Recon: GSK Buys Out Novartis Stake in Consumer Unit for $13B

• GSK Buys Novartis’s Stake in Health-Care Unit for $13 Billion (WSJ) (Axios) (Reuters)
• Gilead Sciences' revenue may be shrinking, but CEO John Milligan just got an 11% raise (Fierce) (Axios) (San Francisco Business Times-$) (Endpoints)
• Aetna to provide pharmacy rebates for some people (Axios) (Bloomberg) (CNBC) (STAT-$)
• Impax settles retailers' antitrust cases over generic drug's delay (Reuters) (Fierce)
• CRISPR Restored: Scientists Reverse Finding That Gene Editing Technology Had Flaws (Forbes)
• AnaptysBio plans phase 2b peanut allergy trial after taking positives from POC data (Fierce) (STAT-$) (Endpoints)
• Gastrointestinal Drugs Advisory Committee and the Pediatric Advisory Committee; Notice of Meeting; Establishment of a Public Docket; Request for Comments (FDA)
• Texas Stem Cell Law Opens Door for Controversial Treatments (The Scientist)
• U.S. jury orders AbbVie to pay $3 million in AndroGel retrial (Reuters) (Law360-$) (Fierce)

• Novartis CEO Aims to Double China Sales on Faster Drug Approvals (Bloomberg) (Business Times)
• Glaxo to Examine Sale of $3.1 Billion India Consumer Unit Stake (Bloomberg) (Hindustan Times)
• China’s biotech pipeline is brimming with PD-1/L1 checkpoints. Are they really needed? (Endpoints)
• China’s Adagene raises $50M to take anticancer antibodies into the clinic (Fierce) (Endpoints)
• Singapore’s Aslan Pharma lines up an $86M IPO to fund pivotal cancer drug studies (Endpoints) (Fierce)
• World leaders have the power to end TB. They must seize the moment (STAT)
• Merck KGaA adopts Medisafe medication adherence tool for patients with chronic conditions (MedCity News)
• Iranian hackers steal academic research worth billions from US universities, private companies (Endpoints) (BioCentury)
• European Medicines Agency closed 29 March to 2 April 2018 (EMA)

• Any potential Alcon decision will be made in first half of 2019, Novartis CEO says (CNBC)
• GSK's $13 Billion Novartis Deal Is Only Just the Start (Bloomberg-$)
• FDA: Many Questions on Novel Opioid Withdrawal Drug (MedPage Today)
• Shkreli To Appeal Fraud Conviction, 7-Year Prison Sentence (Law360-$)
• FDA Center for Drug Evaluation and Research Manual of Policies and Procedures for new drug applications and biologics license applications (FDA)
• Doctors expect enthusiasm for Allergan's high-flying Zeltiq to fade: survey (Fierce)
• Prices for widely prescribed Medicare Part D drugs rose 12 percent annually, but mind the caveat (STAT-$)
• Here’s the slide deck Moderna uses to defend its $7.5 billion valuation (STAT-$)
• The top-performing biotech stock this year has surged on flimsy data (STAT-$)

• Esperion's drug clears study as add-on cholesterol treatment (Reuters) (Fierce)
• Bristol-Myers' Opdivo-Yervoy combo scores again at FDA, this time in colorectal cancer (Fierce) (Press)
• Lies, damn lies and statistics: A Stanford wiz says P<0.05 offers deceptive evidence of biopharmas' drug claims (Endpoints)
• Richard Lehman’s journal reviews (The BMJ)
• CRISPR Adapted to Prevent Unwanted Mutations (GEN) (Science Daily)
• Scrip's Rough Guide To IL-2: Mother Of All Cytokines (Pharma intelligence-$)
• What makes a well-controlled clinical trial? (MassDevice)
• Breckenridge Pharmaceutical, Inc. Announces Final Approval of its ANDA Entecavir tablets (Baraclude) (Press)

