HHS has sent the White House budget office an interim access policy on peptides, according to a posting on a government website. Two people familiar with the plan say it would assure pharmacies they will not be targeted for making certain peptides.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 10%
- Operator
- Operator 67%
- Investor
- Investor 23%
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives75
- Confidence55
Celiac patients given FB102 kept more intestinal lining under gluten challenge, argenx reports
argenx says its intravenous drug FB102 preserved more intestinal lining than placebo in a 126-patient phase 2 celiac disease trial. The readout is topline and not yet peer-reviewed, and ScienceAlert's report does not say how large the difference was.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives70
- Confidence55
MIT students' 2017 tremor wristband wins FDA clearance nine years on
Encora Therapeutics won FDA clearance in February for a tremor wristband that MIT students first built in a 2017 class. The cleared use is adults with essential tremor, and in one trial 78 percent of patients reported benefit after 90 days of home use.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+15
- Incentives65
- Confidence45
Semafor reports FDA nominee Overton helped craft the case for cutting recommended childhood vaccines to 11
Heidi Overton, Trump's FDA nominee, helped craft the justification for cutting CDC-recommended childhood vaccines from 17 to 11, Semafor reported. The Senate health committee left without voting on her nomination, so confirmation falls to the lame-duck session.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap
- Not scored
- Incentives60
- Confidence45
Rep. Auchincloss plans a bill to copy Australia's faster early-phase trial rules
Rep. Jake Auchincloss (D-Mass.) plans a bill modelled on Australia's faster early-phase clinical trial regime, he said at the STAT Summit. He wants the US to answer China's biotech rise by speeding domestic research.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives50
- Confidence55
Neutrogena and other makers are selling sunscreens with bemotrizinol, the first new US filter in over 25 years, after FDA approval in June. Dermatologists see a technical edge. No prices or sales figures have been published yet.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 10%
- Operator
- Operator 53%
- Investor
- Investor 37%
Reality
- Evidence78
- Adoption20
- Hype gap+8
- Incentives35
- Confidence75
Off-label testosterone prescriptions for US women rose 58.7% in 2025 to over 90,000
A 2026 US study recorded more than 90,000 off-label testosterone prescriptions to women in 2025, up 58.7% from 2024. The FDA has not approved the hormone for menopause, and the only positive trial signal described is for low sexual desire.
Reality
- Evidence55
- Adoption50
- Hype gap+40
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence60
Compass Pathways CEO wants a slow COMP360 launch to protect the psychedelics field
Compass Pathways expects to complete its rolling FDA submission for COMP360 this quarter and launch early next year, CEO Kabir Nath said. He wants a slow, provider-trained rollout under an expected REMS, because early bad experiences could damage the broader sector.
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives60
- Confidence55
Three former FDA chiefs say DOGE and Makary-era exits cost the agency knowledge it will take years to restore
Three former FDA chiefs said DOGE's 3,500 job cuts and a larger exodus under Marty Makary cost the agency institutional knowledge. Ned Sharpless said companies he works with now meet more junior reviewers.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence50
Whoop gets full Medicare payment only if patients' blood pressure, A1C and LDL improve or stay controlled
Whoop, accepted into Medicare's ACCESS program, must show better or controlled blood pressure, A1C and LDL cholesterol to be paid in full. Chief medical officer Ami Bhatt told the STAT Summit that simplifying the app comes first for patients 65 and older.
Reality
- Evidence40
- Adoption15
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives60
- Confidence55
GLP-1 drugs outsold generative AI in 2025 on Exponential View's own estimate of AI revenue
Exponential View says GLP-1 sales reached $76 billion in 2025, ahead of its own $63 billion estimate for generative AI. The $13 billion lead rests on that estimate, and the retention studies the piece cites show heavy attrition.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption11
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives40
- Confidence50
Gallup's revised survey finds 11% of US adults taking GLP-1s for weight loss, up from 3% in 2024
Gallup found 11% of US adults now take a GLP-1 for weight loss, up from 3% in 2024. Its survey of 5,065 adults counts users, not spending, so food and insurance planners still need their own dollar figures.
Publishers:news.gallup.com
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption11
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives
- Not scored
- Confidence66
Blood pressure, insulin-resistance and sleep-breathing metrics are not in the box, and breathing-emergency detection awaits FDA clearance. The Verge is publishing its review in parts.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 22%
- Operator
- Operator 60%
- Investor
- Investor 18%
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives45
- Confidence72
FDA's unannounced chatbot session gave select tech firms an early say in health-AI guidance
FDA officials hosted at least 35 industry groups at an unannounced February session on patient chatbots, after inviting them in a CMS Slack chat room. The guidance it informs will cover every patient-chatbot maker, including firms left outside the room.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption20
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives75
- Confidence58
FDA ties any mifepristone restrictions to a safety report due by March 2027
FDA's court-ordered filing schedules a mifepristone safety report for no later than March 2027, ahead of any decision on new restrictions. Abortion opponents hoping to curtail the pill's use quickly condemned a timeline that keeps the review running into 2027.
Reality
- Evidence58
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap0
- Incentives62
- Confidence60
Shionogi agreed to pay $2 billion for IntraBio, maker of Aqneursa, the first FDA-approved drug for ataxia in A-T. The April Radicava deal came with a sales forecast. This one comes with no disclosed sales figure to test the price against.
Reality
- Evidence70
- Adoption35
- Hype gap+20
- Incentives55
- Confidence65
Vaxcyte said its 31-strain pneumococcal vaccine hit its primary Phase 3 endpoints in a trial against Pfizer's 20-strain and Merck's 21-strain shots. The trial compared antibody levels, so the strain-by-strain results will decide how far the extra coverage threatens the two incumbents.
Perspective Coverage
3 publishers
- Builder
- Builder 30%
- Operator
- Operator 15%
- Investor
- Investor 55%
Reality
- Evidence50
- Adoption3
- Hype gap+30
- Incentives70
- Confidence60
Cigarettes are the second most popular way to quit vaping in an ASH survey of UK adults
Action on Smoking and Health surveys found 19% of 940 UK adults, and 14% of a New Zealand sample, used cigarettes to try to quit vaping. Both figures count quit attempts and leave open how many people stayed on cigarettes.
Reality
- Evidence45
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+35
- Incentives55
- Confidence45
DEA's 7-OH proposal would leave natural kratom largely unregulated
DEA proposed in July to temporarily place 7-OH above a potency threshold in Schedule I, and nearly 36,000 public comments came in by Sept. 10. Experts agree kratom needs guardrails but split on where the line belongs.
Reality
- Evidence62
- Adoption
- Not scored
- Hype gap+10
- Incentives60
- Confidence55
Kennedy wants AI to search Americans' linked health records, including for vaccine outcomes
HHS chief Robert F Kennedy Jr wants health data linked and AI-searchable to study vaccines and chronic disease, citing Medicaid's tens of millions of children. For private holders of health data, the routes he described run through patient apps, commercial linkers and state reporting.
Reality
- Evidence35
- Adoption30
- Hype gap+45
- Incentives65
- Confidence40