Recon: CVS launches biosimilar subsidiary Cordavis; White House set to identify initial 10 drugs for Medicare negotiations

• Mid-year drug price hikes are back despite Inflation Reduction Act (STAT)
• White House to name first 10 drugs for Medicare negotiations early (Politico)
• US FDA taps EPA veteran James Jones to oversee food division after formula crisis (Reuters) (FDA)
• Mallinckrodt Lenders to Take Control in Bankruptcy That Cuts $1 Billion in Opioid Payments (The Wall Street Journal)
• Drug makers already bet big on mRNA for cancer. Why is Biden going in, too? (STAT) (Endpoints)
• A move to cut drug prices has patients with rare diseases worried (CBS News)
• CVS launches unit to market and co-produce biosimilar medicines (Reuters)
• Cigna removes pre-authorization requirement for 25% of medical services (Reuters)
• FDA advisory committee will meet next month to discuss Intarcia's diabetes drug (Endpoints)
• US FDA’s New Regulatory Affairs Head Should Be ‘Highly Technically Competent’ But ‘Splendid On The Human Side,’ Califf Says (Pink Sheet)

• UK pumps £13M into wide-ranging group of manufacturing projects (Fierce Pharma)
• High demand, low supplies for Novo's weight-loss drug launch in Germany (Reuters)
• Indian Immunologicals targets dengue vaccine launch by Jan 2026 (Reuters)
• J&J Cuts R&D at Netherlands Infectious Disease, Vaccine Unit (BioSpace)
• Amryt’s Filsuvez Wins English Funding For Butterfly Skin Disease, Sanofi’s Dupixent Rejected In New Indication (Pink Sheet)
• Australian HTA Review: Sponsors Attack Use Of Cheap Comparators, Want More Streamlined Procedures (Pink Sheet)
• Three Remain Liable On UK Liothyronine Price Abuse – But Fines Slimmed On Appeal (Pink Sheet)
• UK Aims To Identify Gaps In Current Landscape For Patient Involvement In Trial Design (Pink Sheet)

• What past blockbusters can tell us about future of Wegovy and other weight loss medicines (STAT)
• The Last Lyme Shot Failed. Can a New One Succeed? (Bloomberg)
• AbbVie drops two early-stage ADCs, including Pfizer-partnered oncology program (Endpoints)
• KRAS latecomer Roche draws cautious comparisons to Amgen, Mirati in early data (Endpoints)
• Royalty Pharma pays Ferring $300M for 5% royalty on sales of cancer gene therapy Adstiladrin (Endpoints)
• SPAC merger falls through between Wilbur Ross' blank check company and Alzheimer's player (Endpoints)
• In PhIII data, Eli Lilly’s Retevmo meets primary endpoint of improving progression-free survival (Endpoints)
• Bristol Myers touts early social and environmental progress among achievements in latest ESG report (Endpoints)
• After high-profile snub, Akebia plots vadadustat resubmission at FDA (Fierce Pharma)
• Cellares unveils $255M investment round with Bristol Myers among those in the fold (Fierce Pharma)
• Horizon pips Roche to rare disease reputation crown as Pfizer falls off the leaderboard (Fierce Pharma)
• Nestle Health Science nabs Meta, Pfizer veteran for chief marketing role (Fierce Pharma)
• Gilead shows how $100M COMPASS Initiative is changing direction of the HIV epidemic (Fierce Pharma)
• Geron’s Imetelstat Headed To US FDA Advisory Committee For MDS (Pink Sheet)
• US FDA’s External Controls Guidance Should Include Hybrid Designs, Experts Say (Pink Sheet)

• FDA panel votes against high blood pressure device from Medtronic, but lends support to ReCor Medical’s (STAT) (Reuters)
• Wearables, Sensors, and Apps Part 1 – Updates on FDA’s PDUFA VII Goals for the Use of Digital Health Technologies in Drug and Biological Product Development (FDA Law Blog)

• Vivek Ramaswamy’s brashness made waves in the Republican debate. He did the same in biotech (STAT)
• Ron DeSantis wants to import drugs from Canada. Biden’s FDA just blasted his plan (STAT)
• Abortion policy in the spotlight, DeSantis’ importation showdown, and new price hike analysis (STAT)
• US says stolen COVID relief funds seized so far top $1.4 billion (Reuters)
• GSK asks US patent office to refuse Moderna’s ‘Covid Mvax’ trademark registration as 'too generic' (Endpoints)