STAT+: Pharmalittle: We’re reading about a GSK shingles shot, U.S. employers dropping GLP-1 coverage, and more

About 14% of U.S. employers have already dropped or plan to drop GLP-1 drug coverage in 2027, driven by rising health care costs, according to a Business Group on Health survey cited by Reuters. Two-thirds of employers reported rising use of the medicines, while the share covering GLP-1 weight loss drugs fell from 72% in 2025 to 60% in 2026. Pharmacy costs now make up 25% of employer health care spending and are expected to rise 12% in 2027, unchanged from the prior year. PepsiCo is among the companies dropping coverage, per Bloomberg News.

Separately, the number of people working in Massachusetts' biotech sector fell last year for the first time since at least 2002, The Boston Globe reports. The state's biopharma workforce shrank by about 3,600 employees in 2025, to a total of 113,503, a 3.1% decline from 2024, according to the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council's annual industry snapshot. Industry headwinds and uncertainty about federal research funding were cited as contributing factors.