The HCPFive: Top News for Healthcare Providers from the Week of 06/15

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 include a pair of US Food and Drug Administration approvals for dupilumab (Dupixent) for the treatment of adult patients living with bullous pemphigoid and lenacapavir (Yeztugo) as pre-exposure prophylaxis (PrEP) to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV, new research on the potential dangers of weight cycling, phase 3 data for supporting fecal microbiota transplantation (FMT) for the treatment of primary Clostridioides difficile infection (CDI), and findings on the growing global prevalence of rheumatoid arthritis (RA).

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 June 15, 2025—let’s jump in!

FDA Approves Dupilumab (Dupixent) for Bullous Pemphigoid in Adult Patients

On June 20, 2025, the FDA approved dupilumab (Dupixent) for the treatment of adult patients living with bullous pemphigoid based on positive clinical trial findings in the ADEPT trial. The decision marks the first targeted therapy to receive approval from the FDA as well as the 8th indication for dupilumab in a disease with underlying type 2 inflammation.

FDA Approves Lenacapavir, First Twice-Yearly HIV Prevention Option

On June 18, 2025, the FDA approved Gilead’s lenacapavir (Yeztugo), an injectable HIV-1 capsid inhibitor, as PrEP to reduce the risk of sexually acquired HIV in adults and adolescents weighing at least 35kg. The decision makes lenacapavir the first twice-yearly option for preventing HIV and significantly improves the treatment burden on patients compared to current daily oral (Gilead's Truvada and Descovy) or bimonthly injectable (GSK's Apretude) options.

Weight Cycling Increases Risk of MASLD, Other Cardiometabolic Diseases

Recent research highlights the potential dangers of going through cycles of weight loss and subsequent regain, known as weight cycling. In the study, weight cycling was found to increase the risk of several cardiometabolic diseases, including heart failure, obstructive sleep apnea, metabolic dysfunction-associated steatotic liver disease (MASLD), and type 2 diabetes, compared with weight stability.

Fecal Microbiota Transplantation Shows Promise for First-Line Primary C Diff Treatment

Recently published phase 3 data suggest FMT may be a viable first-line treatment for primary CDI. The randomized, open-label, noninferiority trial was conducted at 20 hospitals in Norway and found clinical cure and no disease recurrence within 60 days without additional treatment was observed in 66.7% of patients with FMT versus 61.2% with vancomycin, demonstrating FMT’s numerical superiority and statistically significant noninferiority to the standard-of-care antibiotic.

Rheumatoid Arthritis Burden Has Surged Over Last 30 Years

Findings from a large AI-powered study suggest the global RA burden has significantly increased worldwide, additionally revealing local hotspots and a growing trend of RA in younger people. Results showed RA incidence rose by 13.2% from 1990 to 2021, in which it affected 17.9 million people globally, with the affected population growing younger and broader. While the age-standardized death rate fell 32.7% from 1980 to 2021, global DALYs nearly doubled from 1990 to 2021.