Recon: Novo to offer discount Wegovy subscription for self-pay US consumers; Lilly to acquire Centessa in deal worth up to $7.8B

Welcome to Regulatory Reconnaissance, your regulatory news and intelligence briefing.

In Focus: US

• Novo Nordisk to launch discounted Wegovy subscriptions for self-pay patients in US (Reuters)
• Health care jobs growth is stagnating at the biggest for-profit firms (STAT)
• How the next CDC director can win back America’s trust (STAT)
• White House overtures to pharma on new pricing talks met with frosty reception (Endpoints)
• Biogen gets FDA approval for higher dose of genetic disorder drug (Reuters)

In Focus: International

• Lilly seals up to $7.8 billion deal for Centessa in sleep disorder bet (Reuters) (Endpoints)
• Drugmakers delay some European launches with a wary eye on Trump's pricing policies (Reuters)
• Doctors Without Borders calls Gilead ‘unconscionable’ for refusing to sell HIV prevention drug to organization (STAT)
• Biotech VCs move upstream in China’s scientific pipelines as competition grows fiercer (STAT)
• A Look Behind Japan’s ‘Lost Decade’ Of HPV Vaccination (Pink Sheet)
• Regulatory Hold For China’s Most Advanced Domestic Semaglutide Biosimilar Over ‘Data Protection’ (Pink Sheet)
• Companies Face New EMA Data Demands For Critical Medicines (Pink Sheet)

Pharma & Biotech

• Over-the-top psychedelic promos could undermine the field’s drug development efforts (STAT)
• United plots Tyvaso FDA filing after ph. 3 win elicits talk of 'new IPF standard' and blockbuster sales (Fierce Pharma)
• Jimini Health raises funding for AI chatbot targeting complex mental health care (STAT)
• Pharma giant Takeda to lay off nearly 250 workers in latest job cutting (STAT)
• Biogen to acquire Apellis for $5.6B (Endpoints)
• PepGen’s muscle disease program posts poor mid-stage results as one patient's data get markedly worse (Endpoints)
• Exclusive: ViiV R&D head Kimberly Smith heads to retirement after three decades in HIV care (Endpoints)
• Exclusive: First clinical trial of tRNA therapy, a new disease-agnostic form of genetic medicine, will start soon (Endpoints)
• Exclusive: In promising early readout, Enveda shows Dupixent-rivaling potential in atopic dermatitis (Endpoints)
• Merck touts comparator data for oral cholesterol drug (Endpoints)
• Viridian sinks as eye disease drug disappoints on efficacy despite trial success (Reuters)
• Idorsia eyes pediatric insomnia use with midstage trial win for sleep med Quviviq (Fierce Pharma)

Medtech

• Former CMS Top Official Says Brain-Computer Interface Development Outpaces CMS Coverage (MedTech Insight)
• Whoop Raises $575 Million at a $10 Billion Valuation on Its Way to an IPO (Bloomberg)

Food & Nutrition

• Unilever's $40 Billion Food Sale Augurs a More Beautiful Future (Bloomberg)
• RFK Jr. Takes His Eat-Real-Food Campaign to Hospital Trays (Bloomberg)

Government, Regulatory & Legal

• HSA companies struck it big in Trump’s tax bill. They’re lobbying for more (STAT)
• US FDA’s April User Fee Goals Give Biologics Center A Chance To Shift 2026 Narrative (Pink Sheet)
• 340B Providers Expect US Medicare Payment Cuts In 2027 Amid Payment Pilot Questions (Pink Sheet)
• BMS, Novartis, Gilead, Iovance dinged over biologics promos in rare spate of CBER untitled letters (Fierce Pharma)

Regulatory Recon is our regular intelligence briefing for the regulatory affairs space, bringing you the top regulatory, biopharma and medtech news stories from around the globe. Regulatory Recon is published each week on Monday, Tuesday and Thursday.

A story’s inclusion in Regulatory Recon does not imply endorsement by Regulatory Focus or RAPS.