Recon: Lawmakers ask FTC for PBM merger review

• Sienna Biopharma sinks after acne treatment fails two trials (Reuters) (Endpoints)
• Our bipartisan bill will force drug companies to justify 'drastic' price hikes (CNBC)
• Johnson & Johnson Adds Zarbee’s Naturals to Consumer Brands (WSJ)
• CNN Exclusive: Bayer paid doctors millions for questionable birth control device (CNN)
• Lawmakers ask FTC for retrospective review of PBM mergers (Fierce) (Law360-$) (Bloomberg-$)
• RedHill sees positive results for anti-MAP Crohn's drug (PharmaTimes) (Fierce) (Reuters)
• Gottlieb teases guidance on continuous trials, touts surrogate endpoints (BioPharma Dive) (Endpoints)

• Indivior rival granted emergency appeal in opioid treatment patent case (Financial Times) (The
• Telegraph UK) (Reuters)
• Takeda signs antibody therapy deal with HiFiBiO (PharmaTimes) (Fierce)
• Faulty Vaccine Scandal Fuels Rare Public Outburst in China (NYT)
• China Human Vaccine Scare Wipes $483 Million From Pig Drug Stock (Bloomberg)
• China tells medical institutions to stop using Huahai heart drug (Reuters)
• EU Court Tries, But Fails, To Clarify Rules On GMOs And CRISPR (Forbes)
• UN global declaration on TB faces last-minute objections over access to medicines (STAT-$)
• Other countries are getting a 'free ride' on prescription drug prices, says former pharma exec (CNBC)

• Meet the Rebate, the New Villain of High Drug Prices (NYT)
• Amgen Loses Ruling Over Teva, Amneal’s Versions of Sensipar (Bloomberg-$)
• Senators Push Bipartisan Effort to List Drug Prices in Ads (Bloomberg-$)
• California Court of Appeal Rejects Challenge to Vaccine Law (Bill of Health)
• Big Pharma Would Like Your DNA (The Atlantic)
• Ex-Insys Execs Say Feds' Bid To Redo RICO Case Is Futile (Law360-$)
• Gilead Sciences’ board is looking for a new CEO. Here’s a list of possible contenders (STAT-$)
• At PillPack, a lot of credit goes to the father of invention (The Boston Globe)
• Ex-Biogen manager claims she was fired after filing integrity complaint (Fierce)
• Lilly firms up cancer collaboration with Dana-Farber (Fierce)
• Freshly funded IFM Therapeutics defines emerging target for fighting inflammatory disease (Fierce)
• Big Pharma analyst Tim Anderson drops off the radar at Bernstein, headed to a new research home (Endpoints)
• Would AbbVie’s top execs really pull the trigger on a $30B M&A deal? Why, yes, actually (Endpoints)
• Twenty States Passed 37 Bills to Curb Rising Rx Drug Costs in the Short 2018 Legislative Session (NASHP)
• Ranier’s Rx Laboratory Issues Voluntary Recall of All Sterile Compounded Products Within Expiry Due to Lack of Sterility Concerns (FDA)
• Immunomedics Announces Multiple Clinical and Preclinical Collaborations With Prominent Cancer Research Institutions (Press)

• Constrained peptides’ time to shine? (Nature)
• FDA declines to approve Insys Therapeutic's opioid painkiller (Reuters)
• Shingrix vaccine makes shingles less severe, disruptive to quality of life (Reuters)
• Why the Latest Alzheimer’s Drug Study Has So Many People Confused (Fortune)
• Alzheimer’s study sparks a new round of debate over the amyloid hypothesis (STAT)
• Richard Lehman’s journal reviews—30 July 2018 (The BMJ Opinion)
• As it fights looming competition on Suboxone, Indivior gets FDA OK on new schizophrenia drug (Endpoints) (Press)
• US FDA's Regulatory Flexibility To Be Tested As Delcath Overhauls Melphalan Trial Design (Scrip-$)
• Advaxis Announces FDA Allowance of IND Application for ADXS-HOT Drug Candidate for Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer (Press)
• Nektar Therapeutics Announces New Drug Application for NKTR-181 Accepted for Review by FDA (Press)

