Recon: Trump expected to sign order to boost US drug manufacturing; FDA approves GSK’s blood cancer drug Blenrep

• Trump Plans Order Seeking to Return Drug Production to US (Bloomberg) (Politico) (STAT) (Endpoints) (Reuters)
• FDA commissioner: No matter what, only a safe, effective vaccine will get our approval (Washington Post)
• FDA Adviser: Not Realistic To Expect A COVID-19 Vaccine In 2020 (NPR)
• Trump says coronavirus vaccine possible before Nov. 3 (Reuters)
• Fauci says regulators promise politics will not guide vaccine timing (Reuters 1, 2)
• Pandemic Lays Bare US Reliance on China for Drugs (WSJ)
• FDA approves GlaxoSmithKline's blood cancer drug (Reuters) (Endpoints) (FDA)
• Eight Charged in Scheme to Defraud FDA and Falsify Records Used in Clinical Research Trials (FDA)
• Bristol Myers Squibb Reports Second Quarter 2020 Financial Results (Press)

• Global recovery will come faster if COVID vaccine available to all - WHO chief (Reuters)
• AstraZeneca in first COVID-19 vaccine deal with Chinese company (Reuters)
• Israel institute to start COVID-19 vaccine trials in humans soon (Reuters)
• Novavax signs COVID-19 vaccine supply deal with India's Serum Institute (Reuters)
• Human trials of coronavirus vaccine set to begin in Indonesia (Reuters)
• Bausch Health to Spin Off Eye-Care Business (WSJ) (FT)
• Novo axes experimental obesity drugs after success with later-stage meds (Fierce) (Endpoints)
• Fair Prices Call Prompts EU Industry To Insist On Innovation Incentives (Pink Sheet)
• Malaria in Africa: Parasite 'resistant to artemisinin' (BBC)

• Health Experts to F.D.A.: Make Your Vaccine Deliberations Public (NYTimes)
• Covid-19 Vaccine Trials Have a Problem: Minority Groups Don’t Trust Them (WSJ)
• It's not for me: speed of COVID-19 vaccine race raises safety concerns (Reuters)
• America’s Obesity Epidemic Threatens Effectiveness of Any COVID Vaccine (KHN)
• BARDA responds to KEI, Public Citizen Letter Asking BARDA to Enforce Moderna Contract (KEI)
• The Many Symptoms of Covid-19 (NYTimes)
• FDA lets NeuroRx, Relief Therapeutics test RLF-100 in COVID-19 patients (Reuters)
• This California company has a better version of a simpler, faster Covid-19 test (STAT)
• Major U.S. Health Insurers Report Big Profits, Benefiting From the Pandemic (NYTimes)
• Coronavirus (COVID-19) Update: Daily Roundup August 5, 2020 (FDA)

• Biogen strikes $1 billion deal with Denali to advance Parkinson’s drug based on approach that was nearly abandoned (STAT) (Endpoints)
• IQVIA: US Out-Of-Pocket Drug Costs Stable, But Overall Spending Is Higher (Scrip)
• Pfizer's Lorbrena bests Xalkori in PhIII readout — is it a potential successor? (Endpoints) (PMLive)
• Alvotech and Teva Announce Strategic Partnership to Collaborate in the US Biosimilar Market (Big Molecule Watch)
• Bayer's struggle to find Vitravki patients highlights broader diagnostics hurdles in pharma, likely exacerbated by COVID-19 (Fierce)
• Takeda hustles to prevent cancer drug shortage after FDA warning letter (Fierce)
• Novartis builds its case for novel MS treatment ofatumumab (PMLive)
• Novartis' Xolair scores European approval to treat chronic rhinosinusitis with nasal polyps (Pharmafile)
• UCB’s Cimzia bags EU label extension (PharmaTimes)
• European Commission approves first drug for hepatitis D (Pharmafile)
• Roche-backed Dicerna pushes into the pack racing toward the blockbuster hep B goal line, armed with PhI data (Endpoints)
• Alnylam president Barry Greene leaves after 17 years, handing position over to Yvonne Greenstreet as biotech looks toward profitability (Endpoints)
• Lundbeck sounds taps on another CNS drug, retreating from a mine field still occupied by a Merck team (Endpoints)
• Versant funds TCR therapy biotech T-knife's $78M+ Series A to boost humanized T cell mice platform (Endpoints)
• Regeneron adds more positive PhIII data for its NGF program — but safety is still a big concern (Endpoints)
• Levo Therapeutics misses primary endpoint in PhIII trial of Prader-Willi drug — the latest setback in a disaster-prone field (Endpoints)
• Blackstone agrees to buy Ancestry in $4.7 billion deal (STAT)
• Subgroups & Missing Data: The Problems Facing HTAs In Europe (Pink Sheet)
• UK MHRA Acts To Improve Quality Of GCP Serious Breach Reports (Pink Sheet)

• NuVasive's spine robot sees delay, again (MedtechDive)
• BD sales slide below expectations, as COVID-19 antigen test gains momentum (MedtechDive)
• ResMed beats Street with ventilators driving revenue up 9%, but tailwinds ebbing (MedtechDive)
• Nevro blasts past analyst consensus on rebound in pain procedures (MedtechDive)
• AstraZeneca taps digital stethoscope maker Eko to support its heart failure research (Fierce)
• Zimmer sees COVID-19 backlog worth up to $800M, aims to double Rosa robot volume by year's end (MedtechDive)

• Missouri Voters Approve Medicaid Expansion Despite Resistance From Republican Leaders (NPR)
• Bristol Myers, Pfizer fend off a key challenge to their top-selling heart drug (BioPharmaDive)
• Lessons From Novartis' $678M Speaker Program Settlement (Law360)
• EpiPen Buyers Lose Bid For Class Status In ERISA Suit (Law360)