Recon: BARDA awards new firm $350M for domestic drug production; FDA approves Tecentric for first-line therapy for some lung cancers

• Trump says big announcements made and coming on therapeutics, vaccines (Reuters)
• Trump to Tap New Company to Make Covid-19 Drugs in the US (NYTimes) (Reuters)
• Politics could dictate who gets a coronavirus vaccine (Politico)
• Trump says he is taking hydroxychloroquine despite FDA warning (Reuters)
• CDC plans sweeping COVID-19 antibody study in 25 metropolitan areas (Reuters)
• Roche's Tecentriq wins FDA approval as first-line therapy for some lung cancer forms (Reuters) (Endpoints) (Press) (FDA)
• Alexion becomes latest company to face pressure to sell from activist investor (STAT)

• US-China Feud Over Coronavirus Erupts at World Health Assembly (Reuters)
• US backs pandemic resolution at WHO but rejects patent wording (Reuters) (Financial Times)
• International pandemic cooperation a 'no brainer': EU Commission chief (Reuters)
• Germany, France Propose $543 Billion EU Coronavirus Recovery Fund (NPR)
• Russia hopes to start COVID-19 vaccine trials soon - health minister (Reuters)
• AstraZeneca in talks with other governments to replicate UK vaccine deal (Reuters)
• UK ventilator consortium says scaling up in case of COVID-19 second spike (Reuters)
• Novartis wins conditional EU approval for gene therapy Zolgensma (Reuters) (Press)

• Another Set of Coronavirus Vaccine Candidates (In the Pipeline)
• Criticism of the Oxford Coronavirus Vaccine (In the Pipeline)
• Preclinical data suggest Oxford vaccine could reduce COVID-19 symptoms, won’t provide herd immunity (BioCentury)
• T cells play a role in fighting coronavirus; COVID-19 affects children differently (Reuters)
• ‘Hard stop’: States could lose National Guard virus workers (Politico)
• South Africa BCG booster trials seek low-cost weapon against COVID-19 (Reuters)
• U.S. to send Russia 200 ventilators as Russian coronavirus cases near 300,000 (Reuters)
• Verily seeks to establish new COVID-19 'Baseline' with coronavirus antibody research project (Fierce)

• Moderna carries a big-boy market valuation now, so it shouldn’t act like a biotech penny stock (STAT)
• Despite skepticism, Gilead’s remdesivir could become a ‘multi-year commercial opportunity’ (STAT)
• WuXi Biologics clinches deal to build first US facility at Boston area hub (Fierce)
• Kintor Pharmaceuticals completes $240 million IPO; WuXi Biologics is opening a Boston plant (Endpoints)
• Two years in, Hong Kong’s biotech experiment has been validated (Endpoints)
• 'Tis the season for biopharma fundraising, as Cowen closes $493M fund (Endpoints)
• How a California biotech briefly tripled its value by hyping a Covid-19 ‘cure’ (Endpoints)
• With bucks from Pfizer added to their new round, Amplyx steers a tricky course through PhII and a global pandemic (Endpoints)
• Pandemic-related vaccination drop raises concern about US measles outbreak (Reuters) (CDC)
• Martin Mackay’s rare disease startup gets $145 million as it enters the clinic (Endpoints)
• Roche’s James Sabry zeroes in on a new pathway for protein degradation — and he’s paying $135M cash for a hot ticket (Endpoints)
• EMA Strengthens Breast Cancer Risk Info For Menopause HRT Medicines (Pink Sheet)
• ‘Can You Hear Me?’ US FDA Begins Meeting Virtually (Pink Sheet)
• Virtual Advisory Committees Pose Technical And Practical Challenges For US FDA, Sponsors (Pink Sheet)
• Novartis taps Iya Khalil, physicist co-founder of GNS Healthcare, to lead AI Innovation Center (Endpoints)

• Knee replacements nearly halted as hospitals braced for COVID-19, new data show (MedtechDive)
• Ventilators can save people with serious Covid-19. The people behind them are even more important (STAT)
• Edwards secures CE mark for Pascal tricuspid valve repair device (MedtechDive)
• Investors bet diabetes tech immune to full brunt of COVID-19 (MedtechDive)
• Philips lung ultrasound, Beckman sepsis diagnostic receive BARDA coronavirus backing (MedtechDive)
• Medtronic's Melody, Harmony transcatheter pulmonary valves show gains in congenital heart disease (Fierce)
• Zebra Medical Vision wins FDA clearance for AI to predict osteoporosis (MassDevice)
• Class 1 Device Recall StealthStation DBS Software Nexframe AutoRegistration (FDA)

• Essential work to combat the COVID-19 pandemic to continue during EMA's closure from 21 to 22 May 2020 (EMA)
• COVID-19: It’s a Threat. And It’s Material (FDA Law Blog)
• German Lab Accused Of Illegally Selling Tick Test Kits In US (Law360)
• USPTO Announces COVID-19 Prioritized Examination Pilot Program (Patent Docs)
• Dr. Reddy's $9M Deal Gets Nod In Quality Control Suit (Law360)
• Regulation of stem cell treatments: information for practitioners (TGA)