Attendees at the Cannes Lions International Festival of Creativity test out Samsung’s virtual reality headsets in June. 


1. Sharecare will acquire BioLucid, a developer of virtual-reality technology used to improve patient engagement and bolster medical-education efforts. The digital health company announced the acquisition this morning at Advertising Week in New York. In other Advertising Week news, health-tech firm iBeat announced that Dr. Mehmet Oz, the celebrity physician, has invested in the company and been named a special advisor.

2. Novo Nordisk cut 1,000 jobs to reduce costs, a decision that it said stems from ongoing pricing pressure from payers in the U.S. The cuts will affect people in R&D and commercial positions, as well as staff at the company’s corporate headquarters. (Reuters)  

3. The FDA approved Medtronic’s automated insulin pump, which is designed to remove some of the guesswork for blood-sugar control for patients with Type 1 diabetes. The device is considered a step forward in the effort to develop an artificial pancreas. (WSJ)

4. Verily, the health business of Alphabet, Google’s parent company, is developing a health-tracking watch. A Verily executive described it as a cardiac and activity monitor. (MIT Technology Review)

5. A poll conducted by Politico and Harvard University found that 70% of Americans blamed drugmakers for rising healthcare costs. The poll surveyed both Democrats and Republicans. (Politico)