Healthcare and pharma
Every Sainteur story on healthcare and pharma, newest first.
Two senators are right to ask HHS about bets on clinical trials and FDA approvals
Their letter covers Kalshi contracts in the United States and Polymarket contracts on an international exchange. Kalshi said it limited the markets when it launched them in July.
Oura is buying Counsel Health for $625 million after postponing an IPO
The smart-ring maker cited uncertainty in the IPO market, then moved to buy the physician-supervised service it says can take members to a doctor, often within minutes, in the app.
Cigna raises its 2026 outlook as insurance growth offsets a weaker pharmacy unit
Adjusted earnings of $7.98 a share topped the $7.46 Zacks consensus, and Cigna now sees at least $30.60 a share for the year.
CVS Health plans to split into two companies, separating its pharmacies from Aetna
CVS Health plans to separate its roughly 9,000 drugstores from Aetna and Caremark, the Wall Street Journal reported, with the split planned for the first half of 2028.
Pfizer raises its 2026 forecast as Shopify falls just short and Block tops estimates
Pfizer lifted its 2026 revenue and profit forecasts, Shopify's sales and merchant volume came in a little under estimates, and Block's adjusted profit beat. Palantir and Apple also reported.
Boston Scientific cuts its 2026 outlook and sees Q4 sales falling after its August cyberattack
The medical device maker lowered its full-year profit and sales forecasts and now expects fourth-quarter revenue to shrink by about 1% to 3%.
Family health coverage through work now costs $28,303 a year, and what workers pay is rising faster
KFF's annual survey shows the average employer family premium rose 5% in 2026, while workers' $7,471 contribution rose 9%, faster than wages or inflation.
Former OpenAI science lead Kevin Weil raises $215 million to put robots in drug labs
Warp Sciences trains robots to make and test drug compounds. TechCrunch reports the round values it at $865 million, according to Weil.
Moderna slides after its cancer vaccine data leaked early, even though the results looked strong
Partial Phase 3 results with Merck slipped out ahead of Saturday's ESMO presentation. The full data showed a 42% cut in the risk of recurrence or death, but after a 530%-plus run this year, analysts say expectations were higher still.
Tesla's cash flow blows past forecasts as IBM and TI beat
Tesla's revenue was flat, but free cash flow beat estimates by billions. IBM, Texas Instruments, AT&T and Elevance beat, Philip Morris trimmed expectations, and Moody's missed.
OpenAI buys Orchestra Bio, a startup whose AI agents babysit drug programs
The ChatGPT maker is folding Orchestra's scheduling-and-logistics agents into Rosalind. It didn't say what it paid. Rival Anthropic made its own biotech buy in April, reportedly for about $400 million.