Cost Plus Drugs and Louisville, LOUMED, centenarians, clinicians 'n startups + more!

Healthcare through a Kentucky lens. It's niche. But neat!

Author

Andrew Steen
April 28, 2026

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Cost Plus Drugs + CenterWell Pharmacy

On Monday Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company and Humana’s CenterWell Pharmacy confirmed they have formed a partnership.

Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drugs, Humana Partner To Take On Employer Drug Costs

Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company and Humana’s CenterWell Pharmacy confirmed they have formed a partnership “to develop new end-to-end employer prescription solutions.”

Forbes • Bruce Japsen

In March 2024 Lindsey Leake reported that “For his employees, Cuban now uses AffirmedRx, a pass-through PBM…” That may or may not have changed. In any event, AffirmedRx is headquartered in Louisville.

In April 2024 Louisville-based ScionHealth announced they would begin purchasing certain bulk drugs from Mark Cuban’s Cost Plus Drug Company.

If Mark is ever in Louisville he should eat at La Bodeguita De Mima.

LOUMED

If you haven’t already, check out LOUMED’s new website.

Louisville's Medical & Education District | LOUMED

LOUMED is a hub in the heart of Louisville, Kentucky for healthcare, research, & education.

www.louisvillemedicaleducationdistrict.com

Extreme human longevity

Interesting paper. 213 New England Centenarian Study participants.

Metabolomic signatures of extreme old age: findings from the New England Centenarian Study - GeroScience

The New England Centenarian Study (NECS) provides a unique resource for the study of extreme human longevity (EL). To gain insight into biological pathways related to EL, chronological age and survival, we used an untargeted serum metabolomic approach (> 1400 metabolites) in 213 NECS participants, followed by integration of our findings with metabolomic data from four additional studies. Compared to their offspring and matched controls, EL individuals exhibited a distinct metabolic profile characterized by higher levels of primary and secondary bile acids—most notably chenodeoxycholic acid (CDCA) and lithocholic acid (LCA)—lower levels of biliverdin and bilirubin, and stable levels of selected steroids. Notably, elevated levels of both bile acids and steroids were associated with lower mortality. Several metabolites associated with age and survival were inversely associated with metabolite ratios related to NAD+ production and/or levels (tryptophan/kynurenine, cortisone/cortisol), gut bacterial metabolism (ergothioneine/trimethylamine N-oxide, aspartate/quinolinate), and oxidative stress (methionine/methionine sulfoxide), implicating these pathways in aging and/or longevity. We further developed a metabolomic clock predictive of biological age, with age deviations significantly associated with mortality risk. Key metabolites predictive of biological aging, such as taurine and citrate, were not captured by traditional age analyses, pointing to their potential role as biomarkers for healthy aging. These results highlight metabolic pathways that may be targeted to promote metabolic resilience and healthy aging. Graphical abstract

SpringerLink

The centenarian population in the United States increased by 50% from 53,364 in 2010 to 80,139 in 2020, according to the Census Bureau.

How many centenarians reside at facilities owned by an aging-care company headquartered in Louisville? 

Clinicians and startups

Physicians bring critical stewardship to this transformation by launching companies, advising start-ups, and shaping investment decisions; indeed, more than 25% of the 105 health care companies that achieved valuations of more than US$1 billion between 2015 and 2024 had at least one founder who is a clinician.

The Value of Innovation and Venture Exposure during Clinical Training

NEJM Catal Innov Care Deliv 2026;7(5)

catalyst.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/CAT.25.0280

Now, this by David Lortscher:

Well, well, look at this in his data on the “Most Valuable Healthcare Companies.” An MD with a PhD from the University of Louisville School of Medicine. Entertaining.

All this made me think of several things. One is the Bluegrass Biodesign program launched by In K. Kim, MD at UofL.

đź‘‹ Greater Louisville Medical Society.

Alumni Networks

A semi-related tidbit.

“We start by documenting the striking fact that one in three deals in the venture capital market involve a startup founder and a VC partner with a shared alma mater. We show that this is driven by venture capital investors tilting their portfolios toward startups from their alma mater, rather than by factors such as colocation or top schools’ tendency to produce both entrepreneurs and VC investors.”

Alumni Networks in Venture Capital Financing | Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis | Cambridge Core

Alumni Networks in Venture Capital Financing

Cambridge Core

Prior Authorization

This is a really worthwhile read.

Prior Authorization: I Killed It Once. They Brought It Back. Now the Data Shows Why.

A former health plan CMO followed the money — and the numbers are worse than the industry wants you to know.

Archelle Georgiou