• A Brooklyn-based startup that's building cheaper robots to democratize biotech just closed a $10 million funding round (Business Insider)
• Medical Device Co. Must Face Claims In Hip Implant MDL (Law360-$)
• NuVasive Investors Settle Kickback Class Action For $7.9M (Law360-$)
• Gener8tor Launches New Med-Tech Accelerator in Minneapolis (AMERICANINNO)
• Sanofi’s high-capacity insulin pen wins FDA nod (Drug Delivery Business News) (Press)
• Adherium Receives U.S. 510(k) Clearance for Over-the-Counter Sales of its Smartinhaler Sensor (Press)
• Vaica's SimpleMed Digital Health Solution Contributes to 66% Improvement of Medication Adherence Amongst Young Kidney Transplant Recipients in McGill-Led TAKE-IT Clinical Study (Press)
• The Evolving State of Medical Device Cybersecurity (AAMI)
• Laboratory for Advanced Medicine Launches AI-based Cancer Test (BioCentury)

• Comment Request; Guidance for Industry on Compounded Drug Products That Are Essentially Copies of an Approved Drug Product Under Section 503B of the FD&C Act (FDA)
• Antitrust Group Calls For DOJ To Block CVS-Aetna Deal (Law360-$)
• Health, medical groups sue FDA over e-cigarette rule delay (Reuters)
• Medicaid Drug Payment Scrutiny Picking up Steam (2) (Bloomberg)
• McCaskill rips into price hikes for brand prescriptions (Axios)
• Editorial: Stop soaking taxpayers for Medicaid drugs (The Columbus Dispatch)
• Five Takeaways About Cigna's Strategy for Express Scripts (Drug Channels)

• FDA Advisory Committee Calendar

• FP9 proposal almost ready, says Commission’s R&D chief (Research)
• New concept for national scientific advice (Danish Medicines Agency)
• Europe Needs More Patient Capital To Nurture Biotechs (Pharma intelligence-$)
• A new landscape for medical devices (PharmaTimes)

• Shanghai drugmaker Hua hauls in $117M megaround, with plans for hefty Hong Kong IPO (Endpoints) (Press)
• Sanofi’s Keeney On Early-Stage Assets, 'Open Dialogue' With Asian Start-Ups (Pharma intelligence-$)
• AveXis Gene Therapy Awarded SAKIGAKE Designation for Spinal Muscular Atrophy Type 1 (Press)
• Japan Nod Positive For Hemlibra But Shadows Linger (Pharma intelligence-$)
• South Korea confirms foot-and-mouth disease at hog farm (Reuters)
• Roivant snags Chinese rights to Nabriva’s antibiotic in $95M deal (Fierce)

• India’s apex research institute floats a ‘recipe-for-TB patients’ contest (Hindustan Times)
• Whatever Happened to India's National Free Medicines Scheme? (The Wire)
• Charted: India’s shocking attitudes towards mental illness (Quartz)

• Pelvic mesh implants: How tracking vehicle parts is easier than medical devices (ABC News)
• Monash Health moves to eliminate pagers with a 21st century communication tool designed to improve after-hour care (Healthcare IT News Australia)
• First sports 'brain bank' launched (The West Australian)
• New strategy to future-proof nation’s health workforce (The Australian)

• Waning immunity behind the comeback of mumps in Canada (CTV News)
• Valeant Canada Announces Health Canada Approval of CONTRAVE Extended-release Tablets for Chronic Weight Management in Adults (Press)
• The Honourable Ginette Petitpas Taylor, Minister of Health announces new measures to reduce barriers to treatment and $231 M to address the opioid crisis (Health Canada)

• Here’s One Issue Blue and Red States Agree On: Preventing Deaths of Expectant and New Mothers (CNBC)
• Your rubber ducky is probably crawling with bacteria, scientists say (STAT)
• Why Houston and other cities want nothing to do with the massive national opioid lawsuit (STAT)
• Aetna CEO: Warren Buffett's 'tapeworm' analogy fits — health-care costs squeeze the economy for trillions (CNBC)