Recon: Boston Scientific to Buy BTG for £3.3B; MHRA Head Hudson to Step Down in 2019

• PhRMA funnels millions to addiction group with close ties (Politico)
• Sanders unveils aggressive new bill targeting drug prices (The Hill)
• As power shifts hands in Washington, a top analyst predicts an unavoidable war over rising drug prices (Endpoints)
• Consumer group says most US cancer centers use misleading ads (NBC)
• US court allows generic version of Indivior opioid abuse drug (Reuters)
• FDA approves first treatment specifically for patients with rare and life-threatening type of immune disease (FDA) (Press)
• Pharma companies put faith in AI for breakthroughs (Financial Times)
• Trial spotlights US drug safety concerns at compounding pharmacies (Reuters) (MassDevice) (Law360-$)
• Opioid Industry Fights Efforts to Make It Pay for Crisis (WSJ)
• LEO Pharma inks $760M rare skin disease R&D deal with PellePharm (Fierce) (Endpoints)
• Roivant takes aim at resistant infections with $667.5M Intron deal (Fierce)
• Student borrowers with cancer can now pause their payments (CNBC)
• Palantir and Merck KGaA form venture to mine health care data (STAT) (Endpoints)
• FDA opts to nail down REMS plan for Sage’s landmark postpartum depression drug, delays final decision (Endpoints)

• Boston Scientific to buy rattlesnake bite drug group BTG for £3.3bn (Financial Times) (PMLive)
• UK medicines agency head to step down in 2019, as Brexit looms (Reuters)
• Emergent-Valneva Zika vaccine clears early trial (Reuters)
• EU’s Innovative Medicines Initiative brings collaborative power to development of drugs (Financial Times)
• Big pharma 'failing to develop urgent drugs for poorest countries' (The Guardian) (Reuters) (Endpoints) (Report)
• India High Court quashes Abbott’s plea to stall CCI probe into alleged cartelization (Economic Times)
• Major proxy firms advise investors to approve Shire-Takeda deal (Financial Times) (Endpoints)
• French Launch Fast-Track Clinical Trial Approval Scheme (Pink Sheet-$)
• Eli Lilly's Emgality cleared for treatment of migraine in Europe (Pharmafile)
• Greece eyes pot of gold as medicinal cannabis licensed (Reuters)

• Enlivex to merge with BioBlast, bagging Nasdaq listing (Fierce) (Endpoints)
• FDA extends decision date for Sage’s postpartum depression injection (Drug Delivery)
• Will We Ever Cure Alzheimer’s? (NYTimes)
• Is Amarin’s Fish-Oil-Derived Drug A Historic Breakthrough Or Not? It’s Complicated (Forbes)
• Lilly's Robert Brown to lead Brickell Bio as it eyes phase 3 dermatology trials (Fierce)
• New Report Shows Global Link Between Pro-Innovation Policies and Biotech Advances (BIO)
• Scientists are trying to create a contraceptive that stops sperm in its tracks (STAT)
• FDA Reports Growing Use Of Process Modeling Tools To Support Continuous Manufacturing (Pink Sheet-$)
• Gene Therapy Guidance From US FDA Likely Needs Updating Sooner Rather Than Later (Pink Sheet-$)
• US FDA Launches Study Of Prescriber Perceptions About Abuse-Deterrent Opioids (Pink Sheet-$)
• Pain Therapeutics Appeals Remoxy CRL In Likely Last Ditch Effort To Save Abuse-Deterrent Opioid (Pink Sheet-$)

• GSK files Nucala for wider paediatric use (PharmaTimes)
• Stallergenes Greer’s dust mite allergy drug clears pivotal study, edges closer to approval (Endpoints) (Press)
• Ipsen and 3BP announce First Patient Dosed in Phase I/II study for first-in-class radionuclide (IPN01087) (Press)
• Allergan Announces FDA Acceptance of Supplemental New Drug Application for AVYCAZ® (ceftazidime and avibactam) (Press)

• Medtronic’s Q2 results top estimates despite profit slide (MassDevice) (Press)
• Mazor Robotics shareholders OK $1.6B Medtronic merger (MassDevice)
• Is Your 510(k) Device a Combination Product? (FDA Law Blog)
• Philips wins CE Mark for V60 Plus high flow ventilator (MassDevice)
• Abbott Nabs Approvals for DRG Invisible Trial System (MDDI)
• Avenu Medical wins CMS reimbursement for Ellipsys dialysis device (MassDevice)
• RTI Surgical wins coverage nod for Simmetry implant (MassDevice)

• House Democrats target DOJ decision not to defend Obamacare (Reuters)
• Florida's opioid lawsuit against CVS and Walgreens takes aim at distributors with deep pockets (CNBC)
• CVS now expects Aetna acquisition to close after Thanksgiving (CNBC)
• The health care venture from Amazon, Berkshire and JP Morgan just hired its first female exec, and she comes from a big insurance company (CNBC)
• Free Mallinckrodt Drugs Risk Kickback Fines, Watchdog Says (Law360-$)
• Delivery dilemma for medical marijuana (Financial Times)
• FWP IP ApS v. Biogen MA, Inc. (Fed. Cir. 2018) (Patent Docs)
• Another Nationwide Class Action Bites the Dust Under BMS (Drug & Device Law)

• FDA Advisory Committee Calendar

• China’s Alphamab raises $100M in Series A financing from US, Asian investors (MedCity)
• Roche and Ascletis partner to sell Pegasys in China (PharmaLetter-$)
• China’s NMPA approves Vemlidy for chronic hepatitis B (PharmaLetter-$)
• Invivoscribe Submits FLT3 Mutation Assay CDx to Japanese Regulators (GenomeWeb)

• Health Ministry's move to revise GMP norms could be delayed as stakeholders yet to submit response (PharmaBiz)

• Memorandum of Understanding between Philips Electronics Australia and the Therapeutic Goods Administration (TGA)

• A Prescription For What Costs $117 Billion A Year And 10 Percent Of Premature Deaths In America (Forbes)