10 years after CAR-T, daring to say ‘cured’

In 2010, Doug Olson became the second person in the world to receive CAR-T cell therapy, an experimental tactic to engineer his own immune cells to fight cancer. His doctors had tempered expectations for how well it would fight off Olson’s chronic lymphocytic leukemia, an incurable blood cancer. “It was, at the time, an idea way out there,” Carl June of the University of Pennsylvania said in a call with reporters. “We thought [the CAR-T cells] would be gone in a month or two.” But year after year, the cells persisted, actively watching for cancer cells. Olson has now been cancer-free for a decade, June and his colleagues reported yesterday in Nature. June even dared to use a word that oncologists are usually loath to say: cured. STAT’s Angus Chen has more.

Xenotransplantation pioneer pivots from pigs

There's been a flurry of firsts recently in xenotransplantation, sparking new hope that the science of making human-friendly organs from pigs — and the potential to solve the severe shortage of donated human organs — is finally ready for prime time. The companies racing to start human trials include Revivicor, eGenesis, and Recombinetics. But one company has been notably absent: Qihan Biotech, the brainchild of Luhan Yang, the intensely driven CRISPR superstar whose work kicked the xeno field up a few dozen notches. Yang moved to China with her mission to use CRISPR to create designer pigs whose organs can be transplanted into people. But after unforeseen obstacles, including the outbreak of a deadly pig disease, Qihan quietly put its xeno work on hold and pivoted to cell therapy, Yang told STAT’s Megan Molteni. Read more.

ARPA-H won’t be part of NIH, key lawmaker says

A new research agency that is easily the Biden administration’s most ambitious proposal to advance biomedical research won’t be housed within NIH, a key lawmaker said yesterday. Billed as an attempt to “end cancer as we know it,” ARPA-H has been framed by the White House as “DARPA for health care,” a nod to the Defense Department’s famed experimental research wing and contributor to the invention of the internet, GPS technology, and even the mRNA vaccines used to prevent Covid-19. Now ARPA-H will exist as a distinct unit within HHS, Rep. Anna Eshoo (D-Calif.) told STATs Lev Facher for his exclusive story. It’s a defeat for the Biden administration, which has long insisted that NIH should serve as ARPA-H’s parent agency. Read more about what might happen next.

Closer look: For your health, some insurers will pay your internet bill

(HYACINTH EMPINADO/STAT)

Billions of dollars have been poured into telehealth during the pandemic: Insurers loosened the purse strings on virtual appointments, digital health companies pulled in astronomical investments, and the public markets minted multiple unicorns. But while virtual care’s proponents are fighting to cement its future, many Americans still have limited or no broadband access. It’s a persistent issue that threatens to hamper the lofty promises made by telehealth startups and policymakers. And while the value and effectiveness of telehealth is still being determined, it’s clear that the gaping disparities in access to health care will only grow wider if the problem isn’t fixed. Payers are starting to pay attention. Federal and state health programs are exploring new ways to cover not just telehealth visits, but the internet access that makes them possible. STAT’s Katie Palmer has more.

Bed nets help children survive into adulthood, study of malaria prevention finds

Bed nets work. When treated with insecticide to thwart malaria-carrying mosquitoes, the nets helped children survive until adulthood, a 23-year study of more than 6,500 children in Tanzania reports in NEJM. That wasn’t a foregone conclusion for three reasons: the value of bed nets was thought to be limited to under age 5, little long-term population research on the question had been done, and one theory suggested bed nets could undermine any immunity that would develop from more exposure to the parasite transmitted by mosquito bites. But the researchers found over years of home visits that the survival rate of children who regularly slept under bed nets was 43% higher compared with those who slept under the nets less frequently in early childhood. The study didn’t measure immune function, but the researchers write “it could be argued that survival to adulthood in a malaria-endemic area is itself a reflection of functional immunity.”

Looking at the history of vaccine exemptions and homeschooling in California

Vaccine hesitancy among adults occupies a solid swath of the population in the U.S., but parents’ reluctance to get their school-age children vaccinated is higher. That piqued my interest in a study out yesterday in JAMA Network Open looking at what happened in California when the non-medical exemption from school vaccination requirements was eliminated. The law (SB 277) was enacted in 2015 for kids in K-8 after what became known as the Disneyland measles outbreak. The researchers arrived at a negative finding, concluding there was no association between an increase in homeschooling — which had already been rising — and the end of non-medical exemptions to childhood immunizations. “Parents may have avoided homeschooling as a solution to SB 277 simply because schools did not enforce SB 277 consistently,” the authors write.

What to read around the web today

Hospitals can’t accept this as ‘normal.’ The Atlantic
The Covid vaccine we need now may not be a shot. New York Times
Convenience comes at a price: First injectable for HIV prevention isn’t cost effective, analysis claims. STAT+
Some Havana syndrome cases likely caused by electromagnetic waves, panel finds. Wall Street Journal
With cancer biomarkers, experts say the future has finally arrived. STAT+