Covid pandemic
Why the new Omicron subvariant is piquing scientists' interest
STAT's Andrew Joseph brings us this report from London: When it comes to Covid, we've been living in the Omicron era since late 2021, when the variant first appeared. Since then, various Omicron spinoffs have emerged and then been replaced by sister strains, with cases rising and falling over time — a pattern that's been forecast as our likely near-term future with the SARS-CoV-2 coronavirus.
But there is a new form of the virus on the scene that is piquing some interest from scientists. The lineage, called BA.2.86, is a descendant of an early form of Omicron, but has some 30 mutations — meaning it's about as genetically distinct as the 2021 Omicron was from the original SARS-2 virus that appeared in 2019. Many of those mutations are in the spike protein, which the virus uses to latch onto our cells and is one spot on the virus our immune systems get trained to recognize. The virus's collection of mutations — as well as the fact that it's been spotted in quick succession in countries from Israel to the U.S. — are what's making scientists take note. But health authorities are stressing they're dealing with limited information now. There are just six sequences that have been shared from four countries, though given the decline in sequencing since the height of the pandemic, it's almost certain BA.2.86 is elsewhere as well.
"The sequences are similar across the world, potentially suggestive of a relatively recent emergence and rapid growth, but this is a low confidence assessment until further sequences are available," the U.K. Health Security Agency wrote in its assessment Friday. The single case identified in the U.K. thus far did not have any recent travel, which, the agency wrote, "suggests a degree of community transmission."
To state absolutely clearly: It is not known what effect the lineage will have on infections (and subsequent hospitalizations, deaths, and long Covid cases), if any at all. Scientists are awaiting more data and watching to see if the variant has any epidemiological impact. It could be nothing more than a scientific curiosity that fades away in the end. But to researchers, the arrival of BA.2.86 underscores the need for continued SARS-2 surveillance.
Health tech
As demand grows for obesity drugs, telehealth companies juggle patients and payers
Adobe
They look like polar opposites: telehealth companies known for convenient direct-to-consumer sales of prescription medications versus payers and employers putting the brakes on quick scripts. Wildly popular — and expensive — weight loss drugs may bring them together. Digital health companies — such as Teladoc, Found, Hello Alpha, and Calibrate — have introduced products that pair virtual visits and prescriptions with lifestyle coaching.
The idea is to persuade payers and employers to offer their programs as a way to support lasting weight loss and metabolic health, or require them for reimbursement. Sarah Jones Simmer, CEO of virtual weight care company Found, said interest from employers has soared. "They can't suddenly have 70% of their employee base taking a medication that costs $17,000 a year and has to be taken in perpetuity," she said. "Everyone who's ultimately paying for GLP-1s is trying to figure out what to do." STAT's Katie Palmer has more.
Health
Cell therapy repairs cornea damage with patients' own stem cells
It's an early-stage, proof-of-concept trial, the scientists say with caution, but you wouldn't know that from one patient who regained the vision he had lost when a caustic chemical damaged his left eye. "It's like a miracle," said Phillip Durst, recounting how he could once again read letters on a vision chart. He was one of four patients who each received an eye stem cell transplant in 2018. The Phase 1 trial results are described in Friday's Science Advances.
Researchers led by Ula Jurkunas of Mass Eye and Ear in Boston figured out how to replace the epithelium, a transparent tissue that protects the cornea. The epithelium regenerates itself through limbal stem cells, but injury can destroy those stem cells. Needing more than Durst's other eye could yield, the team biopsied stem cells to cultivate more. After transplant, some patients, like Durst, regain vision, while others become candidates for a corneal transplant. STAT's Annalisa Merelli has more.
Alex Hogan/STAT
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