GoKawiil
Tech News
Novo Nordisk, the Danish pharmaceutical company known for Ozempic and Wegovy, is rebranding itself as simply 'Novo' starting this week. The move shifts the company's public identity toward a shorter, more casual name as it markets directly to consumers rather than solely to healthcare providers.
Thatch, a startup that lets employers give workers a fixed healthcare budget to shop individual insurance plans, raised $108 million at a $1 billion valuation. That figure is more than double its $410 million valuation from 17 months ago, driven by roughly sevenfold growth in annual recurring revenue. The company uses an employer-funded model, recently rebranded CHOICE, that lets employees pick from various health, dental and vision plans and keep unused funds for other medical costs.
Health benefits startup Thatch has raised $108 million in new funding at a $1 billion valuation, backed by existing investors including Andreessen Horowitz, General Catalyst, Index Ventures, and The General Partnership. The round comes just 17 months after Thatch was valued at $410 million, with CEO Chris Ellis saying annual recurring revenue grew roughly sevenfold in that span.
Researchers at the University of Pennsylvania used AI to analyze over 400,000 Reddit posts from nearly 70,000 users discussing GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, Wegovy, Mounjaro and Zepbound. The analysis, published in Nature Health, surfaced patient-reported symptoms—particularly menstrual changes and temperature issues like chills and hot flashes—that appear underrepresented in clinical trials and regulatory data. The team stresses this doesn't prove the drugs cause these effects, but flags them as signals worth further study.
The Guardian gathered reader accounts describing how GLP-1 drugs like Wegovy, Ozempic and Mounjaro have reshaped family dynamics, with many users hiding their use out of shame. Several described feeling they had 'cheated' at weight loss, straining relationships with partners, children and friends who didn't know about the medication.
A growing number of children and teenagers with obesity or type 2 diabetes are being prescribed GLP-1 medications, drugs originally developed for adults. Physicians and researchers say long-term safety and developmental effects of these treatments in younger patients remain largely unstudied.
Chinese pharmaceutical companies, once known mainly for producing cheap generic medicines, are now developing original obesity and weight-loss drugs aimed at competing with Western blockbusters like Ozempic and Wegovy. Several firms are advancing candidates through clinical trials and striking licensing deals with major international drugmakers.
Researchers at Westlake University built an AI-based 'virtual cell model' trained on over 38 million protein measurements from breast cancer cell lines, most of them triple-negative. Tested on real patient biopsies, the model successfully identified which drugs would be effective against individual tumours, matching actual clinical outcomes. The findings, published in Nature, mark the first time such a virtual cell model has moved from lab experiments to clinical testing.
Researchers are redesigning drug molecules and delivery systems so a single injection or implant can maintain therapeutic effects for weeks, months, or even years instead of requiring daily dosing. Techniques include chemical modifications that slow drug breakdown, polymer depots, and implantable devices that release medication gradually over extended periods.
Researchers at the University of Minnesota, led by surgeon Daniel Saltzman, have developed a therapy using genetically modified Salmonella Typhimurium bacteria to carry interleukin-2, an immune-stimulating molecule, straight into tumours. Pancreatic cancer patient John Heller received the experimental treatment after starting chemotherapy for advanced disease, illustrating an early real-world test of the approach.
A Nature feature surveys six novel approaches under development for delivering drugs more precisely and effectively, ranging from advanced nanoparticle carriers to devices designed to target specific tissues. These innovations aim to overcome longstanding challenges such as poor bioavailability, degradation before reaching target sites, and off-target side effects.
Researchers publishing in Nature on September 2 found that older female mice given a GLP-1 obesity drug lived longer than untreated mice and showed slower onset of several biological markers linked to aging. The finding builds on earlier mouse studies suggesting GLP-1 medications, typically used for obesity and type 2 diabetes, may have broader anti-aging effects beyond weight loss.