Hello,
Today in healthcare news: An inside look at Papa, a startup that’s tapping into the growing gig economy in healthcare, the limitations of what vaccine results can tell us about transmission, and a new approach to taking on the massive middlemen in the pharmacy industry.
Courtesy of Papa; Yuqing Liu/Business Insider
Investors are betting big that Papa can succeed by applying Uber’s gig-work strategy to home care. We spoke to 9 ‘grandkids on demand’ for an inside look at the future of healthcare.
Read the full story from Megan Hernbroth>>
Moderna’s chief medical officer says that vaccine trial results only show that they prevent people from getting sick — not necessarily that recipients won’t still be able to transmit the virus
- Moderna Chief Medical Officer Tal Zaks told Axios that the public should not “over-interpret” the vaccine trial results to assume life could go back to normal after adults are vaccinated.
- “They do not show that they prevent you from potentially carrying this virus transiently and infecting others,” Zaks told Axios.
- While he believes, based on the science, that it’s likely that vaccine does prevent transmission, but said there’s still no solid proof of that yet.
- “I think it’s important that we don’t change behavior solely on the basis of vaccination,” he said.
Read the full story from Sarah Al-Arshani here>>
Healthcare’s top VCs backed a startup’s unsuccessful attempt to unseat a massive part of the $335 billion prescription-drug business. Now, WithMe is back with $20 million with another approach to take on the industry.
Read the full story from Megan Hernbroth here>>
More stories we’re reading:
See you tomorrow for my last dispatch for the holiday week! Until then, be sure to subscribe here if you haven’t yet!
– Lydia