Recon: Patent office sides with Merck in fight over injectable Keytruda; Sarepta picks up platform technology designation for gene therapy vector

• Merck gets lift from U.S. patent office in battle over injectable form of Keytruda (STAT)
• FDA’s AI tool, Elsa, is here. ‘The stupidest big fuss they ever made’ (STAT)
• Rewriting of Covid vaccine recommendations has doctors and other experts worried (STAT)
• CDC official resigns from COVID vaccine committee advisory role, sources say (Reuters)
• Internal document shows how UnitedHealth executives prepared to tamp down investor unrest (STAT)
• This Isn’t How You ‘Restore Gold Standard’ Science (Bloomberg)
• Ex-HHS workers accuse Trump administration of using flawed data to issue firings (Endpoints)
• US Health Secretary Kennedy looks to fast-tracking approvals for rare disease drugs (Reuters)

• Cullinan's deal for T cell engager from China; Kardigan buys late-stage heart drug (Endpoints)
• Surge in new opioids and designer drugs threatens Europe, EU drug agency warns (Reuters)
• Italy's Chiesi Group plans acquisitions to boost sales to 6 billion euros by 2030 (Reuters)
• A cautious culture cost Novo Nordisk its lead in the obesity drug race, former employees say (STAT)

• A cautious culture cost Novo Nordisk its lead in the obesity drug race, former employees say (STAT)
• MoonLake Immunotherapeutics is for sale? This sounds like a cry for help (STAT)
• Regenxbio’s Gene Therapy Helps Kids with Deadly Muscle Disease (Bloomberg)
• How Covid Can Break Blood Vessels and Clog Arteries (Bloomberg)
• In a first, Sarepta announces platform technology designation for gene therapy vector (Endpoints) (Press Release)
• Exclusive: Tech VC Amplify raises $200M for first biotech fund, hires Elliot Hershberg as new partner (Endpoints)
• Allay reaches $57.5M Series D milestone for post-surgical pain drug (Endpoints)
• After cutting most staff, Casma eyes path to clinic with its first autophagy-boosting drug (Endpoints)
• Fujfilm, Coherus among slew of recent biopharma rebrands (Fierce Pharma)

• These blood tests for cancer are increasingly popular. Experts still aren’t sure how best to use them (STAT)
• 23andMe’s DNA Data Soars in Value With New $305 Million Bid (Bloomberg)
• Digital health startup Virta stakes fees on curbing GLP-1 prescriptions (Endpoints)

• FAO Leaders Call for Science as Shared Language Ahead of World Food Safety Day (Food Safety)
• FDA elevates tomato recall to highest risk level over potential salmonella contamination (ABC News)

• Exclusive: OpenEvidence’s new JAMA deal & Medicare’s DC tech party (STAT)
• US Health-Care Policy Makes Deals ‘Incredibly Hard’, Advent Says (Bloomberg)
• Ex-Amazon employees are betting their new venture changes online shopping for healthcare (Endpoints)
• Ending U.S.-global health research partnerships will cost America (STAT)
• 10.9 million people would lose health insurance under Trump’s tax cut bill, CBO projects (STAT)
• Do you remember the Human Genome Project? I’m not sure the Trump administration wants you to (STAT)
• Dismantling CDC’s chronic disease center ‘looks pretty devastating’ to public health experts (STAT)
• Humana to back curbs to Medicare Advantage billing practices, WSJ reports (Reuters)