Recon: J&J buys experimental eczema drug from Numab for $1.25B; Asahi Kasei to acquire Calliditas in $1.1B deal

• In light of H5N1 outbreak, U.S. in talks with mRNA vaccine makers on bird flu (STAT)
• J&J makes another I&I acquisition with $1.25B deal for Numab's Yellow Jersey (Endpoints) (Reuters)
• The top 20 drugs by worldwide sales in 2023 (Fierce Pharma)
• FDA follows Form 483 to Indian drugmaker Laurus Synthesis with a 2nd rebuke (Fierce Pharma)
• More than a third of healthcare organizations aren’t prepared for cyberattacks: report (MedTech Dive)
• Musk's Neuralink seeks to enroll three patients in brain implant study (Reuters)
• Sen. Paul Leads Effort To Halt FDA’s LDT Final Rule (MedTech Insight)

• Japanese conglomerate to buy Calliditas Therapeutics, maker of a kidney disease drug (STAT)
• Western states push for deal on pandemic response rules at WHO meeting (Reuters)
• The world needs the new pandemic treaty (STAT)
• EU’s Future Regulatory Priorities Will Soon Be Solidified So Medtech Must Engage Now (MedTech Insight)
• France Consults On Best Practice Guidelines For Decentralized Trials (MedTech Insight)
• Industry Applauds AUD18.8m Funding For Australia’s ‘One Stop Shop’ For Clinical Trials (MedTech Insight)

• Weight-loss drug forecasts jump to $150 billion as supply grows (Reuters)
• Airway disease drug from Insmed succeeds in one of the year’s most anticipated trials (STAT)
• Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug from Nippon Shinyaku fails in rare confirmatory trial (STAT)
• Gene therapies for deafness dredge up an old question: Do deaf people want a ‘cure’? (STAT)
• Merus drug, with immunotherapy, boosts tumor response in patients with head and neck cancer (STAT)
• NewAmsterdam says former Amgen cardio drug reduces heart disease risk factor (Endpoints)
• Joe Panetta to step down as Biocom California CEO (Endpoints)
• After 14 years calling partnering shots at Genentech/Roche, James Sabry is headed back into the biotech fray (Endpoints)
• Second engineered B cell therapy enters the clinic, promising to do in hemophilia B what gene therapies can't (Endpoints)
• Agios sells rights to glioma drug to Royalty Pharma; Cargo’s $110M placement (Endpoints)
• Takeda to lay off 640 workers in Massachusetts as part of multiyear overhaul (Endpoints)
• Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug flunks Phase 3 confirmatory trial (Endpoints)
• Corrected: AstraZeneca, Daiichi Sankyo’s TROP2 ADC boosts survival in Phase 3 lung cancer subgroup (Endpoints)
• Novartis rides IgAN trioka to 2 trial wins in rare kidney diseases (Fierce Pharma)

• Achieving telehealth equity for people with hearing loss (STAT)
• JPA Health continues expansion with acquisition of medical comms agency BioCentric (Fierce Pharma)
• J&J’s Nisha Johnson on Ethizia wound-sealing patch, biosurgery market (MedTech Dive)
• New products take center stage in medtech’s latest earnings season (MedTech Dive)

• Dark money group runs ads on China biotech bill (STAT)
• At Las Vegas conference, methadone clinics blast idea of doctors prescribing directly (STAT)
• Explainer: What does Louisiana's new abortion pill law mean for patients? (Reuters)