Recon: GSK acquires Sierra for $1.9B to boost drug pipeline; ICER says $2.1M price for Bluebird’s gene therapy is cost effective

• McKinsey Opened a Door in Its Firewall Between Pharma Clients and Regulators (NYT) (Endpoints) (House committee report)
• Pfizer's Bourla: COVID vaccines for new variants possible for Fall (Reuters)
• U.S. Extends Covid Health Emergency Declaration as Cases Rise (Bloomberg)
• CDC Panel to Meet April 20 on Covid-19 Boosters, Vote Possible (Bloomberg)
• US FDA Biosimilar Review Information Requests Should Come Earlier, With Longer Response Times (The Pink Sheet)
• US FDA Grants RMAT Requests At Similar Rate To Breakthrough Designations (The Pink Sheet)
• Manchin, Warren Push for Over-the-Counter Opioid Reversal Drugs (Bloomberg)
• Medicare’s Alzheimer’s Drug Plan Falls Short on Diversity Access (Bloomberg)
• How a pharma company bought 2 accelerated approvals — never ran confirmatory trials — and cashed in until FDA said stop (Endpoints)
• A $2.1 million price tag for Bluebird Bio’s gene therapy is cost-effective, analysis finds (STAT)
• Pfizer's new CFO David Denton to get $1.25 mln as annual base salary (Reuters)
• What happened to all the 'good' drug names? Inside the modern day dilemma of Rx naming (Endpoints)

• GSK inks $1.9B Sierra takeover as $3M bet on Gilead castoff turns into blockbuster buyout (Fierce) (STAT) (Endpoints) (Reuters)
• Bayer, GSK, Novartis and Roche jumpstart biomarker cancer organization to drive tests for all (Endpoints)
• Repurposing Initiatives Proposed To Unlock ‘Untapped Potential’ In Europe (The Pink Sheet)
• UK Regulator To Overhaul Conflict Of Interest Rules (The Pink Sheet)
• Pioneering UK Payment Model For Incentivizing Antibiotic Development Meets Major Milestone (The Pink Sheet)

• Nearly 86% of US COVID caused by BA.2 Omicron subvariant -CDC (Reuters)
• No relaxation of COVID measures for China, says President Xi (Reuters)
• Covid vaccines didn’t work for many cancer patients — but researchers are designing a new shot for them (STAT)
• New Omicron Sublineages Discovered by S. African Scientists (Bloomberg)
• STD rates remained high during the first year of the pandemic (Washington Post)

• CDR-Life Life Raises $76m To Develop Next-Generation T-Cell Engagers (Scrip)
• In bid to remake itself after pancreatic cancer flop, Halozyme acquires Antares and its drug delivery tech for $960M (Endpoints)
• AstraZeneca’s oncology R&D chief Susan Galbraith highlights their next-gen prospects at #AACR22 (Endpoints)
• Boehringer Ingelheim enters collaboration on hearing loss treatment for up to USD 100m (Medwatch) (Endpoints)
• Bristol Myers Squibb Foundation unites with Gilead to boost diversity among clinical trial investigators (Fierce)
• Abzena commits chunk of new $65M investment to build out in hot North Carolina scene (Endpoints)
• Trying not one, but a three-drug combination to help engineered T cells fight cancer (STAT)
• Incentives to spur repurposing of existing generics for novel uses would open a new paradigm in drug R&D (STAT)

• FDA approves Boston Scientific’s 3D visualization software to program neurostim devices (Fierce)
• Abbott, Intuitive and J&J start medtech earnings season against a turbulent backdrop (MedTech Dive)
• Mirvie mRNA study predicts premature births two months in advance (Fierce)

• Fresenius GC Says He Was Canned For Flagging Misconduct (Law360)
• Seagen’s $42 Million Patent Verdict at Risk With Agency Review (Bloomberg)
• GSK Zofran Suits Should be Revived, Groups Tell Appeals Court (Bloomberg)
• Mapping The Top Trials To Know In The Opioid Litigation Wave (Law360)
• As antitrust case wraps, Martin Shkreli's lawyers say they're owed $2M+ in unpaid legal fees (Endpoints)