Recon: NGM's NASH drug fails; Alzheimer's breakthrough?

• U.S. Covid cases hit lowest level since June (CNBC) (NPR)
• Scott Gottlieb says vaccinations are not the only factor driving U.S. Covid cases down (CNBC)
• Passing the Buck: What the CDC Guidance on Masks Gets Wrong About Public Health (Harvard Law blog)
• Covid vaccine passports: Everything we know so far (CNBC)
• White House says no plans to require vaccines for foreign visitors (Reuters)
• New York to open vaccination pop-ups at airports for visitors, locals (The Hill)
• FDA Seizes 37,500 Tons of Kratom in Florida (Pain News Network)
• Biden’s ‘Advanced Research’ Agency May Have Pros And Cons, Congressional Research Service Concludes (Pink Sheet)
• Improving federal R&D policy: My long-read Q&A with Matt Hourihan (AEI)
• Biden administration moves toward making the pandemic work-from-home experiment permanent for many federal workers (WaPo)
• Virtual Reality – FDA and AdComms  (Eye on FDA)

• IMF plan seeks to vaccinate 40% of world’s population this year (Biocentury)
• TGA approves more flexible storage conditions for Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccine (TGA)
• Worst of COVID may be yet to come in Africa (AHCJ)
• Israel to end COVID-19 restrictions after vaccine success (Reuters)
• Factbox: Countries weigh 'mix and match' COVID-19 vaccines (Reuters)
• WHO sets new targets for vaccinating world's poorest to end 'scandalous inequity' (Reuters)
• Mass vaccine centers opening in Japan ahead of Olympics (The Hill)
• Moderna, Novavax to produce more COVID-19 vaccines in S.Korea (Reuters)
• Singapore provisionally approves 60-second COVID-19 breathalyser test (Reuters)

• G-20 Health Accord Shows Split On Waiving COVID IP (Law360)
• WHO: COVID-19 deaths likely two to three times higher than reported (The Hill)
• First Vaccine Data Against Indian Variant (MPT)
• Scientists play catch-up with Covid therapies (Politico)
• In the Race for a Covid-19 Pill, a Little Lab Plays a Big Role (NYT)
• Pfizer begins testing use of pneumococcal vaccine along with COVID-19 booster shot (Reuters)
• He’s a Stanford professor and a Nobel laureate. Critics say he was dangerously misleading on Covid (STAT)
• Good news: Mild COVID-19 induces lasting antibody protection (EurekAlert)
• CDC looking into heart inflammation in some young vaccine recipients (Reuters) (NYT)
• AstraZeneca chief hits back at ‘armchair generals’ after criticism (Guardian)
• Are the Allergic Reactions of COVID-19 Vaccines Caused by mRNA Constructs or Nanocarriers? (PubMed)
• Instead of Vaccine Passports, Let’s Push for Global Justice in Vaccine Access (Hastings Center)

• Signs of a possible breakthrough in Alzheimer's and Parkinson's (Pharmaletter)
• Russian Clinical Trials Weather The COVID-19 Storm (Pink Sheet)
• Stock Watch: Pandemic Lessons For Smaller Commercial Biotechs (Scrip)
• Gamma Biosiences takes majority stake in Mirus Bio (Biopharma)
• After Haven dissolves, JPM goes it alone (MedCity News)
• Eliem raises $60M to take neuro programs to series of data drops (Fierce)
• Boehringer embarks on a PhIII odyssey for a failed Alzheimer's drug — now refocused on schizophrenia (Endpoints)
• BMS follow-up data sees long-term survival for melanoma patients (Pharmafile)
• GlaxoSmithKline's ViiV preps doctors ahead of Cabenuva's patient marketing push (Fierce)
• Fresh Data Pushes Microbiome Pioneer Ferring Closer To Approval Line (Scrip)
• Takeda outlines longterm followup data that it says keep it out of Dengvaxia's shadow (Endpoints)
• New paths for a bispecific road less traveled (Biocentury)
• European Medicines Agency Grants PRIME Designation to Larimar’s Treatment for Friedreich’s Ataxia (Global Genes)
• NGM concedes key failure for their lead NASH drug, closing the door on a pivotal followup (Endpoints)
• Freenome, high-profile liquid biopsy company, quietly replaces its CEO (STAT)
• Genentech oncology exec moves to Guardant to address cancer even earlier through diagnostics (Fierce)
• Almirall Aims To Disrupt Actinic Keratosis Space With Klisyri (Pink Sheet)
• CVS joins the decentralized clinical trials movement with launch of new biz unit (MedCity News)
• Pharmacological treatments for Ehlers-Danlos syndrome (EDS) (Pharmaletter)
• A Hidden Opportunity — Medicaid’s Role in Supporting Equitable Access to Clinical Trials (NEJM)

• Medtronic HeartWare system hit with slew of Class I recalls, device reports since 2012 PMA (MedTech Dive)
• Latest Release of IBM iConnect Access® Provides Foundation for Planned Future 3D Printing Solution (IBM)
• Samsung Biologics to provide fill-finish manufacturing for Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine (Biopharma)
• VitalConnect Adds Mobile Cardiac Telemetry to its Arsenal (MD+DI)
• Docbot CEO highlights how AI can be applied to gastrointestinal image analysis (MedCity News)
• Retinal prostheses: Where to from here? (PubMed)
• Implantable piezoelectric polymer improves controlled release of drugs (EurekAlert)

• Shkreli, Vyera Rip FTC Sanction Bid Over Alleged Phone Wipe (Law360)
• Jurors in Elizabeth Holmes trial can hear some evidence about extravagant lifestyle as Theranos CEO (CNBC)
• ITC To Probe Apple Watches In Portable EKG Patent Row (Law360)
• Zantac Chronicles IV – The Preponderance of Preemption (Drug & Device Law)