Recon: FDA career staff say political pressure is affecting their jobs; Supreme Court rejects bid to weigh in on FDA stem cell regulation

• Inside FDA, career staffers describe how political pressure is influencing their work (STAT)
• The long history of euphemisms around the use of animals in lab research (STAT)
• New US COVID guidance makes getting a shot harder (Reuters)
• Trump's Tylenol claims limit M&A options for parent company Kenvue (Reuters)
• Supreme Court passes on fight over FDA stem cell regulation (Endpoints)
• FDA delays decision on Denali drug; Astellas’ Vyloy fails mid-stage pancreatic cancer trial (Endpoints)

• India's Tamil Nadu cancels licence of cough syrup-maker linked to child deaths (Reuters)
• US biotech Nabla Bio, Japan's Takeda expand AI drug design partnership (Reuters)
• EU Decision Time For Insmed’s Brensocatib & Sanofi’s Belumosudil (Pink Sheet)
• UK MHRA Tells Device Users To Get Ready For Registration Fee Uplift (MedTech Insight)

• Kailera Therapeutics, an obesity drug startup, raises $600 million (STAT)
• BioCryst deepens rare diseases focus with $700 million deal for Astria (Reuters)
• US FDA Eager To Advance Oncology Registries (Pink Sheet)
• Ethics Reviews A Sticking Point For EU Clinical Trials, Says Shionogi Policy Expert (Pink Sheet) 
• Shah Capital pushes for Novavax's sale on persistent underperformance, marketing missteps (Reuters)
• Q&A with Nobel winner Fred Ramsdell on basic research in biotech, and the future of cell therapy (Endpoints)
• A gene therapy pioneer reckons with the reality for ultra-rare diseases (Endpoints)
• Exclusive: Bristol Myers, insitro extend research deal to find a drug for new ALS target (Endpoints)
• Obesity biotech Kailera gets $600M to start Phase 3 this year (Endpoints)
• Lila Sciences closes $350M Series A for its AI-doing-science vision (Endpoints)
• Kardigan raises $254M to test cardio drugs from Sanofi, BMS and Ionis (Endpoints)
• Virtual digestive care startup Cylinder Health adds evidence to its approach of treating GI symptoms (Endpoints)

• Lyra launches ‘clinical-grade’ chatbot amid growing concern about mental health and AI (STAT)
• J&J to spin off orthopedics business, sees 2026 sales growth of over 5% (Reuters)
• Current Opportunities and Challenges in RWE and its Future with AI (FDA Law Blog)
• Cybersecurity triggers another recall of J&J’s Impella heart pump controller (MedTech Dive)

• CDC team running top survey on health and nutrition is laid off (STAT)
• California becomes first state to ban ultraprocessed foods in schools (Food Dive)

• The Health-Care Debate That’s Driving the Shutdown (Again) (Bloomberg)
• How Much Are Drug Companies Exposed To US Government Programs? (Pink Sheet)