23andMe seeks new bids after $305 million offer from its co-founder

 Bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe (ME) told a U.S. bankruptcy judge on Wednesday that it wants to re-open bidding on its assets, including customers' genetic data, after receiving a $305 million offer from its co-founder Anne Wojcicki.

23andMe had previously selected a $256 million bid from Regeneron Pharmaceuticals as the lead offer after a bankruptcy auction concluded in May.

But it received a later bid from TTAM Research Institute, a new nonprofit founded by Wojcicki, and asked U.S. Bankruptcy Judge Brian Walsh in St. Louis, Missouri, to be allowed to re-engage with potential buyers after determining that TTAM had sufficient financing to proceed with the higher offer.

Regeneron is willing to make a new bid for 23andMe's assets, but wants a $10 million breakup fee if Wojcicki’s bid is ultimately accepted, its attorney Emil Kleinhaus told the judge.

Kleinhaus said Regeneron still wants to buy 23andMe, but believes that it was unfair for the genetic testing company to seek a "do-over" after its earlier auction.

"The auction was over, the rules were clear," Kleinhaus said.

South San Francisco, California-based 23andMe filed for bankruptcy in March, seeking to sell its business at auction following a decline in consumer demand and a 2023 data breach that exposed sensitive genetic and personal information of millions of customers.

The bankruptcy sale will include more than 15 million customer DNA profiles, collected via 23andMe's popular direct-to-consumer saliva-testing kits.

The data breach and subsequent bankruptcy filing have drawn scrutiny from U.S. lawmakers concerned that the company's genetic data on millions of customers could be sold to unscrupulous buyers.

23andMe had named TTAM as the backup bidder after its earlier auction, valuing its offer at $146 million.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/23andme-seeks-bids-305-million-231342752.html

Chasing Sarepta, RegenXBio links DMD gene therapy to improved outcomes

 RegenXBio has shared updated phase 1/2 data on its Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) gene therapy, providing evidence that its pivotal dose improves functional outcomes in older boys with the disease.

The data update looked at five patients who were 6 to 12 years old when they received the gene therapy RGX-202. Untreated, people with DMD can start to lose the ability to walk and perform other tasks over those years. Data captured nine and 12 months after treatment with RGX-202 suggest the gene therapy may be able drive improvements in functional outcomes. 

Mean scores on tests of time to stand, 10-meter walk-run and time to climb improved in the five patients with nine months of follow-up and the four patients with 12 months of follow-up. RegenXBio also tracked improvements on a scale that measures the functional motor abilities of children with DMD.

The biopharma compared the improvements to the deterioration seen in a natural history external control group. RegenXBio only provided a pooled analysis of the data but, speaking on a call with analysts about the update, the company’s chief medical officer Steve Pakola, M.D., called the improvements “robust and consistent.”

“All the patients are doing better than external natural history and also doing better than baseline, even when you look across a broad range of functional endpoints,” Pakola said. “These are boys that you would definitely be anticipating would be declining. Not only are we seeing stabilization, but we're actually seeing improvement.”

The level of improvement on some of the tests is lower than the changes RegenXBio saw at a lower dose late last year. However, differences between the baseline characteristics of the patients could explain the results. The first dose cohort enrolled (PDF) kids with a mean age of 7.1 years at baseline. The average age in the second dose cohort was 8.7 years. 

No patients at either dose had serious adverse events, central or peripheral neurotoxicity, drug-induced liver injury or thrombocytopenia. The safety of DMD gene therapies was thrust into the spotlight earlier this year when a patient died after receiving Sarepta Therapeutics’ Elevidys. RegenXBio has identified safety as a potential differentiator of RGX-202.

The biopharma is racing toward pivotal data that could support its argument. RegenXBio expects to wrap up enrollment in the pivotal trial this year, putting it on track to file for approval in 2026 and bring the gene therapy to market in 2027. 

https://www.fiercebiotech.com/biotech/chasing-sarepta-regenxbio-links-dmd-gene-therapy-improved-outcomes

'Microsoft CEO Says OpenAI Alliance Changing But Remains Strong'

 

Microsoft Corp. Chief Executive Officer Satya Nadella said his company’s crucial partnership with OpenAI is changing, but remains strong.

“Any company that has gone from being a research lab to one of the most successful product companies of this age — obviously things have to change for them and for us and in the context of the partnership,” Nadella said in an interview on the The Circuit with Emily Chang.

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2025-06-05/microsoft-ceo-says-openai-alliance-changing-but-remains-strong

'TeleTracking, Palantir Partner to Transform Healthcare Operations with AI'

  TeleTracking Technologies, the market leader in Healthcare Operations Platforms for hospitals and health systems, and Palantir Technologies (NASDAQ:PLTR), a leader in artificial intelligence systems, today announced a strategic partnership aimed at revolutionizing operational decision-making in healthcare to deliver long-term value to providers globally.

By integrating TeleTracking's industry-leading platform, Operations IQ, with Palantir's advanced analytics and AI-powered operating system, Palantir Foundry and AIP, TeleTracking will deliver the next-generation solution that provides hospitals and health systems with near real-time, actionable insights - optimizing staffing workflows, accelerating decisions, and putting patients at the center of every action.

