Ozempic's Latest Approval, EKDA on Reddit, Lilly Stops Relaxin, Beta Bionics IPO, NKF Turns 75, & More...
Tim Fitzpatrick
Founder and writer building a platform for ideas, innovations, and investments to transform kidney health for 1 billion people
We’re back in action with another batch of headlines, research, community updates and open roles across the Kidneyverse. This biweekly news recap goes out to 7,000+ subscribers who want to keep up with the latest advances and discussions happening across industry, R&D, academia, policy and advocacy. Welcome to the 192 new subscribers who joined us last month to shape the future of global kidney health.
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In this issue
Updates
ICYMI: We launched Signals Snapshots to help tell company’s stories. We aim to give you a bird’s-eye view of what companies do, who they serve, how they make money, and what their top priorities and milestones look like. These are designed as practical resources for anyone working in the kidney space—whether you’re building a business, growing a startup, conducting research, or diving into diligence. Have a company in mind you want us to tackle next? Let us know.
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Signals
F.D.A. Approves Ozempic to Treat Kidney Disease
Summary: The FDA has approved Ozempic to reduce the risk of worsening kidney disease, kidney failure, and cardiovascular death in people with both Type 2 diabetes and chronic kidney disease (CKD). In a clinical trial, Ozempic lowered the likelihood of serious complications by 24% compared to a placebo. This decision expands the blockbuster drug’s use beyond diabetes and heart disease, offering new hope for a population with limited treatment options.
Thoughts: This is a major win for the millions managing diabetes and kidney disease worldwide. It reinforces the growing role of GLP-1 drugs beyond diabetes and weight loss, adding to the arsenal alongside SGLT2 inhibitors, which have already reshaped CKD treatment. But access remains a challenge. Demand for GLP-1 drugs already far outstrips supply, and insurance coverage will (continue to) be a key battleground. With Ozempic now selected for Medicare drug price negotiations and oral-only drugs newly included in the dialysis bundle as of January 1, affordability and availability are front and center in kidney care policy discussions.
How will Ozempic’s approval reshape CKD treatment over the next 5 to 10 years? What barriers stand in the way of access for patients? For providers? For payers?
Beta Bionics goes public with upsized $204M IPO
Summary: Beta Bionics (Nasdaq: BBNX) has gone public with an upsized $204M IPO, significantly surpassing its original $114M target. The company, known for its iLet bionic pancreas, has rapidly expanded since its FDA clearance in 2023, with over 10,000 patients now using the system...
...To continue reading about Beta Bionics upsized $204M IPO and the recent Reddit debate on the End Kidney Deaths Act, visit and subscribe to the Signals newsletter website here (it's free to get started).
Visual of the Week
Per Beneficiary CKD vs. ESRD Spending. In year one of the Kidney Care Choices (KCC) program, there was a general correlation between higher CKD spending and higher ESRD spending, though some entities managed to contain ESRD costs despite significant CKD expenditures. The scatter plot visualizes this relationship, with CKD spending on the x-axis and ESRD spending on the y-axis. Each bubble represents a participating entity, with larger bubbles indicating those managing more total beneficiaries (CKD + ESRD). Open our interactive chart to see specific details for each entity.
While most organizations cluster within a moderate spending range, a few stand out as outliers—some spending heavily on CKD but still incurring high ESRD costs, others achieving cost efficiencies with lower-than-expected ESRD spending. Notably, certain affiliations (e.g., Interwell, DaVita, Strive) exhibit distinct spending patterns, suggesting different care management strategies. As KCC enters its fourth year, these early trends will be key to understanding how investments in CKD care translate to long-term ESRD cost containment.
??Find more charts like this in our data room.
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Decades of clinical operations experience | Contract and Project Manager with global experience | Proven Success at delivering projects on time | Champion for Customer Satisfaction and DE&I | Educator
3 周Tim Fitzpatrick I read the article about VBC. Was interesting. My thoughts This push for Value-Based Care (VBC) is a masterclass in deception—draping cost-cutting measures in the language of patient-centered care. The truth? VBC shifts financial risk from insurers to providers, forcing doctors to make decisions based on cost metrics rather than patient needs. Dr. Scheurer’s claim that this is “for the good of our patients” is laughable when VBC often leads to care delays, denial of necessary treatments, and physician burnout. Dr. Kelly’s obsession with “metric-based goals” makes it clear—VBC isn’t about better outcomes, it’s about forcing doctors into compliance with arbitrary cost-saving benchmarks. The AI and data analytics being hyped? Tools to ration care more efficiently, not improve it. Adams Health’s refusal to hire staff for this transition proves the point: VBC means more administrative burden on already stretched providers while executives and insurers reap the profits. Patients aren’t the winners here—corporate interests are.
Founder and writer building a platform for ideas, innovations, and investments to transform kidney health for 1 billion people
3 周Read the full post and connect with your kidney innovation peers here: ?? https://trfitzpatrick.com/p/signals-recap-ozempics-latest-approval