Recon: Canada authorizes J&J COVID vaccine; FDA cautions on fever scanner accuracy

• Woodcock Interview on COVID-19 Tests and Vaccines (NPR)
• What to look for in Lilly’s eagerly awaited Alzheimer’s data (STAT)
• Abbott's test to distinguish coronavirus and flu viruses gets US authorization (Reuters)
• FDA approves Roche’s Actemra/RoActemra treatment for rare lung disease (Pharmafile)
• San Diego Zoo apes get an experimental animal vaccine against coronavirus. (NYTimes)
• Popular Drug Does Not Alleviate Mild Covid-19 Symptoms, Study Finds (NYTimes)
• FDA's inspection woes to grow if agency doesn't address COVID-19 backlog: GAO (Fierce)
• Pfizer's trouble-prone McPherson plant — now ramping up vaccine supplies — was cited for continuing violations in early 2020 (Endpoints)
• Those fever scanners that everyone is using to fight covid can be wildly inaccurate, researchers find (Washington Post) (FDA)
• Senate starts debate on Biden's $1.9 trillion COVID-19 aid proposal (Reuters)

• Canada approves J&J's COVID-19 vaccine, says benefits outweigh risks (Reuters) (The Hill) (Health Canada)
• Australia asks EU to review block of AstraZeneca vaccine (Reuters) (NPR)
• Britain tells EU: Vaccine export restrictions endanger COVID fight (Reuters)
• EU regulator advises on use of Lilly's COVID-19 antibody cocktail (Reuters)
• Largest Vaccine Maker Warns of Delays as US Prioritizes Pfizer (Bloomberg) (Economic Times)
• Oxford study indicates AstraZeneca effective against Brazil variant, source says (Reuters)
• Sinovac vaccine may not trigger sufficient antibody response to Brazil variant: study (Reuters)
• China to develop vaccines against major infectious diseases -2021-2025 plan (Reuters)
• South Korea approves Pfizer covid-19 vaccine: drug safety ministry (Reuters)
• Drugmaker Takeda asks Japan for Moderna COVID-19 shot approval (Reuters)
• WHO sees Ebola risk as "very high" for Guinea's neighbours (Reuters)

• WHO chief: waive Covid vaccine patents to put world on 'war footing' (The Guardian)
• Some Scientists Question W.H.O. Inquiry Into the Coronavirus Pandemic’s Origins (NYTimes)
• WHO Investigators to Scrap Plans for Interim Report on Probe of Covid-19 Origins (WSJ)
• US in talks with allies to counter China's vaccine diplomacy (The Hill)
• NIH stops trial of Brii's COVID-19 antibodies in hospitalized patients for futility (Fierce)
• Apellis stops COVID-19 program after missing mortality endpoint (Fierce)
• UK COVID-19 trial finds no benefit of gout drug in hospitalised adults (Reuters)
• France could block vaccine shipments, similar to Italy: Veran (Reuters)
• Germany has so far had no reason to stop vaccine shipments: health minister (Reuters)
• Brazil in talks for 63 million Moderna COVID-19 shots by Jan 2022: document (Reuters)
• China's COVID-19 vaccine production capacity may cover 40% of population by mid-2021: disease control head (Reuters)
• Italy's Lazio region asks government to consider producing Sputnik V COVID-19 vaccine (Reuters)
• Iraq signs deal to receive Russia's Sputnik V vaccine (Reuters)
• Pakistan health workers hesitate over Sinopharm vaccine, poll says (Reuters)
• Denmark to give AstraZeneca vaccine to over-65s (Reuters)
• Rwanda becomes first African nation to use Pfizer COVID-19 vaccine (Reuters)
• South Africa in African Union talks on COVID-19 shots for 10 million people (Reuters)
• S.Africa regulator says at advanced stage of Pfizer vaccine review (Reuters)

• Ecuador grants compulsory license over HIV drug raltegravir (KEI)
• European Off-Patent Industry Decries Price Cuts And Clawbacks (Pink Sheet)
• Roche is gearing up to knock down an Irish plant—and it's complicated (Fierce)
• MHLW Announces New Drug Prices for 1st Off-Year Revision in April (PharmaJapan)
• Biogen cements gene therapy ambitions with $200M factory in Research Triangle (Fierce)
• AbbVie offloads UK site for $119M in sale to Chinese cell and gene therapy player Pharmaron (Endpoints)
• Patient-Focused Drug Development, Complex Trial Design May Not Get More Funding In PDUFA VII (Pink Sheet)
• Orphan Drug Spending: Could Sequence Of Indications Offer Pricing Policy Solution? (Pink Sheet)
• Pfizer, Bayer to Pull Plug on “G1” Products with High Generic Erosions (PharmaJapan)
• India To Scrap Intellectual Property Appellate Board: Should Pharma Worry? (Pink Sheet)
• A year into Sanofi's revamp, CEO Paul Hudson collects €11.34M in 2020 pay—including that signing bonus (Fierce)
• Seagen warns investors against TRC Capital’s latest 'mini-tender offer'; BeiGene goes after a new indication for top PD-1 player (Endpoints)
• Not 3 weeks after taking Humacyte public, Rajiv Shukla launches another blank check company (Endpoints)
• Genentech gains clinical development exec by appointing Lilli Petruzzelli; Paul Sekhri caps eventful week, naming Sapna Srivastava CFO of eGenesis (Endpoints)
• An Array co-founder re-emerges as CEO of a small academic spinout, looking to remake an old class of cancer drugs (Endpoints)

• J&J loses appeal in Australian pelvic mesh class action (Reuters)
• Meetings of MDCG and subgroups – 2021 (EC)
• Agilent to pick up cancer blood tester Resolution Bio in $695M deal (Fierce)
• Germany approves new digital mental health app for prescription (mobihealthnews)

• New legislation to support medicine substitutions (TGA)
• FDA Seeks Win In Suit Over Compounded Drug Agreements (Law360)
• DOJ's 'Troubling' Theory Gains Walmart Allies In Opioid Case (Law360)
• Physician and patients may prefer brand-name drugs, but they cost Medicare Part D a lot of money (STAT)
• 'Pharma Bro' Shkreli Hit With 1st Private Antitrust Suit (Law360) (Pink Sheet)
• Endo to Rework $3.3 Billion Loan as Opioid Litigation Looms (Bloomberg)
• Germ-X Maker Beats Hand Sanitizer False Ad Suit, For Now (Law360)
• Marlboro maker Altria asks FDA to spread the word that nicotine doesn’t cause cancer (CNBC)