Monday, June 1, 2026
Moderna & Merck 5-Year Data for Intismeran Cancer Vacine
At a median five-year pre-planned follow-up of the Phase 2b KEYNOTE-942/mRNA-4157-P201 study, intismeran autogene in combination with KEYTRUDA reduced the risk of recurrence or death by 49% (HR=0.510; [95% CI, 0.294–0.887]) compared to KEYTRUDA alone
The Companies plan to present further data from follow up analyses of the study’s primary and secondary endpoints at a future medical conference
Eight Phase 2 and Phase 3 clinical trials underway across multiple tumor types including melanoma, non-small cell lung cancer, bladder cancer and renal cell carcinoma
https://www.merck.com/news/moderna-merck-announce-5-year-data-for-intismeran-autogene-in-combination-with-keytruda-pembrolizumab-demonstrated-sustained-improvement-in-the-primary-endpoint-of-recurrence-free-survival-i/
Trump proposes research agency grant award overhaul
The Trump administration is proposing to overhaul how research agencies award grants.
Here’s what to know.
1. The Office of Management and Budget’s May 29 proposal would establish a standard framework for distributing research grants across the entire government.
2. Under the framework, peer reviews by program officers or scientists would be treated as advisory, and political appointees would do a “pre-issuance review” to ensure grants advance the president’s policy priorities. It prohibits the use of federal money to support publications costs and could restrict grantmaking and support for scientific collaboration.
3. The framework also includes criteria for not funding or promoting diversity, equity and inclusion policies, “theories or ideologies that deny the biological reality of sex or the sex binary in humans,” or gender transition procedures for people under age 19.
4. The proposal allows grants to be terminated if the work “no longer effectuates program goals, federal agency priorities or the national interest,” and “set governmentwide requirements for grants administration and agencies must follow the OMB requirements in their award programs.”
5. The OMB said the new framework aims to ensure tax dollars are funding activities consistent with law and policy, and that recipients are held accountable.
6. Public comments on the framework are accepted through July 13. However, the framework is already receiving criticism from scientific organizations. Stand Up for Science called it an “unprecedented power grab by [OMB Director] Russell Vought,” and warned the framework would upend the research agency’s ability to dictate spending.
https://www.beckershospitalreview.com/quality/trump-proposes-grant-award-overhaul-6-notes/
Healthcare organizations struggle to monitor vendors after approval: KLAS
Seventy-four percent of healthcare organizations were affected by a third-party breach in the previous 24 months, yet many still struggle to monitor vendors after they are approved, a June 1 report from KLAS Research found.
Based on interviews with 46 individuals from 44 healthcare organizations, the report found that while provider organizations have become more mature in evaluating vendor risk during procurement and onboarding, ongoing oversight remains a significant challenge.
Here are 10 key findings from the report:
- Interviewed organizations reported increasingly formal intake processes for reviewing new vendors, often involving procurement, legal, privacy and security teams. Many assess a vendor’s risk profile before contracts are finalized and review factors such as system access, data use and security safeguards.
- However, KLAS found that investments in third-party risk management have largely focused on front-end diligence rather than ongoing lifecycle oversight.
- Organizations reported difficulties maintaining reliable processes for reassessing vendors, monitoring significant changes and enforcing remediation efforts after implementation. According to the report, risk can emerge long after onboarding through product changes, security-control drift, business disruptions or inadequate follow-through.
- Respondents identified several barriers to effective third-party risk management. The most frequently cited challenge was gaps in internal alignment, intake processes and governance structures, reported by 30% of organizations. Another 25% reported challenges related to vendor accountability, trust and assurance, while 20% cited staffing and capacity constraints. Limited visibility into vendor inventories and fourth-party risks was also a common concern.
- Many organizations described third-party risk management as highly manual and difficult to scale. Even those with mature intake processes said the work requires extensive coordination across departments, repeated evidence collection and ongoing follow-up.
- Organizations reported using multiple vendors to support different aspects of third-party risk management, including assessment intake, continuous monitoring, workflow management and advisory services. KLAS found that most organizations use vendors for specific portions of the risk management lifecycle rather than relying on a single end-to-end platform.
- Meditology Services, also known as CORL Technologies, received the highest number of mentions among surveyed organizations. SecurityScorecard and ServiceNow were also frequently cited, while Deer Brook Consulting was reported as being used across the broadest range of third-party risk management categories.
