• Indiana: Eli Lilly recently announced plans to acquire Morphic Holding for $3.2 billion, or $57 per share. Morphic is a biotech company developing treatments for inflammatory bowel disease. The company's lead candidate is MORF-057, an oral small molecule that blocks α4β7 integrin. Currently, the company is studying the drug in two Phase 2 trials for ulcerative colitis and one Phase 2 trial for Crohn's disease. Morphic also has several preclinical medications for other chronic conditions, such as autoimmune diseases, pulmonary hypertensive diseases, fibrotic diseases, and cancer. According to Eli Lilly, the deal is expected to close in Q3 of 2024. (Chen, STAT+ [subscription required], 7/8)
• Maryland: CMS last week released its first audit for the No Surprises Act, listing errors in how Aetna's Texas division calculated reimbursement rates for air ambulance services. The agency audited Aetna's payments from Jan. 1, 2022, to June 10, 2022, for a set of air ambulance services provided in Texas and found that the qualifying payment ranged from 73% below to 82% above the appropriate weight. According to the audit, Aetna used a claims-weighted median instead of a contract-weighted one, which is required by the No Surprises Act. In a statement, an Aetna spokesperson said that the audit took place in the first six months of the No Surprises Act being implemented and that the company addressed the report's findings to CMS' satisfaction. Health policy experts say that the audit, although narrow in scope, shows how convoluted the No Surprises Act's reimbursement process is. "This is a complicated process," said Jack Hoadley, research professor emeritus of health policy at Georgetown University. "We have always talked about a number of aspects of the [independent dispute resolution process] being a learning curve for all parties. This is our first visualization into [qualifying payment amount] calculations, and it suggests this will also be a learning curve." (Kacik, Modern Healthcare, 7/12)
• Nevada: President Joe Biden on Wednesday tested positive for COVID-19 while traveling in Las Vegas and is experiencing "mild symptoms" including "general malaise," according to the White House. Press secretary Karine Jean-Pierre said that Biden will fly to his home in Delaware where he will "self-isolate and will continue to carry out all of his duties fully during that time." Kevin O'Connor, the president's physician, said that shortly after Biden tested positive for COVID-19, he was prescribed the antiviral drug Paxlovid and has already taken his first dose. O'Connor added that Biden's temperature was normal as was his blood oxygen. (Madhani, Associated Press, 7/18; Shear, New York Times, 7/17)

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