Recon: Veritas to Acquire GE Unit for $1B; Celgene COO Resigns

• Pfizer signs deal with Allogene to develop cancer cell therapy (Reuters) (CNBC) (Forbes) (STAT) (EP Vantage)
• Rigel's fostamatinib falls short in Phase 2 (BioPharma Dive) (Fierce) (Endpoints)
• Walmart is looking at buying PillPack, an online pharmacy, for under $1 billion (CNBC) (Bloomberg-$) (Axios)
• Justice Dept. says it will seek to join settlement talks in opioid lawsuits (STAT) (Reuters) (The Washington Times)
• Trump administration aims to lower drug prices for seniors (CNN) (STAT) (Reuters) (CMS)
• Veritas Capital to acquire a GE Healthcare unit for $1 billion (CNBC) (WSJ) (Reuters) (Bloomberg)
• Boston Scientific boosts cardiac rhythm unit with $50M takeover (Fierce) (MassDevice)
• In a first, FDA orders recall of a ‘contaminated food’ — kratom with salmonella (The Washington Post) (USA Today) (CNBC)
• Dermavant hires CSO from GlaxoSmithKline, buys excessive sweating drug (Fierce) (Endpoints)
• Celgene Chief Operating Officer Scott Smith abruptly resigns (Reuters) (Fierce) (Endpoints) (The Pharma Letter)
• AstraZeneca leukemia drug bags priority review status, setting up third-quarter approval (Fierce) (The Pharma Letter)
• Bydureon Add-On Therapy in T2D OK'd by FDA (MedPage Today) (Drug Delivery Business News)

• EMA to review Sanofi-Regeneron's Dupixent, Cemiplimab (Reuters) (PharmaTimes) (PMLiVE) (pharmaphorum)
• Atopic dermatitis patients to be denied NHS access to Dupixent (PharmaTimes) (STAT-$)
• How will blockchain impact pharma? (The Pharma Letter-$)
• Accuron divests Veredus Labs to Japanese diagnostic firm (BioSpecrum) (The Straits Times)
• US tax reforms bring down profits of 15 top global pharma cos by 37% in 2017 (pharmabiz)
• Conference report: The UK-Japan Neuroscience Symposium (AMED)

• After 2016's monster bonus—and investor complaints—Valeant CEO's pay crashes from $62M to $5M (Fierce)
• Pharma vet Stan Bukofzer joins Depomed as CMO/CSO (Fierce)
• Allergan Weighs Options for Women's Health Unit (Bloomberg)
• Pharma's cheap stocks spell investment opportunity for traders: JP Morgan (CNBC-$)
• High-flying biotech Loxo tempers bullish view for cancer drug (Reuters)
• The top 15 drug patent expirations of 2018 (Fierce)
• Amgen’s money-back guarantee for its pricey cholesterol drug may not deliver (STAT-$)
• Belldegrun teams with a group of top VC players to unveil a $295M biotech fund at Vida Ventures (Endpoints)

• Amgen, Sandoz trial over Enbrel patents likely delayed—and a biosimilar could be, too (Fierce)
• Drug-loaded hydrogel responds to arthritis flare-ups in real time (STAT)
• Allergan, Richter prep for FDA OK with positive PhIII for cariprazine in bipolar depression (Endpoints) (Budapest Business Journal)
• NCI Launches New Resource for Specimens and Data from Cancer Clinical Trials (NCI)
• The Alzheimer’s R&D Odyssey Comes to Another Fork in the Road (Endpoints)
• Cellectis and Allogene Therapeutics Intend to Continue Strategic Cancer Immunotherapy Collaboration to Accelerate Development and Commercialization of Allogeneic Off-the-Shelf CAR T Therapies (Press)

• Cardioform Septal Occluder Wins FDA Approval for PFO Closure (MedPage Today) (Press)
• BD’s C.R. Bard must pay $4m in IVC bellwether (MassDevice)
• Twilight of the medtech conglomerates (EP Vantage)
• ResMed is disrupting connected health: Here’s how (Medical Design & Outsourcing)
• At-Home DNA Test Kits Are Blowing Up In Popularity. But Are They Accurate? (Fortune)
• Experts challenge digital health developers to show value in an often-hyped field (STAT-$)
• ReShape unveils $6M offering, stock falls 50% (Fierce) (Press)
• The Code: a three-part video series investigating the roots of today’s most promising genetic technologies (STAT)
• NN Inc. to pay $375m for Paragon Medical (MassDevice) (Press)
• DrChrono to offer Apple hardware leasing for physician practices (mobihealthnews)
• AVITA Medical Announces Schedule for Six RECELL Device Presentations at American Burn Association (ABA) 50th Annual Meeting (Press)
• WellDoc Announces Providence Health & Services’ Implementation of BlueStar Digital Therapeutic in a Pilot Program for Individuals with Type 2 Diabetes (Press)

