Under the agreement, Eli Lilly will purchase Prevail for nearly $1 billion to expand its presence in gene therapy, which has become a lucrative area of drug research used to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases such as Parkinson's disease, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from Georgia, New York, Indiana, and Pennsylvania.

• Georgia: Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital has announced Steven Kitchen is retiring at the end of the year after serving as its CMO for six years. Kitchen had served residents in South Georgia for more than three decades—and delivered more than 2,500 babies—at Phoebe Putney Memorial before assuming the role of CMO. As the hospital's CMO, Kitchen led Phoebe Putney Memorial's transition to a high intensity model for critical care and helped establish and oversee quality improvement teams. He will be succeeded by Kathy Hudson, the hospital's chief of medical staff who currently serves as regional medical director of Phoebe's Hospitalist Group and president of the Phoebe Putney Memorial Hospital Medical Executive Committee (Gooch, Becker's Hospital Review, 12/18).

• New York/Indiana: Eli Lilly and Company on Tuesday announced it has reached a reached a deal to acquire Prevail Therapeutics, a gene therapy company. Under the agreement, Eli Lilly will purchase Prevail for nearly $1 billion to expand its presence in gene therapy, which has become a lucrative area of drug research used to develop treatments for neurodegenerative diseases, such as Parkinson's disease. Eli Lilly said Prevail's experimental drug treatments, many of which have been granted a fast track or orphan drug designation by FDA, will establish a new gene therapy program at the company. Prevail shareholders under the deal will receive $22.50 per share plus a "contingent value right" worth $4 per share in cash, which will be payable once Prevail receives its first regulatory approval for a product in its drug pipeline. Prevail's drug pipeline includes gene therapies for Alzheimer's disease, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and Lou Gehrig's disease, the companies said (Reuters, 12/15).

• Pennsylvania: Independence Blue Cross is teaming up with startup Strive Health to launch a program for its Medicare Advantage members with stage 4 or 5 chronic kidney disease and end-stage renal disease (ESRD) on Jan. 1. The program aims to slow disease progression and improve the quality of life for enrollees by providing them with disease management, wound care, medication management, acute care management, and other services. Members who enroll in the program will receive the specialized care from Strive Health's care coordinators, dietitians, NPs, RN care managers, pharmacists, and social workers (Landi, Fierce Healthcare, 12/15).