• Votes against medical device taxes show irresponsibility has a broad constituency (The Washington Post)
• Bayer hits back at new Netflix medical device documentary (Reuters)
• "We are Guinea pigs": Filmmakers on the risks of medical devices (CBS News)
• What the Netflix Documentary ‘Bleeding Edge’ Gets Right About the Dangers of Medical Devices in America (TIME)
• New Documentary Film Is Scathing Indictment Of FDA's Regulation Of Medical Devices (Forbes)
• Health Tech Co. Escapes 2 Derivative Suits Post-Settlement (Law360-$)
• Hologic wins $5m from Minerva Surgical in patent infringement spat (MassDevice)
• J&J seeks retraction of paper critical of Pinnacle hip study (MassDevice)
• Abbott's FreeStyle Libre 14 Day Flash Glucose Monitoring System Now Approved in U.S. (Press)
• CIVCO Partner Adaptiiv Receives FDA 510(k) Clearance to Market 3D Bolus Software (Press)
• Physio-Control Receives Premarket Approval From the FDA On Its Full Portfolio of LIFEPAK Professional Devices (Press)

• FDA’s Appropriation for FY 19: Upsides and Downsides (Alliance for a Stronger FDA)
• FDA Publishes New Field Alert Reporting Draft Guidance (FDA Law Blog)
• Durbin Presses Senate To Support Bipartisan Amendments Requiring Drug Companies To Disclose Prices In Direct-To-Consumer Advertising (US Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin)
• The Stealth Campaign to Kill Off Obamacare (NYT)
• Timing for Senate Opioids Package Still Unclear (Bloomberg-$)
• Study: ‘Medicare for all’ projected to cost $32.6 trillion (AP News)
• Later this year you'll be able to get a futuristic medical check-up at Mount Sinai — we got an early peek (CNBC)
• Wisconsin Must Pay for Transitional Surgeries of Two Transgender Medicaid Recipients, Federal Judge Rules (Fortune)
• Curtailing Medicaid’s transportation benefit is ‘penny-wise and pound-foolish’ (STAT)
• VCs are pouring money into digital health. Are they making smart bets? (STAT-$)
• Brady Statement on HHS, CMS Proposals to Combat Opioid Crisis (House Ways and Means)

• FDA Advisory Committee Calendar

• EU ruling could change the way gene-editing technology is regulated (EU Policies)
• Startup aims to use AI to spot connections in published research (Fierce)
• Nanobiotix inks $47m financing to support nanomedicine development (DDBN)
• Workshop with stakeholders on support to quality development in early access approaches (i.e. PRIME, Breakthrough Therapies) (EMA)
• Class 3 Medicines Recall: Sodium Cromoglicate eye drops and Murine Hayfever Relief eye drops (MDR 072-05/17) (MHRA)
• Field Safety Notice - 23 to 27 July 2018 (MHRA)

• Japan scientists to use 'reprogrammed' stem cells to fight Parkinson's (Reuters)
• Singapore Data Breach Could Damage Banks’ Health (Bloomberg)
• No Profit? No Problem. Another Billionaire Rises in China (Bloomberg)
• Wockhardt builds $40M plant in Dubai to produce ‘superbug’ fighters (Fierce)
• Clinical Innovations expands into China with new subsidiary (Fierce)
• Roche Diagnostics Korea launches digital pathology device (Korea Biomedical Review)

• Dr Reddy’s Laboratories: Boosted by launches (The Hindu Business Line)
• How lack of medical history online is killing healthcare in India (Livemint)
• Gujarat could get medical devices park ICMR DG (Times of India)
• Nod for Aurobindo Pharma to make, market Bivalirudin injection (Economic Times)
• India launches Viral Hepatitis Control Program as domestic drugmakers challenge patents (The Pharma Letter-$)

• Compliance and education for listed medicines (TGA)
• Australian government adds hepatitis and diabetes drugs to reimbursement scheme (The Pharma Letter-$)
• Australia's healthcare system saved my life (The Sydney morning Herald)
• Poor and elderly Australians let down by ailing primary health system (The Conversation)

• Montreal’s public health director backs Toronto health authorities’ call for drug decriminalization (The Canadian Press)

•  When Medicines Affect a Child’s Mind and Behavior (NYT)
• Don’t panic if you’re put on a waiting list for the new shingles vaccine (The Washington Post)
• Fuel For Mommy Shaming: Breastfeeding And Alcohol Study Deeply Misleading (Forbes)
• Get an Amazon Gift Card for Helping Fight a Critical Blood Shortage (Fortune)
• He turns color into a precision tool to untangle the ‘dance of molecules’ (STAT)