"At TeleTracking, we've always been pioneers in healthcare operations-just as Palantir has revolutionized the modern AI operating system. Coming together is more than a partnership; it's a fusion of two industry firsts with a shared mission to drive positive change in the world. By combining our strengths, we're changing the game for hospitals and health systems globally-unlocking unprecedented visibility, coordination, and impact in patient care and financial performance," said Chris Johnson, CEO at TeleTracking.

Hospitals and health systems continue to face mounting pressure to expand capacity, coordinate care more effectively, and operate more efficiently across care settings - all without increasing physical infrastructure. The integration of TeleTracking's operational workflow expertise with Palantir's decision intelligence capabilities will empower healthcare providers to:

• Seamlessly integrate clinical, operational, financial, workforce, and third-party data.

• Leverage predictive forecasting and demand modeling to manage capacity, staffing, and resources.

• Enable visibility and near real-time situational awareness across regions or systems.

• Drive enterprise-wide optimization of key resources and maximize patient flow through operational Command Centers.

• Leverage the unique operational data of TeleTracking, coupled with the Palantir AI-native platform, to drive automation in the operational processes.

• Reduce burden on staff and caregivers, while improving patient and financial outcomes.

"This partnership with TeleTracking represents the AI revolution in healthcare we are in the midst of-where we continue to move closer to a world where all hospitals and health systems are embracing, implementing and operating with an AI-powered approach, helping to streamline operations allowing for increased focus on providing the best level of care," said Alex Karp, CEO at Palantir.

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/teletracking-palantir-partner-transform-healthcare-105900885.html

Humana Backs Reforms To Limit Medicare Advantage Billing Practices

 Humana Inc. 

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 signaled support for reforms that would curb industry billing practices that have led to billions in additional payments.

What Happened: Last fall, Senators Mike Crapo and Ron Wyden asked insurers for ideas to address home-visit-related payment practices.

Human, one of the largest Medicare Advantage insurers in the U.S., recently shared its stance. In a one-page policy overview viewed by The Wall Street Journal, the company favored limiting insurers’ use of home visit diagnoses to obtain higher payments.

These home visits, often conducted by nurse practitioners and not directly linked to treatment, have become increasingly scrutinized for their role in boosting payments by identifying sometimes questionable or unverified medical conditions.

Why It Matters: Humana’s position is a notable shift in the ongoing debate over payments tied to diagnosis coding in the $460 billion Medicare Advantage program.

A Wall Street Journal investigation revealed that such home-based assessments generated $15 billion in additional revenue for Medicare Advantage insurers between 2019 and 2021.

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 accounted for roughly two-thirds of those payments, with an average gain of $2,735 per home visit. Humana’s average was $1,525.

UnitedHealth’s HouseCalls program conducted around 2.9 million home visits last year, while CVS Health Inc 

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, through Signify Health, also operates a similar model.

Insurers argue that many of these home visits help detect undiagnosed conditions. However, reports indicate that diagnoses are frequently recorded by nurses who aren’t treating the conditions and may rely on broad training to spot potential health issues.

These diagnoses often don’t align with those documented by the patients’ primary care physicians.

Humana has proposed that insurers should only receive extra payments for diagnoses made during home visits if those conditions are documented during other types of medical encounters, such as health-risk assessments outside the home or standard clinic visits.

The company also recommends limiting another controversial practice: diagnosis coding from medical chart reviews unrelated to specific patient visits. Humana’s policy update comes after an internal review launched by CEO Jim Rechtin, who took the helm in July 2023.

Meanwhile, Medicare’s top official, Mehmet Oz, has committed to tightening oversight of the Advantage program.

https://www.benzinga.com/markets/large-cap/25/06/45796533/humana-backs-reforms-to-limit-medicare-advantage-billing-practices

Ocugen to License Modifier Gene Therapy for Retinitis Pigmentosa in Korea

 

• Upfront fees and near-term development milestone payments totaling up to $11 million
• Sales milestones of $150 million or more in first 10 years of commercialization
• Royalties equaling 25% of net sales
• Ocugen to manufacture and supply OCU400

https://finviz.com/news/74039/ocugen-inc-announces-signing-of-binding-term-sheet-for-the-license-of-ocu400-modifier-gene-therapy-for-retinitis-pigmentosa-in-korea

Silo OKd to Buy Bitcoin as Treasury Reserve Asset

 Strategic decision positions Company to diversify treasury holdings with a long-term digital store of value

Silo Pharma, Inc. (Nasdaq: SILO) (“Silo” or the “Company”), a developmental stage biopharmaceutical company focused on novel therapeutics and drug delivery systems, today announced that its Board of Directors has approved the purchase of up to $1 million in Bitcoin as a treasury reserve asset. 

“The addition of Bitcoin to our treasury holdings is a strategic decision aimed at diversifying our assets to include a digital store of value with what we believe has significant upside potential,” said Eric Weisblum, CEO of Silo. “Our purchase of Bitcoin is intended to provide a safeguard against inflation and is expected to position Silo to preserve and optimize long-term shareholder value.”

https://finviz.com/news/74257/silo-pharma-board-of-directors-approves-purchase-of-bitcoin-as-treasury-reserve-asset