• California: Hinge Health, a virtual musculoskeletal health company, has filed for a proposed initial public offering (IPO). Since the company's founding in 2014, Hinge has raised over $1 billion in venture capital funding, including a $600 million Series E funding round led by investment firms Tiger Global and Coatue Management. So far, the company has not disclosed any information about the potential pricing of shares, the number of shares to be offered, or the amount it plans to raise. According to Modern Healthcare, Hinge has been a potential IPO candidate since last year and will likely be an early test case for other digital health companies that are considering going public this year. The last healthcare companies that went public were Waystar, a healthcare payments company, and Tempus, a precision medicine company. (Turner, Modern Healthcare, 3/11)
• Connecticut: Last week, Cigna announced that it is revamping its top leadership and consolidating oversight of its insurance and health services operations business under one leader. At the end of March, Brian Evanko, who is currently CFO and head of Cigna's health insurance division, will serve as the company's COO and manage both Cigna Healthcare and its health services division Evernorth. Ann Dennison, deputy CFO under Evanko, will become enterprise CFO. In addition, Eric Palmer, current CEO of Evernorth, will leave the company at the end of April. "With the divestiture of the Medicare business it makes sense to have a single leader overseeing both sides of the business," said Lisa Gill, an analyst with JP Morgan. "…With Evanko now sitting atop the leadership structure with broad oversight as COO, we think he will have greater latitude to drive efficient operations across the company moving forward." (Pifer, Healthcare Dive, 3/13)
• District of Columbia: In a 4-0 vote, FTC commissioners are seeking a temporary restraining order and a preliminary injunction to block GTCR's acquisition of Surmodics, a medical device coating company. Currently, Surmodics is the largest provider of outsourced coatings, and GTCR already owns a majority stake in the second-largest provider, Biocoat. According to FTC, the acquisition would mean that the combined company would control over 50% of the market for hydrophilic coatings, which are used for catheters, guidewires, and other devices. "This type of consolidation playbook is prevalent and is particularly concerning when it is executed in health care markets, where not just money but lives are on the line," said commissioners Rebecca Kelly Slaughter and Alvaro Bedoya. For its part, Surmodics said it disagrees with FTC and is committed to completing the merger. "We have worked constructively with the FTC over the last several months to secure regulatory approval for the merger and are disappointed by its decision to initiate litigation, as the merger is pro-competitive," the company said. (Bettelheim, Axios, 3/10)

Learn how antitrust laws prevent monopolies in healthcare, and what conversations you should be having about its implications at your organization.