The HCPFive: Top News for Healthcare Providers from the Week of 04/06

Welcome to The HCPFive, your go-to roundup for the latest healthcare news and breakthroughs, curated specifically for busy healthcare professionals.

Each week, we highlight 5 key developments or headlines from healthcare that you need to know—whether it's a cutting-edge treatment, regulatory updates, or innovations shaping the future of medicine. This week's top stories included new insights into artificial intelligence (AI) use in virtual care, a US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) update on a treatment for vision loss, a study examining disparities in pediatric kidney transplants, a clearance for a next-gen glucose monitoring system, and promising results from a psoriasis treatment trial.

With The HCPFive, you'll get the essential takeaways to stay informed and ahead of the curve. Here’s your quick dive into the top stories for the week of April 6, 2025—let’s jump in!

Interested in oncology news? Check out The OncFive, from our sister publication OncLive.

Cedars-Sinai Study Finds AI Tool Could Improve Care in Virtual Urgent Care Settings

A new study from Cedars-Sinai found the use of artificial intelligence in virtual visits could improve decision-making and adherence to guideline-directed care in virtual urgent care settings. Recommendations from AI tools were more often rated as of better quality when AI and physicians differed, particularly in identifying opportunities to support guideline-adherent care. However, physicians were better at adapting recommendations to changing information during consultations.

FDA Accepts Biologics License Application for ONS-5010 for Wet AMD

The FDA accepted Outlook Therapeutics' resubmitted Biologics License Application (BLA) for ONS-5010 for the treatment of wet age-related macular degeneration. The regulatory agency has flagged the BLA as a Class 2 review, setting a Prescription Drug User Fee Act (PDUFA) target goal date of August 27, 2025, for the ophthalmic form of bevacizumab.

Socioeconomic Status Impacts Pediatric Preemptive Kidney Transplant Rates, Study Finds

Guidelines from Kidney Disease: Improving Global Outcomes (KDIGO) recommend preemptive transplantation for all children with advanced chronic kidney disease. In 2021, only a quarter of children with incident ESKD received a preemptive transplant in the United States.

Leveraging data for kidney transplant recipients at the University of Minnesota, a recent retrospective study found lower socioeconomic index quartiles were linked to significantly reduced odds of preemptive transplantation.

FDA Clears Dexcom G7 15 Day CGM System

The FDA awarded clearance to the Dexcom G7 15-day continuous glucose monitoring (CGM) system for individuals aged 18 years and older with diabetes. Building on the well-established Dexcom CGM platform, Dexcom’s G7 now boasts 15.5 days of wear and best-in-class accuracy with a mean absolute relative difference (MARD) of 8.0%.

Icotrokinra Clears Skin Among 75% of Adolescents with Plaque Psoriasis

A subgroup analysis of the Phase 3 ICONIC-LEAD randomized controlled trial found adolescents with moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis treated with once-daily icotrokinra (JNJ-2113) attained higher rates of clear or almost clear skin at 16 weeks, compared with placebo. Icotrokinra demonstrated a favorable safety profile, achieving lower rates of adverse events (50% vs. 73%) than placebo, with no new safety signals reported.