• Georgia: ACS recently updated its colorectal cancer screening guidelines to include two new options, including a blood test for the first time. Currently, ACS recommends adults receive a colonoscopy every 10 years starting at age 45 and ending at age 75. However, a third of Americans skip colonoscopies or other colorectal screening methods altogether. To encourage screening, ACS recommends several alternatives, including visual exams and home-based stool tests. The updated guidelines include two new screening options: a blood-based test and an at-home screening test. "We need to increase our emphasis on colorectal cancer as a highly preventable disease as much as a treatable one," said Robert Smith, ASC's SVP of early cancer detection science. "By offering more screening tools in our guideline update, more eligible adults will be able to participate in lifesaving colorectal cancer testing, helping to close the screening gap and catch more cancers at an earlier, treatable stage." In a report, ASC researchers emphasized the necessity of colorectal cancer screenings since it is the most frequently diagnosed cancer and the second leading cause of cancer mortality. There are over 150,000 new diagnoses and approximately 55,000 deaths from colorectal cancer every year. (Davis, The Hill, 5/27)
• Indiana: Eli Lilly has agreed to acquire three vaccine developers, Curevo, LimmaTech Biologics, and Vaccine Company, in deals worth almost $4 billion. Curevo is currently developing a shingles vaccine, while LimmaTech is developing a vaccine against bacterial pathogens and Vaccine Company is developing a vaccine against the Epstein-Barr virus. According to the Wall Street Journal, Lilly has had infectious disease products in the past, including one of the original polio vaccines, but they have not been a key area of focus for a while. If the vaccines from the acquired companies pan out, they could become a core focus for the company alongside diabetes, obesity, cancer, immunology, and neurodegeneration. "The burden of infectious disease around the world continues to be high and in many cases growing," said Daniel Skovronsky, Lilly's chief scientific and product officer. "And we think we have the scientific tools now to address them." (Loftus, Wall Street Journal, 5/26)
• Pennsylvania: Cencora has named Eva Boratto as its new CFO, replacing James Cleary, who announced his retirement earlier this year. Boratto will step into the position at the end of June. Most recently, Boratto served as CFO at Bath & Body Works, but she previously held several financial leadership roles at CVS, including CFO for the company's pharmacy benefit manager Caremark. Before joining CVS, Boratto spent more than 20 years at Merck. In a press release, Cencora CEO Robert Mauch highlighted Boratto's "deep healthcare expertise" and "experience leading complex, global finance organizations." Separately, Michael Cherny, an analyst at Leerink Partners, said that the organization sees "the hiring of Eva Boratto as CFO as eliminating an uncertainty for [Cencora], with our next focus being what changes, if any, Boratto brings to the financial forecasting/operating side taking over from long-time successful CFO Jim Cleary." (Parduhn, Healthcare Dive, 5/27)

Discover three key insights on how to effectively deploy blood-based colorectal cancer (CRC) screening to improve patient outcomes and address gaps in CRC screening rates.