News from Thursday, September 18, 2025
Articles
RWD Helps Abbvie Bridge Oncology Trial Data Gaps
(9/18, Clinical Leader) reports “...[Svetlana Kobina, MD, Ph.D., vice president of global and U.S. medical affairs oncology, AbbVie:] Our focus at AbbVie is to leverage RWD to inform both clinical development and medical strategy. For example, our RWD abstract at WCLC explored the prognosis of non-squamous NSCLC patients with liver, bone, or brain metastases treated with standard-of-care frontline therapies. Findings showed us that there is still an unmet need in this patient population despite the advent of novel immunotherapies in the first-line setting.” Full
Mighty-Heart: Mobile Integrated Health Offers No Benefit in Heart Failure Readmissions
(9/17, Ryan Livingston, HCPLive) reports “Mobile integrated health (MIH) confers no additional benefit to either health status or 30-day readmissions for postacute patients with heart failure (HF) compared to a transitions of care coordinator (TOCC), according to results from the Mighty-Heart trial.” Full
Most Favored Nation Drug Pricing: Aiming At Pharma’s Achilles Heel
(9/18, Ian D. Spatz, Health Affairs Forefront) comments “...The President can also use the Inflation Reduction Act’s Medicare negotiation powers, which he has reluctantly embraced, to punish those who will not agree to his demands...The President also wants other countries to pay more and for drug companies to return those extra profits to US patients. However, since companies seek to charge the highest price they can get in each market, increases in the prices outside the US will not automatically translate into lower prices in the US. Most importantly, none of this will advance more rational international drug pricing that aligns what is paid to the value drugs provide in each market.” Full
UK: NHS Drug Pricing Is All about the Art of the Deal
(9/18, Andrew Dillon, The Guardian) comments “...Three things might help make what will always be a tricky process a little easier. First, Nice and the government should set up an independent review of the value-for-money threshold and implement its recommendations. Second, Nice should set take-up rates (numbers of patients prescribed each year) for the drugs it recommends, and the NHS should commit to achieving them. And third, in return, companies should engage early with Nice and put a realistic price forward at the beginning (they always know what it is) rather than waiting for Nice to say no and then reducing it later. Companies that do this should then get a special deal on the price cap.” Full
Press Releases
Major Review Highlights Latest Evidence on Real-Time Test for Blood–Clotting in Childbirth Emergencies
(9/18, Keck School of Medicine of USC Press Release) “...A new sweeping review from the Southern California Evidence Review Center, part of the Keck School of Medicine of USC, brings U.S. hospitals a step closer to improving treatment of maternal hemorrhage with [viscoelastic testing]. The study, just published in the International Journal of Obstetric Anesthesia, includes a summary of findings from 156 research publications. The study was commissioned by the Patient-Centered Outcomes Research Institute (PCORI) and included interviews with patients, clinicians and policymakers.” Full
Researchers at UTHealth Houston Awarded $27 Million to Lead National Alzheimer’s Data Network Using Real-World Data
(9/18, University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston Press Release) “A new $27.2 million grant awarded by the National Institute on Aging, part of the National Institutes of Health, will allow researchers at UTHealth Houston to lead a national initiative using real-world data to unlock discoveries about Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. The initiative, ‘Using Real-World Data to Derive Common Data Elements for Alzheimer’s Disease and AD-Related Dementias Research Through Ontological Innovation’ (ReCARDO), will unite teams from 10 institutions: UTHealth Houston, Mayo Clinic, Rush University, University of Pennsylvania, Indiana University, University of Washington, University of Alabama at Birmingham, University of Florida, The University of Texas at San Antonio, and Vanderbilt University.” Full
Journals
Comparative Effectiveness of Statins for Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease Patients with Pulmonary Hypertension: Systematic Review and Network Meta-Analysis
Guobo Xu, et al.
September 2, 2025, Frontiers in Medicine
The Eternal Struggle Between Titans: Fecal Microbiota Transplant (FMT) Versus Metformin in Type 2 Diabetes (T2D) Gut Dysmotility
Lucia La Sala, et al.
September 14, 2025, Journal of Advanced Research
Mobile Integrated Health vs a Transitions of Care Coordinator for Patients Discharged After Heart Failure: The Mighty-Heart Randomized Clinical Trial
Ruth Masterson Creber, PhD, MSc, RN; Brock Daniels, MD; Meghan Reading Turchioe, PhD, et al.
September 15, 2025, JAMA Internal Medicine
Discontinuation Versus Continuation of Maintenance Treatment with Tumor Necrosis Factor Inhibitors in Patients with Rheumatoid Arthritis with Low Disease Activity or Remission: A Randomized Double-Blind Placebo-Controlled Trial
Michael M. Ward, et al.
September 17, 2025, Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism
Seminars in Arthritis and Rheumatism
Midurethral Sling vs OnabotulinumtoxinA for Urinary Incontinence
Niels Klarskov, MD, DMSc; Karen Ruben Husby, MD, PhD
September 18, 2025, JAMA
Midurethral Sling vs OnabotulinumtoxinA for Urinary Incontinence—Reply
Heidi S. Harvie, MD, MBA, MSCE; Christopher Chermansky, MD; Holly E. Richter, PhD, MD
September 18, 2025, JAMA
What Have We Learned about Systemic Sclerosis from the EUSTAR Database?
Corrado Campochiaro, et al.
September 19, 2025, Current Opinion in Rheumatology