Recon: Prasad to leave FDA after renewed controversy; Novo sheds lawsuits, forges pact with Hims for Wegovy, Ozempic

• Novo Nordisk, Hims reach deal to end bitter dispute over Wegovy sales (STAT)
• Vinay Prasad to exit FDA again, following latest round of controversy (Endpoints)
• 5 lessons from Vinay Prasad’s turbulent tenure at the FDA (STAT)
• FDA Plans to Loosen Testing Rules to Boost Biosimilar Drugs (Bloomberg)
• Incyte becomes third company to receive CRL over issues at Novo Indiana factory (Endpoints)
• Democrats press 11 pharmas for 'any evidence' their Trump pricing deals deliver savings for Medicaid (Fierce Pharma)

• Lonza sells capsule and health ingredients unit to UK's Lone Star for $2.2B upfront (Endpoints)
• Japan Grants Global-First Approval To Merck’s Islatravir/Doravirine HIV Combo (Pink Sheet)
• Parexel Execs On Trials In War Zones, Biotech ‘Green Shoots’, China Action And DCT Rework (Pink Sheet)
• Sanofi sells generics unit to Brazil's EMS (Fierce Pharma)
• Taiwan earmarks $755M for multi-year drug supply resilience program (Fierce Pharma)
• Pfizer breaks into obesity market in China with approval for Sciwind-partnered GLP-1 (Fierce Pharma)

• Xenon Pharmaceuticals’ seizure drug shows strong efficacy in late-stage trial (STAT)
• As controversial decisions mount, FDA shuns public advisory meetings (STAT)
• Talkspace to be acquired for $835 million by mental health services giant (STAT)
• Updated: Roche’s big-hope breast cancer drug fails in crucial first-line trial (Endpoints)
• GSK licenses pill for liver disease itch to Alfasigma for $300M upfront (Endpoints)
• Exclusive: RNA editing startup Tacit Therapeutics launches with $19M for brain diseases (Endpoints)
• Servier to buy Day One for $2.5B, gaining rare oncology medicines (Endpoints)
• Agilent to acquire Biocare Medical in $950 million all-cash deal (Reuters)
• Safety signals prompt Ipsen to withdraw cancer med Tazverik (Fierce Pharma)
• Super Bowl, Olympics defined TV drug ad spending in February (Fierce Pharma)

• STAT Plus:Health tech company says it will dive into Medicare’s new chronic care experiment (STAT)
• Roche chairman still expects diagnostics hit from US tariffs (Reuters)
• Medtronic’s MiniMed goes public for $560M (MedTech Dive)
• Science Corporation raises $230M for Prima vision restoration device (MedTech Dive)
• Deals Shaping The Medtech And Diagnostics Industries, February 2026 (MedTech Insight)

• 5-year study reveals aspects of food safety in California’s Salad Bowl (Food Safety News)
• FDA warns Arkansas and Colorado egg farms about Salmonella findings and missing prevention plans (Food Safety News)

• After UnitedHealth moved in, Oregon sought to rein in corporate health care. Now, it’s facing an early test (STAT)
• Blue Cross Blue Shield says data back up claim that AI is driving up medical bills (STAT)
• The Dark Side of PREA . . . . But is There a Way to Churn the Cream Into Butter and Crawl Out? Catch Me If You Can! (FDA Law Blog)