Dr. Oz, biotech threatened by zombies, CDC vaccine panel canceled, and much more.

Happy Thursday, updaters! It’s been a minute!

Alexander Bois-Spinelli here, I know you’re used to hearing from Ryan Fitzgerald and me but unfortunately, Ryan is no longer at STAT. Although Ryan is irreplaceable, I’m excited to be joined by STAT’s incredible Newsletter Strategist, Alexa Lee !

Alexa here, good afternoon everyone! If you’re reading this, hope you are staying warm and taking care this chilly winter season. And if it’s not chilly where you’re living, well, there’s no need to brag.

We realize how busy life is, so we’re trying a new, sharper approach to our weekly newsletter. Here’s our rundown of the biggest stories in health and biopharma this week:

• Dr. Oz plans to sell insurance, hospital, and pharma stocks, step down from supplement company if confirmed. Ethics filing shows the nominee to lead CMS is worth at least $86 million, including bets on UnitedHealth, HCA, and a massive tree-trimming business.
• Why biotech’s future is threatened by zombies. There are a number of reasons investment in the industry feels bleak right now, Adam Feuerstein writes. Here’s one.
• Exclusive: Meeting of key CDC vaccine advisory panel, under scrutiny by RFK Jr., is postponed. The meeting was to be held to discuss multiple vaccine issues.
• Graduate student admissions paused and cut back as universities react to Trump orders on research. "We’re just going to be worse off and people won’t even be aware of it — it’s hard to notice when it takes 20 years instead of 10 to get a cure," said one researcher.
• How much weight loss is too much? Pharma is pushing the limit with new obesity drugs. Several participants in new GLP-1 drug trials are running into an issue they never expected.
• Medical device lobby pushes back against Trump’s FDA cuts. “If your intent was to cut some of the fat out of an agency, the result of your action is not that,” AdvaMed CEO Scott Whitaker said in a call with reporters.
• The lasting human impact of Trump funding freeze: An 86-year-old’s ride to dialysis now feels tenuous. Turn off the spigot, even briefly, and it’s felt far from Washington, D.C.

P.S. We’re reimagining how we do this newsletter, and want to hear your thoughts! If there’s something you want to see more or less of from us, feel free to DM us here on LinkedIn!?