A film festival focused on rare diseases, the cancer drug pricing firestorm, smartphones now detect jaundice and other interesting reads from this week.

General

FDA approval of a “living drug” heralds a new era in cancer care. Link

The cancer drug pricing firestorm. Link

Gilead’s expanding portfolio of expensive drugs. Link

Pharma leads profitable second quarter for health care. Link

Peter Thiel funds ‘unethical’ offshore herpes vaccine trial. Link

A 'party drug' just crossed a major hurdle on the path to being legal medicine. Link

Why a Chinese internet giant is plowing tens of millions into American health tech start-ups. Link

The quest to modernize snakebite medicine. Link

Digital Health

This VR game may help neuroscientists test dementia. Link

Smartphones now detect jaundice. Link

Research

KYOCERA begins research in AI-based image recognition to tackle skin cancer. Link

Online game challenges players to design on/off switch for CRISPR. Link

Perspective and Opinions

Innovative drugs deserve innovative pricing. Link

Under pressure: A day in the grueling life of a pharma representative in India. Link

The problems with direct to consumer genetic testing companies. Link

Interesting

A film festival focused on rare diseases. Link

10 biotech firms on the forefront of anti-aging. Link

Startups of the Week

SynAgile

SynAgile focuses on developing and commercializing transformative therapeutics using its proprietary OraFuse oral dosing technology, with an initial focus on treating debilitating motor complications in patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Shuidi

Shuidi is a China-based crowdfunding platform within Tencent's WeChat mobile app that helps finance medical bills.

Likarda

Likarda is a biotech research laboratory focused on advancing diabetes treatments for dogs and cat.

Access Vascular

Access Vascular is developing the HydroPICC, a peripherally inserted central catheter that has been shown in lab testing to reduce the accumulation of platelets and in turn, the risk of thrombosis.

Have a wonderful weekend!