Former Theranos CEO Elizabeth Holmes won’t have to report to prison this week after a last-minute reprieve. The mother of two had been ordered to begin serving her 11-year stint on April 27. (New York Post)
Walmart’s senior leaders must face investor litigation over the retail giant’s alleged role in fueling the nationwide opioid epidemic, a Delaware judge ruled. The allegations make it plausible Walmart board members knew the company was violating drug trafficking laws “and allowed it to happen, meaning they consciously condoned illegality.” (Bloomberg)
RNA startup Orbital Therapeutics raised $270 million in Series A funding from more than a dozen investors, including ARCH and Newpath Partners. Orbital plans to develop RNA-based therapies, though it hasn’t disclosed what diseases it will seek to treat. (STAT News)
The European Union published the largest proposed overhaul of its pharma industry in 20 years. The overhaul would seek to remove differences in drug access and prices between countries, but pharma companies have already expressed concern that reforms could negatively impact innovation. (Reuters)
Kaiser Permanente announced plans to acquire Geisinger Health in its efforts to create a new company that will run several nonprofit community health systems under one umbrella. Kaiser chairman and chief executive Greg Adams said the goal is to take Kaiser’s “value-based care platform and extend that to these leading health systems.” (The New York Times)
