Recon: Vertex inks $900M deal with CRISPR Therapeutics; Congress investigates Emergent's contracts

• Is the US FDA at A Tipping Point? (Pink Sheet)
• New report finds COVID-19 pandemic causes dramatic shifts in prescription drug spending (EurekAlert)
• Trump administration awarded a firm $1.3 billion to make Covid vaccine syringes. Where are they? (NBC)
• U.S. Reaches Another Crucial Juncture In The Fight Against COVID-19 (NPR)
• Biden to push for more vaccinations as administration reaches 200 million-dose milestone (CNBC)
• U.S. vaccination pace holds above 3 million shots per day for two weeks straight (CNBC)
• With vaccines open to 16- to 17-year-olds, high schools set up shop to give the shots (CNBC)
• The US spat over the vaccine IP waiver (FT1) (FT2)

• J&J COVID-19 vaccine to resume Europe rollout (Reuters) (PharmaFile)
• GW Pharma’s cannabidiol gains EC approval (PharmaFile)  (PharmaTimes)
• UK: RWD at Center of NICE Five-Year Strategy (Pink Sheet)
• Chile shifts Covid vaccine drive to second doses amid concerns over first shot's protection (CNBC)
• European data protection board to strengthen sharing of health data between EU and UK (Healthcare IT News) (PMLive)
• Germany contained Covid-19. Politics brought it back. (Vox)
• Sudden Coronavirus Spike Overwhelms India's Health Care System (NPR)
• Brazil cases dropping but relaxing health measures could reverse gains – PAHO (Reuters)
• Bharat Biotech announces interim analysis results of Phase 3 trials (Economic Times)

• How worried should we be about links of blood clots to AstraZeneca’s vaccine? (Reuters)
• Nasal spray works against COVID-19 variants (Pharmaletter)
• UK government launches search for at-home COVID-19 treatments (PharmaTimes)
• For Vaccine Passports, Less Tech Is Best (NYT)
• How a WHO push for global vaccines needled Europe (Reuters)
• Thailand sticks with Sinovac vaccine after cases of 'stroke-like' side effects (Reuters)
• Sri Lanka reports six cases of blood clots among AstraZeneca vaccine recipients, 3 dead (Reuters)
• Fair Shot? Does COVID Vaccine Availability Ensure Equity? (MedPage Today)

• Sanofi Q1 Preview: Building The Pipeline, Improving Business Efficiencies (Scrip)
• Roche culls 2 COVID-19 drug hopefuls amid Q1 clear-out (Fierce)
• Vertex to pay CRISPR Therapeutics $900M for bigger share of gene-editing alliance (MedCity News)
• BioNTech sees scope for further capacity expansion -CFO (Reuters)
• Diurnal completes £20 million placing to fund US Phase III clinical trial (Pharmaletter)
• Pe­ter Thiel-backed ATAI is prepar­ing to go to Nas­daq, as in­ter­est in psy­che­delics reach­es fever pitch (Endpoints)
• ALS 'Compassionate Use' Again Hits National Media (MedPage Today)
• The Making of a Gene Therapy for an Ultra-Rare Disease (Rare Daily)
• Citrine and Sinopharm Enter Strategic Partnership to Broaden Access to Rare Disease Drugs in China (Rare Daily)
• Evotec starts work on $240M French companion to its biologics 'facility of the future' in Washington (Fierce)
• Alde­vron founders back a biotech start­up that's look­ing to end the moral de­bate over cell lines once and for all (Endpoints)
• Ver­sant pulls the wraps off of near­ly $1B in 3 new funds out to build the next fleet of biotech star­tups (Endpoints)
• On the hunt for bugs out­side the gut, Seed Health snares $40M round to ad­vance pipeline with the help of George Church (Endpoints)
• No­vo Nordisk to launch PhI­II obe­si­ty tri­al for oral semaglu­tide; Edi­Gene ex­tends Se­ries B with ad­di­tion­al $62M (Endpoints)
• Pfizer shareholders are urged to reject political spending that contradicts ‘company values’ (STAT)
• As bluebird rejiggers EU rollout of one gene therapy, hope for near-term lifting of all clinical holds (BioCentury)
• SparingVision acquires GAMUT Therapeutics; expanding novel ocular disease pipeline (BioPharma Reporter)
• Critical risk assessment report: use of UK plasma for the manufacture of immunoglobulins and vCJD risk (MHRA)

• Abbott misses Wall Street as COVID-19 test sales softer than expected (Medtech Dive)
• J&J returns to growth in Q1 as elective care rebounds in US, Asia-Pacific (Medtech Dive)
• FDA: make medical apps reliable, not risky (STAT)
• SenseTime gets CE mark for its AI-powered chest diagnostic software (MobiHealth News)
• FDA Issues EUAs for SARS-CoV-2 Tests From Synergy Diagnostic Laboratory, Celltrion (Genome Web)
• Even More Woes for Illumina’s Proposed Acquisition of Grail (MD+DI)
• Vietnamese Ministry of Health proposes new decree for medical device regulation (Emergo)
• Health funding shatters records in Q1, but medtech a bit of a laggard (Medtech Dive)
• Intuitive sees Q1 robot rebound, in turnabout from start of year (Medtech Dive)
• Could a 'Placebo' Become the Next Big ED Treatment? (MedPage Today)

• Congressional investigation launched into Emergent BioSolutions’ federal vaccine contracts (STAT) (CNBC)
• FDA says it tried—in vain—for years to inspect manufacturer of supplements (Natural Products Insider)
• Law pro­fes­sors call for FDA to dis­close all safe­ty and ef­fi­ca­cy da­ta for drugs (Endpoints)
• Federal Circuit Tosses 'Unusual' Appeal On Menopause Drug IP (Law360)
• Facing $50B Trial, Drugmakers Minimize Roles In Opioid Sales (Law360)
• Biden Administration Slammed For Nixing WTO Critical-Drug Proposal (Law360)
• Texas Presumption of Adequacy Precludes Prempro Claims (Drug & Device Law)
• Incretin State Court – The Expert Blip (Drug & Device Law)