shuren Expects Longer CDRH Review Times (MedTech Insight)

• As U.S. Pieces Together How HHS Cuts are Affecting Food Safety, Stakeholders Speak Out (Food Safety)
• Economic stressors altering 2025 food trends (Food Business News)

• With Trump review, a Harvard infectious disease researcher stands to lose it all (STAT)
• Unique pain research office eliminated in HHS purge (STAT)
• RFK Jr. says he plans to tell CDC to stop recommending fluoride in drinking water (STAT)
• Trump’s US FDA Takeover Similar To Flat Earth Proponents Running NASA, Woodcock Says (Pink Sheet)
• US FDA Center Directors Are Political Now (Pink Sheet)