• California: Hims & Hers Health Inc. has acquired the home blood-testing company Sigmund NJ LLC. According to Bloomberg/Modern Healthcare, Sigmund, which markets its services as Trybe Labs, uses a U.S.-approved device to allow patients to test hormones, cholesterol, and other health markers at home. In a statement, Hims & Hers said using home kits will allow the company to support more comprehensive patient testing and to expand its offerings of personalized treatments, medications, and supplements. "Access to richer data allows us to deepen the insights that providers can use on our platform to guide their clinical decisions for each individual patient" said Patrick Carroll, Hims & Hers' CMO. "At-home lab testing is one more exciting step towards elevating the personal, comprehensive care customers in this country should expect." (Muller/Lauerman, Bloomberg/Modern Healthcare, 2/19; Gomez, CNBC, 2/21)
• District of Columbia: The U.S. Department of Agriculture (USDA) has given conditional approval for an updated bird flu vaccine to protect poultry against the H5N1 strain of the bird flu virus, which has infected over 150 million commercial birds and backyard flocks. The conditional approval was given to an updated version of a vaccine developed by Zoetis. The vaccine was initially developed from 2001 to 2002 when there were large bird flu outbreaks in flocks in Southeast Asia. Previously, federal officials created a national stockpile of bird flu vaccines for use in commercial poultry after outbreaks occurred in 2014 and 2015, but they were never deployed. So far, USDA said that it isn't planning to immediately vaccinate any flocks but is moving forward with potential planning and purchasing of vaccines or manufacturing capacity for vaccines. (Bettelheim, Axios, 2/18)
• Maryland: According to the New York Times, NIH has provided around $1 billion less in federal grants in 2025 compared to the same time in 2024. In the first six weeks of 2024, NIH awarded over 11,000 grants that equaled roughly $2.5 billion. In comparison, NIH has only awarded $1.4 billion so far this year, a number that is hundreds of millions of dollars lower than the amount awarded in the same period over the last six years. So far, it's not clear whether this lag in funding is due to an administrative backlog or recent changes in policies around federal grants. One policy change would cap the indirect cost payment rate at 15%, a decision that has raised concerns at universities and healthcare organizations across the country. "If the federal government cuts its investment, we will have to scale back on research, and cutting-edge science will be cut short," said Dean Madden, the vice provost for research at Dartmouth University. "You don't know what discoveries won't be made as a result, but they might include a cure for some childhood cancer or treatment for Alzheimer's or dozens of other diseases that are afflicting patients across our country." (Jewett/Rosenbluth, New York Times, 2/18)

This month, NIH announced a new policy capping the indirect cost payment rate for new and existing grants at 15% — a change that could threaten billions of dollars in funding for universities and health systems.