- Despite growing adoption of risk management tools, respondents did not identify a clear leader in addressing one of their biggest challenges: ongoing vendor maintenance and monitoring.
- Organizations said they want stronger governance and procurement alignment, greater automation, centralized workflows and improved visibility into vendor risks throughout the lifecycle. KLAS concluded that future progress will depend on creating more connected risk management programs with continuous monitoring and clearer ownership after vendors are onboarded.
- The report also found that healthcare organizations continue to own and manage third-party risk governance internally, even as they rely on outside tools and services to make those efforts more structured, scalable and sustainable.
Flaw in AI medication monitoring software comes to light after drug diversion in Tenn. hospital
Hundreds of hospitals use AI tools to identify drug diversion in their respective facilities, but a recent case at a Tennessee hospital highlights some of the shortcomings of this system, CBS News reported June 1.
Here are five things to know.
1. In 2025, a nurse at Chattanooga, Tenn.-based Erlanger Baroness Hospital was fired after administrators discovered he was using fentanyl left over after surgeries, according to a Tennessee Board of Nursing consent order. During a review, leaders found the nurse had been diverting fentanyl for four months. An audit of his dispensing records found five instances when the AI should have flagged missing drugs but did not. The review also found “additional inconsistencies between drug dispensing and waste documentation that should have been flagged by the automated monitoring system,” CBS News reported.
2. Drug diversion, defined as unlawfully taking a controlled substance from healthcare facilities, is a widespread challenge in medical facilities. It is estimated that up to 15% of healthcare workers divert drugs at least once, according to the Healthcare Diversion Network. Diversions have been linked to 13 disease outbreaks since 1985, the CDC found. Hospitals must confidentially report lost or stolen drugs to the Drug Enforcement Administration; they also can also report stolen drugs to state health agencies.
3. In recent years, hospitals have increasingly turned to AI-powered medication-monitoring software to identify missing medications. A 2022 study found that Sentri7, a commonly used software, could identify drug diversion faster than existing methods, but said the AI was not able to find all cases of diversion.
4. Two programs dominate the medication-monitoring field: More than 1,500 hospitals use Bluesight’s ControlCheck, and an additional 700 use Wolters Kluwer’s Sentri7 Clinical Surveillance programs.
5. Because AI technology is heavily proprietary, hospital officials often do not understand how it works. This lack of transparency can allow errors to be buried, leading to repeated instances at other facilities, David Rastall, DO, PhD, a neurologist and AI researcher at Baltimore-based Johns Hopkins Medicine, told CBS News. In this instance, it is unclear why Sentri7 did not catch the diversion. The hospital, software company and other investigating organizations involved declined CBS News’ request for comment.
Netanyahu: Israel will strike Beirut if attacks persist
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Monday that Israel will target Hezbollah positions in Beirut if the group continues attacking Israeli cities and civilians.
"Tonight, I spoke with [United States] President [Donald] Trump and told him that if Hezbollah does not cease attacking our cities and citizens—Israel will attack terror targets in Beirut," Netanyahu wrote in a post on X. He added that the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) will continue operations in southern Lebanon "as planned."
The comments came after reports that Netanyahu and Trump discussed the situation in Lebanon and Iran during a phone call. Earlier, Trump said Hezbollah had agreed to stop all the shooting and that Israel would not attack Beirut. The renewed threat also comes as tensions over Lebanon have repeatedly contributed to Iran's decision to halt talks with the US. Meanwhile, the Lebanese Embassy in Washington stated that Hezbollah officially accepted a US proposal for a reciprocal ceasefire with Israel.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Netanyahu:-Israel-will-strike-Beirut-if-attacks-persist/66412231
Iran threatens to block Bab el-Mandeb like Hormuz
The commander of the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps Quds Force, Esmail Qaani, announced that the Iran-led military coalition intends to expand its military operations and potentially disrupt maritime traffic in the Bab al-Mandab Strait.
"The evil of the Zionists in Lebanon and Gaza, under the shadow of America's shameless support, will forge the resolve of the Axis of Resistance to expand its backing for both fronts, take action to activate other fronts, and equalize the traffic conditions of the Bab al-Mandab Strait with those of the Strait of Hormuz," Qaani wrote in a statement published by Tasnim.