• New RTA Policy Has Implications for Combination Products (FDA Law Blog)
• The Mysteries of Pass-Through Status: Why Medicare and Seniors Are Now Paying More for Lower-Cost Biosimilars at Hospitals (Drug Channels)
• Wisconsin and West Virginia Pass Biosimilar Legislation - Big Molecule Watch (Goodwin)
• Supreme Court rejects appeal to release anti-abortion activists' videos (Reuters)
• White House is urged to sidestep patents on opioid overdose treatment (STAT-$)
• Why Trump's Health Department Quietly Scrubbed Important Breast Cancer Info from Its Website (Fortune)
• HHS seeks another delay for 340B changes (Modern Healthcare)
• Teva, Valeant price-hike plans trigger warnings under California's new transparency law: report (Fierce)
• Diabetes Clinic Founder Arrested on Bribery Charges (MedPage Today)
• Washington insider's 'secret sauce' fueled NY hedge fund, U.S. says at trial (Reuters)
• State Department puts out RFI for a new EHR (Healthcare IT News)
• What They Said – FDA Press Releases 1st Quarter 2018 (Eye on FDA)
• HHS Solicitation of Nominations for Membership on the National Vaccine Advisory Committee (HHS)
• First-quarter acquisition activity hints at a big year (EP Vantage)

• FDA Advisory Committee Calendar

• Brexit Agreement: Reset your clocks! (Emergo Group)
• Generic industry boss: SPC manufacturing waiver won’t harm originators’ innovation (EURACTIV)
• NHS to fund balloon pulmonary angioplasty in the UK (PharmaTimes) (NHS)
• NHS England publishes guidelines curbing OTC prescriptions (PharmaTimes)
• France puts healthcare at heart of $1.8B AI strategy (Fierce)
• Servier and Scandicure to conduct research in metabolic diseases (The Pharma Letter-$)
• Russia’s Gem-Standard to build one of country’s largest plants for blood plasma drugs (The Pharma Letter-$)
• EC follows US example in granting new Xgeva indication (The Pharma Letter-$) (Press)
• CorWave wins $4m from French Innovation Challenge (MassDevice)
• Brainomix raises $10m for AI stroke imaging tech (MassDevice)
• Reva inks distro deal for bioresorbable scaffolds in Turkey (Drug Delivery Business News)
• Redx Pharma updates clinical trial of porcupine inhibitor, RXC004 (pharmabiz)
• Swissmedic has a new Executive Director – new leadership team complete (Swissmedic)

• Rhythm Pharma in-licenses PWS candidate from Takeda (BioSpectrum)
• Tuberculosis services in Moscow extend “health for all” even to the most vulnerable (WHO)
• Algatech Invests in Supreme Health (Press)
• Medtronic Brings Value-based Healthcare to Taiwan (Taiwan Business Topics)
• Keytruda Filed for Tumor-Agnostic Indication in Japan (PharmaJapan)

• Doctors in India at breaking point, courtesy continuing attacks: Lancet report (Hindustan Times)
• 'Pharma may see recovery with FY19 profit set to jump 20-22%' (Times of India)
• Medical device firms to go against ‘discriminatory’ public procurement norms as response deadline nears (pharmabiz)
• NPPA fixes retail prices of 869 formulations under DPCO, 2013 as per April 2, 2018 order (pharmabiz)

• Half yearly performance snapshot: July to December 2017 (TGA)
• Political battle over private health insurance rebate heats up (The Sydney Morning Herald)
• Police use Apple Watch health data as evidence in murder case (Mashable)
• Big pharma under fire for spruiking strong painkillers to doctors (The Sydney Morning Herald)

• What should and shouldn’t be covered by medicare? (The Globe and Mail)
• Canadians want options to a failing health-care system (Toronto Sun)
• Doctors say government neglect, mismanagement to blame for sorry state of health care (CBC News)
• Update on the Proposed Regulation of Cannabis: Health Canada Releases Summary of Public Feedback  (Lexology)

• Can Doctors Choose Between Saving Lives and Saving a Fortune? (NYT Magazine)
• What It’s Like Living Without Health Insurance in America (Bloomberg)
• Many doctors don’t pay attention to home health care plans (Reuters)
• Aging Populations Will Challenge Healthcare Systems All Over The World (Forbes)
• Expensive prescriptions have patients skipping their meds. What can doctors do about it? (STAT)
• Commentary: Why We Need to Give Doctors Time to Listen (Fortune)