Recon: Sanofi acquires Kadmon for $1.9B; COVAX cuts 2021 delivery target by 1.425B doses

• Moderna turns to biotech startup to ramp up Covid vaccine manufacturing (STAT)
• As experts debate boosters, vaccinated people are calling their own shots (Washington Post)
• Heather Bresch, Joe Manchin’s daughter, played direct part in Epipen price inflation scandal (The Intercept)
• Novavax begins early-stage trial for combined influenza/COVID-19 vaccine (Reuters)
• Fraud trial of Theranos founder Elizabeth Holmes set to begin (Reuters)
• Top Pfizer scientist defends Covid vaccine booster push and jab’s potency (FT)

• Sanofi acquires Kadmon for $1.9B, adding transplant medicine drug (STAT) (Reuters) (Endpoints)
• COVAX vaccine 2021 delivery target cut to 1.425 billion doses (Reuters) (FT) (WHO)
• AstraZeneca boss Soriot says do not rush needlessly into COVID booster vaccines (Reuters)
• UK's Exscientia, Gates Foundation partner to develop variant-resistant COVID-19 drugs (Reuters)
• UK start-up uses AI to design antiviral pills to prevent pandemics (FT)

• Vietnam to mix Moderna and Pfizer-BioNTech COVID-19 vaccines – media (Reuters)
• Hetero To Debut Biosimilar Actemra, Giving India Grasp On Supplies Security (Scrip)

• With industry's blessing, FDA launches novel excipient review pilot program (Endpoints)
• In another sign of RNA’s growing popularity, the cancer startup Replicate is relaunching (STAT)
• 'The sky is not falling.' Cautious optimism follows FDA meeting on gene therapy risks (BioPharmaDive)
• The Pandemic Has Set Back the Fight Against H.I.V., TB and Malaria (NYTimes)
• Moderna surfaces as the first partner for Jim Wilson's rare disease nonprofit, donating an mRNA program at no cost (Endpoints)
• Inside Verily’s make-or-break push to turn its most promising ideas into profits (STAT)
• Months after landing Canadian site from government, Resilience announces a big mRNA partner (Endpoints)
• 'Like a kid in a candy shop': Michael Ehlers gets behind RNA 'copy machine' tech (Endpoints)
• J&J’s prostate cancer drug recommended by NICE (Pharmafile)
• Insilico puts undruggable cancer targets in its crosshairs with Huadong alliance (Fierce)
• As bluebird plans its big split, rare disease head Andrew Obenshain recruits Ironwood vet as CFO (Endpoints)
• MacroGenics flips over an OS dud for cancer drug Margenza in surprising turnaround from earlier data (Endpoints)
• Years after Pfizer passed on a buyout option, AM-Pharma finds a new partner for its kidney drug (Endpoints)
• Merck KGaA entrusts secretive startup with a mid-stage cancer drug targeting master signaling pathway (Endpoints)
• One of Tachi's newly born legacy biotechs raises $135M and enlists an A-list board to advance late-stage vaccine (Endpoints)

• EU expert panel starts accepting applications to review high-risk IVDs (MedtechDive)
• Bill Gates-backed Vicarious Surgical targets Intuitive, J&J, Medtronic in abdominal robotic surgery (MedtechDive)
• The Regulatory Growing Pains For Digital Health Companies (Law360)
• Spine devices, recalls and endovascular stents on FDA's fall meeting lineup (MedtechDive)
• Merck taps Illumina to develop companion diagnostics for ovarian cancer treatments (Fierce)

• AbbVie Settles Patent Dispute Over Muscle Stimulation Tech (Law360)
• SEC Says Mallinckrodt Ch. 11 Plan Releases Should Be Opt-In (Law360)