His statement comes after Lebanon stated that Hezbollah agreed to a US-proposed truce, with US President Donald Trump reportedly confirming Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's acceptance as well. Meanwhile, the American leader claimed negotiations between Washington and Iran are progressing fast.
https://breakingthenews.net/Article/Iran-threatens-to-block-Bab-el-Mandeb-like-Hormuz/66412216
Mystery of missing scientists deepens as body of Los Alamos nuclear lab worker found near gun
The body of a missing nuclear lab worker has been found — alongside a gun — almost a year after she vanished without a trace, the latest in a string of disappearances and bizarre deaths involving experts and government employees working at some of the most secretive US national security facilities.
The remains of Melissa Casias, 54, who worked at the Los Alamos National Laboratory in New Mexico, were found in Carson National Forest over the weekend, some six miles from where she was last seen alive on June 26, 2025.
She was positively identified by New Mexico State Police on Monday.
A handgun was found alongside her body in the McGaffey Ridge area, although her exact cause of death and the date she is believed to have died have not yet been determined by authorities.
Her body was discovered by a hiker in an area where US Forest Service crews have been working regularly on a restoration project since December.
Casias worked as an administrative assistant at the lab, created during World War II for the famous Manhattan Project, and closely tied to US nuclear weapons research ever since.
On the day she disappeared, the married mother wiped all records from her phones before leaving them and her identification behind and walking out of her home in Ranchos de Taos, a remote community some 70 miles northeast of Santa Fe.
She dropped her husband, Mark, another Los Alamos employee, off at the facility before allegedly claiming she had forgotten her badge and had to return home.
The couple’s daughter, Sierra, told investigators that Casias dropped her off a sandwich and told her she planned to work from home after forgetting her badge.
Surveillance cameras last showed her walking alone eastward on State Road 518, some three miles from her home, at around 2:20 p.m. local time.
It is unclear if Casias owned a handgun, and New Mexico State Police are still examining the scene and tracing the gun’s origins.
Casias is one of four people who have gone missing or died suddenly in recent years with links to US defense and nuclear programs.
They include former Los Alamos employee Anthony Chavez, 79, who vanished without a trace after leaving his home on foot on May 4, 2025, just seven weeks before Casias.
Steven Garcia, a government contractor working for a major facility in Albuquerque, also disappeared after walking out of his home on Aug. 28, 2025, carrying only a handgun and no identification.
The string of mysterious deaths and disappearances in recent years began in 2023 with the death of experienced NASA scientist Michael David Hicks, according to officials.
Hick, 59, who worked at the Agency’s Jet Propulsion Laboratory (JPL) for nearly 25 years, died July 30, apparently of natural causes.
However, the following year, two others connected to JPL died or disappeared.
In 2024, space research specialist Frank Maiwald died in Los Angeles at age 61.
Monica Reza, a 60-year-old aerospace engineer who served as the director of the NASA Lab’s Materials Processing Group, disappeared while hiking in a Los Angeles forest in June 2025.
Retired Air Force major general William Neil McCasland hasn’t been seen since leaving his home in Albuquerque on Feb. 27, leaving behind his phone, prescription glasses, and wearable devices.
The FBI is now involved in the search for McCasland, 68, who was involved in some of the Pentagon’s most advanced aerospace research and once headed up the Air Force Research Laboratory at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.
Speculation has been further fueled by the deaths of several acclaimed scientists in recent months.
In December 2025, MIT professor Nuno FG Loureiro was fatally shot at his home near Boston by a gunman who had already killed two students in a shooting on Brown University’s campus in Rhode Island.
The 47-year-old physicist and fusion scientist led MIT’s Plasma Science and Fusion Center, aiming to advance clean energy technology and other valuable research.
In February, California Institute of Technology astrophysicist Carl Grillmair, 67, was fatally shot at his home outside Los Angeles by an unknown killer.
Many of those who disappeared or died had connections to UFO research.
In 2024, former US Air Force intelligence officer Matthew James Sullivan, 39. died suddenly before he could testify in a federal whistleblower case about UFOs, according to Rep. Eric Burlison of Missouri.
His public obituary did not state how he died.
Conspiracy theorists are also re-examining the death in 2022 of 34-year-old Amy Eskridge, who co-founded the Institute for Exotic Science in Huntsville, Alabama.
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