March 16, 2026

The need-to-know this morning

CytomX Therapeutics reported preliminary results from an early-stage study of an antibody-drug conjugate treatment for advanced colon cancer.
Structure Therapeutics said its daily obesity pill led patients to lose about 16% of their body weight relative to placebo after 44 weeks. The results of the Phase 2 study could position the company to compete against Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk in a high-stakes race to develop oral versions of blockbuster GLP-1 injections.

heart disease

New guidelines urger earlier cholesterol treatment

Major cardiology groups are urging earlier and broader prevention of cardiovascular disease, recommending that adults as young as 30 begin risk assessments and even consider statins to manage their cholesterol.

Updated guidelines from the American College of Cardiology and American Heart Association recommend these medications now if LDL levels exceed 160 mg/dL, STAT's Elizabeth Cooney writes. But they emphasize the importance of lifestyle changes and also measuring factors beyond LDL — including genetics, inflammatory disease, pregnancy-related complications, and markers like lipoprotein(a) and ApoB.

Statins remain the workhorse therapy because they're cheap and effective, but the recommendations also highlight imaging tests such as coronary artery calcium scans and additional drugs like PCSK9 inhibitors for higher-risk patients.

The overall shift reflects growing evidence that long-term exposure to elevated cholesterol is what drives heart disease, pushing clinicians to identify risk earlier and intervene sooner, even if the payoff — fewer heart attacks and strokes decades later — takes time to materialize.

drug pricing

Two more drugmakers join TrumpRx

Amgen and GSK have joined the Trump administration's TrumpRx.gov initiative. This brings the total number of pharmaceutical companies offering their drugs through the portal to six. Overall, the site now highlights discounted prices on 54 drugs.

TrumpRx displays prices available to consumers who pay cash without using insurance, and in some cases directs patients to other sites where they can buy the therapies.

Amgen's Amjevita, Aimovig, and Repatha are now part of TrumpRx. GSK shows discounted prices for Incruse, Arnuity, Relenza, and Anoro.

opinion

ALS carriers fear research setbacks under Trump

Mindy Uhrlaub, who carries the C9orf72 mutation that causes ALS or frontotemporal dementia, says that years of advocacy and participating in research studies gave her hope that science would produce a treatment before symptoms appear.

But in a new First Opinion for STAT, she argues that recent federal research funding cuts under the second Trump administration have slowed or paused key ALS and FTD studies, undermining progress just as genetic therapies seemed within reach. Uhrlaub, whose friend in a C9 prevention study recently developed ALS, says the cuts leave presymptomatic gene carriers fearing that promising treatments may arrive too late for them or their children.

"The second Trump administration has already had a devastating impact on medical research and lifesaving advancements for diseases like ALS," she writes. "In the face of more funding cuts, I vow to get louder."

opinion

Medicare delays stall access to breakthrough devices

Even when the FDA clears promising "breakthrough" medical devices under the 21st Century Cures Act, patients often can't access them because Medicare coverage lags years behind approval. Opining for STAT, Stanford physician-inventor Josh Makower notes that it takes an average of 5.7 years for newly authorized breakthrough technologies to receive even basic Medicare coverage — the famous "valley of death."

Makower says legislation now under consideration in Congress would narrow that gap by allowing temporary Medicare coverage for a small number of qualifying breakthrough technologies while additional data are collected. The policy, he says, would affect only a handful of products each year and cost roughly $100 million annually — a negligible amount relative to Medicare's budget — while potentially speeding lifesaving technologies to patients and preserving U.S. leadership in medical innovation.