Recon: Moderna ends development of CMV vaccine; ICER finds launch prices for drugs ‘significantly’ higher than inflation

• Is Your Medication Made in a Contaminated Factory? The FDA Won’t Tell You. (Pro Publica)
• US could have saved $1.5 billion on costs with drug pricing linked to benchmark, says research firm (Reuters)
• Launch prices for new drugs ‘significantly’ exceed inflation and offer insufficient value, analysis says (STAT) (ICER)
• Drugmakers push to break ground after Trump's 100% tariff threat (Endpoints)
• New IVF Policies Bring Hope — and Moral Questions (Bloomberg)

• Merck KGaA to end API work at Irish plant after ‘strategic portfolio review’ (Endpoints)
• Novo Nordisk Boardroom Clean-Out Is Rare Case of Director Accountability (Bloomberg)
• Staar Surgical adjourns vote on acquisition by Alcon (Reuters)
• Roche’s Quarterly Sales Drop as Major Drugs Miss Estimates (Bloomberg) (Reuters)
• The NHS Tech Revolution Isn't All Hype (Bloomberg)

• Tear down the wall between neurology and psychiatry (STAT)
• Moderna says key study of its CMV vaccine, expected to be its next big win, failed (STAT) (Reuters)
• Despite a tough year, Moderna forges ahead with cancer therapies (STAT)
• Alkermes enters sleep medicine market with $2.1 billion Avadel deal (Reuters)
• Anthropic’s biology head talks ‘Claude for Life Sciences’ (STAT)
• West Pharma boosts annual profit forecast on strong demand for its drug components (Reuters)
• How to tease out what’s causation and what’s just correlation (STAT)
• Time is running out for Anavex and its treatment for Alzheimer’s disease (STAT)
• Are recent strides in neurology R&D enough to make it a hot M&A target? (Endpoints)
• Alector shares plunge after dementia drug fails to slow disease progression (Reuters)
• Tango to advance pancreatic cancer drug into Phase 3, raises $225M (Endpoints)
• Arcturus’ stock halved after mixed results of mRNA cystic fibrosis therapy, Covid-19 vaccine delay (Endpoints)
• Lonza expects more CDMO contracts; Galderma's $650M US commitment (Endpoints)
• Icon warns of macro environment headwinds as Medpace maintains revenue momentum (Endpoints)
• Ventyx's stock soars on cardiovascular data for NLRP3 drug (Endpoints)
• Micro-Doses of $200,000 Cancer Drugs Help Patients for Less (Bloomberg)

• Duke data scientist launches startup to help hospitals adopt AI (STAT)
• European oncology experts roll out guidance for use of large language models in clinical care (STAT)
• Hemorrhage can be a serious problem after pregnancy. Here’s how one medtech founder is tackling it (MedTech Dive)
• Intuitive Surgical Leverages da Vinci 5 Upgrade Cycle To Expand Portfolio With Refurbished Xi (MedTech Insight)

• Your Protein Powder Isn’t Poisoning You (Bloomberg)
• Food industry prepares to fight MAHA in states (Food Dive)

•  YouTuber ‘Doctor Mike’ thinks medicine needs a better social media strategy (STAT)
• Anti-science bills hit statehouses, stripping away public health protections built over a century (STAT)
• The cost of health insurance for a family jumps to $27,000 (STAT)
• UnitedHealth’s Optum Unit Gets Second New CFO in Six Months (Bloomberg)
• Top RFK aide lashes out against healthcare industry for profiting off of illness (MedTech Dive)