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Signals Monthly: July 2026
First CKM syndrome guidelines released, CMS released CY27 ESRD PPS, ACCESS model launches, Fresenius launches $200M+ venture fund, and much more
So much for a slowdown in July. Signals is your monthly digest of the news, research, and people shaping kidney health. Subscribe below to get it in your inbox. This month also marks three years of writing Signals, now read regularly by 20K+ people across 68 countries and counting. Thank you for being part of it, more to come this week.
Top Stories
AHA, ACC, ASN, and ADA released the first clinical guidelines for cardio-kidney-metabolic (CKM) syndrome, formalizing a four-stage system (0-4) that ties obesity, diabetes, CKD, and cardiovascular risk together, with PREVENT risk equations and earlier eGFR/UACR testing at the center. Read more →
In IgA nephropathy news, Novartis's iptacopan (Fabhalta) won full FDA approval and Vera's atacicept (Trutakna) won accelerated approval, marking two major regulatory wins in the same indication within weeks of each other. See tracker →
CMS released the CY2027 Physician Fee Schedule July 14, which the RPA said “essentially breaks even” for nephrology. It’s worth noting proposed changes to remote monitoring, practice expenses, E/M add-ons, and comment solicitations on primary care and data collection. Read more →
Policy & Payment
CMS’s CY2027 ESRD PPS proposed rule would raise the dialysis base rate to $299.55, about +1.1% to facilities, and includes increases to home dialysis training as well as technical changes to TDAPA payment calculations. Read more →
NKF, alongside the American Kidney Fund, ASN, and ASPN, urged OMB to rescind its proposed rule on federal financial assistance regulations. Kidney disease research already receives just $19 per patient in federal funding, versus $423 for cancer and $2,745 for HIV/AIDS. Read more →
CMS’s ACCESS model officially launched July 5, kicking off a 10-year shift to outcome-based payment for cardio-kidney-metabolic conditions, with nearly 200 organizations in the first cohort. Read more →
Dexcom was selected as the first participant in FDA's new TEMPO pilot program, which will test an AI-powered glucose health program combining G7 and Stelo data for earlier prediabetes and type 2 diabetes screening. Read more →
Industry & Deals
FDA granted accelerated approval to Vera’s atacicept (TRUTAKNA) for IgA nephropathy, the first dual BAFF/APRIL inhibitor approved for IgAN, based on a 46% reduction in proteinuria. Read more →
Novartis’s Fabhalta received full FDA approval for IgA nephropathy (July 16), converting its 2023 accelerated approval into a traditional nod after phase 3 data showed statistically significant eGFR preservation over two years. Read more →
Kyoto-based Rege Nephro raised ~$10.6M to advance RN-014, its lead candidate for autosomal dominant polycystic kidney disease (ADPKD), toward commercialization. Read more →
Fresenius launched Fresenius Ventures, a €200M+ corporate VC fund targeting precision nutrition, microbiome research, and digital care. Read more →
Fresenius Medical Care announced BEACON-US, generating real-world evidence on high-volume hemodiafiltration for US dialysis patients. Read more →
Nipro cleared FDA for its ELISIO-HX dialyzer, bringing expanded hemodialysis (HDs) to the US. Read more →
Research & Data
A Nature study found frontier general-purpose LLMs outperformed specialized clinical AI tools like OpenEvidence and UpToDate Expert AI across medical knowledge, clinician alignment, and real-world clinical query benchmarks. (H/t Mark Sendak) Read more →
JASN research from NYU Langone found that of 720,000+ patients referred for kidney transplant, only 48% started evaluation and 19% reached the waitlist. (H/t Conor Donnelly) Read more →
A recent Nature study found an engineered IL-2 mutein (mIL-2) promotes long-term transplant tolerance in mice by selectively expanding ST2+ regulatory T cells, improving allograft survival while reducing dependence on conventional immunosuppression. (H/t Leo Riella) Read more →
New AJKD Core Curriculum reviews reproductive health across CKD, dialysis, and transplantation, noting up to 6% of women of childbearing age are affected by CKD. (H/t Silvi Shah) Read more →
A new review examines dialysis and transplant challenges in CKM syndrome patients, covering cardiovascular instability on hemodialysis, metabolic complications on PD, and elevated post-transplant cardiovascular risk. (H/t Amir Abdipour) Read more →
This issue is made possible by Nsight Health. An Optum matched-cohort analysis found that high-risk Medicare patients in Nsight's clinically managed Remote Patient Monitoring (RPM) and Chronic Care Management (CCM) programs saw directionally lower first-year medical spending growth than matched controls, with estimated total medical savings of roughly $2,500 to $3,000 per member per year across hypertension, diabetes, and CKD. All six economic comparisons favored Nsight. Download the Optum economic study white paper for the full findings.
Community
IgA Nephropathy Foundation hosted SPARK 2026 last week, bringing the IgAN patient, caregiver, and research communities together. (H/t Bonnie Schneider) Read more →
NKF hosted the 2nd Richard Slayman Clinical Xenotransplantation Workshop (July 16), bringing together transplant leaders, including NYU Langone's Robert Montgomery, to discuss the future of pig kidney transplants. (H/t Heather Murphy) Read more →
HEAR-ALPORT launched, a University of Birmingham-led international project developing the first patient-reported outcome measures for Alport-related hearing loss, ahead of a global recruitment push in the coming months. (H/t Dr. Peipert) Read more →
NKF’s KDOQI released a US commentary on the KDIGO 2024 lupus nephritis guideline, covering newer therapies including belimumab, voclosporin, and obinutuzumab. (H/t Sayna Norouzi) Read more →
Upcoming events: GlomCon (Hawaii, this week), Rare KD Drug Development Summit (Boston, Aug 18-20), RPA Advocacy & Innovation Weekend (DC, Sep 25-26), ASN Kidney Week (Denver, Oct 21-25)
Open roles: Chief Scientific Officer at Travere Therapeutics, Director of Population Health Impact at Aledade, Director of Clinical Support Services at Monogram Health, Nephrology MSL (Western US) at Veloxis, and Field Reimbursement Manager at Vertex. Find dozens more on Signals Jobs here.
NEW
From Signals Group
ICYMI. We released our midyear 2026 kidney VBC update, published a rare & genetic kidney disease drug tracker, and hosted a conversation on antibody-mediated rejection in kidney transplant and why new tools and therapies may finally change the odds on long-term survival.
This month. The Signals Member Network launches Monday 8/3, with 130+ founding members already on board, giving access to the datasets and intel behind our trackers.
Housekeeping. We're testing a shorter format this month. What did you think? Let us know what you think in the comments.