• Connecticut: The Cigna Group plans to cut approximately 2,000 jobs, or less than 3% of its workforce, worldwide by the end of February. According to Becker's Hospital Review, Cigna had an estimated 73,500 employees at the end of 2024, 90% of whom are based in the United States. So far, it's not clear what business units, roles, or geographies will be most impacted by the layoffs. "As we drive greater efficiency across our business, we have made the difficult decision to reduce roles in our workforce," a company spokesperson said. "This decision was made with deliberate care and focus, and we are providing a package that includes a variety of transition services for impacted colleagues." In 2025, Cigna laid off 143 Evernorth Care Group employees in Arizona and 62 Evernorth employees in New Jersey. (Emerson, Becker's Hospital Review, 2/10)
• Maryland: FDA has granted Sanofi a breakthrough therapy designation for its investigational treatment for warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia, a type of blood disorder. The designation was granted based on data from the company's ongoing Lumina 2 phase 2b clinical trial, which is testing the safety and efficacy of its drug rilzabrutinib. A phase 3 clinical trial comparing rilzabrutinib to a placebo is also underway. According to Sanofi, the breakthrough designation highlights a critical unmet need for patients with warm autoimmune hemolytic anemia, which has no approved treatments for the underlying cause of the condition. Currently, rilzabrutinib is approved in the United States, the European Union, and the United Arab Emirates to treat adults with immune thrombocytopenia under the brand name Wayrilz. (Jeffries, Becker's Hospital Review, 2/9)
• New Jersey: Novo Nordisk has filed a lawsuit against telemedicine company Hims & Hers for allegedly "deceiving patients and putting their health at risk" by selling compounded versions of Novo's blockbuster GLP-1 drug semaglutide. Semaglutide is currently sold under the brand names Wegovy and Ozempic. FDA allows compounded medications to be sold when brand-name drugs are in shortage, which semaglutide was until October 2024. However, Hims has continued to sell compounded semaglutide despite the drug no longer being in shortage. Hims also announced that it planned to sell a compounded version of Novo's new GLP-1 pill for obesity until HHS' Office of the General Counsel referred the company to the Department of Justice for potential violations of the Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetics Act. Hims has since canceled its offering of the compounded weight-loss pill. In a statement, John Kuckelman, an SVP at Novo Nordisk, said that Hims is "mass marketing unapproved knock-off versions of Wegovy and Ozempic that evade the FDA's gold standard review process – that's dangerous and deceptive to patients, and undermines the scientific innovation and regulatory rigor in place to ensure these treatments are safe and effective." In response, Hims called Novo's lawsuit "a blatant attack by a Danish company on millions of Americans who rely on compounded medications for access to personalized care" and said that "[o]nce again, Big Pharma is weaponizing the U.S. judicial system to limit consumer choice." (Choi, The Hill, 2/10; Robbins, New York Times, 2/7)

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