Recon: Walmart in Talks to Buy Humana

• Azar taps former CVS executive to help lower drug prices (The Hill) (Washington Examiner) (BioCentury) (Fierce)
• Pfizer's rare heart disease drug succeeded in a late-stage study (CNBC) (Reuters) (Fierce) (Endpoints) (The Pharma Letter-$)
• FDA expands use of Amgen leukemia drug Blincyto to patients with relapse risk (Reuters) (US News & World Report) (FDA)
• Medication development in opioid addiction: Meaningful clinical end points (Science Magazine)
• Apple Health Records launches out of beta with 39 hospitals (mobihealthnews) (CNBC) (Apple)
• Arkansas sues 3 drugmakers it blames for deadly opioid crisis (ABC News) (Reuters)
• New CDC director predicts U.S. can end AIDS epidemic within seven years (STAT) (The Hill)
• Despite criticism, report finds, FDA properly handled changes easing guidelines for abortion pill (STAT-$) (Focus)
• Walmart in Early-Stage Acquisition Talks With Humana (WSJ) (Forbes) (CNN) (Bloomberg)
• Inari raises $27M to commercialize clot removal devices (Fierce) (MassDevice)
• Opioid Overdose Deaths Continue Their Rise In The U.S., CDC Study Finds (Forbes) (Los Angeles Times) (Chicago Tribune) (The Hill)

• A Trade War To 'Level The Playing Field' Could Be Costly For Biotech (Forbes)
• Sanofi/Lexicon’s sotagliflozin filed in US and EU for type 1 diabetes (pharmaphorum) (The Pharma Letter-$)
• UCB’s bid to market Cimzia in China makes progress (The Pharma Letter)
• Painkiller overuse spikes during cold and flu season (Reuters)
• Eisai to Quit Generic Supply Biz, Transfer Subsidiary to Nichi-Iko (Pharma Japan) (Pharmabiz) (The Pharma Letter) (Eisai/Nichi-Iko)

• The Call For Drug-Price Transparency Is Growing Louder -- But Will It Matter? (Forbes)
• Will flush-with-cash Big Pharma beat Takeda to a Shire deal? (Fierce)
• Thermo Fisher, Biocept team up to pitch liquid biopsy service to pharma (Fierce) (Press)
• Cash reserves running low at KemPharm (Fierce) (Press)
• LISTEN: A billionaire intervenes, inscrutable drug prices, and no grade inflation for biotechs (STAT)
• Gottlieb slams PBMs (BioCentury)
• FDA charts path forward for biosimilars — but drug makers aren’t all on board (STAT-$)
• Sage Therapeutics CEO: Have to weigh investor returns but will price postpartum drug ‘fairly’ (CNBC)
• Two Harvard Biotech Entrepreneurs Are Creating The "Trojan Horse" Of Cancer Treatment (Forbes)
• Lilly seeks to quickly advance—and if needed kill—novel drugs to avoid ‘pile-on effect’ in hot targets (Fierce)
• Students push UCLA to improve access to a cancer drug developed by its scientists (STAT-$) (The Wire)
• Novartis and GSK CEOs set out diverging strategies (Financial Times-$)

• Gene therapy could promote healing in brain, spinal cord injuries (Fierce)
• Sunovion Submits New Drug Application to the FDA for Apomorphine Sublingual Film (APL-130277) for the Treatment of OFF Episodes Associated with Parkinson’s Disease (Press)
• NIH study may help explain why iron can worsen malaria infection (NIH)
• Study in pregnant women hints at pertussis protection from flu vaccination (CIDRAP)
• Targeting stress proteins on cells to help treat cancer (BioCentury)
• Mallinckrodt Inc. et al.; Withdrawal of Approval of Five New Drug Applications (FDA)

• Study shows promise for detecting mental health problems using smartphone app (Fierce)
• US FDA Panel To Tackle Hospital Glucose Meter Accuracy Issue (Medtech Insight)
• These medical devices offer hope for treating chronic pain without opioids (CNBC)
• T2 Biosystems touts results from 4 studies of its T2Dx diagnostics system (MassDevice)
• Quest Beats Out-Of-Pocket Overcharge Suit, For Now (Law360-$)
• A medical-grade smartwatch is helping people live with epilepsy (Wired)
• Is 3D printing going to replace injection molding? (Medical Design & Outsourcing)
• Foundation Medicine launches genomic profiling test for solid tumors (Drug Delivery Business News) (Press)
• FDA committee backs Senseonics’ implantable continuous glucose monitor (Drug Delivery Business News) (Press)
• NuVasive touts Porous PEEK interbody implant study (MassDevice)

• Trump wants to reduce opioid prescriptions by one-third. We can start now (STAT)
• Why Would Walmart Want to Buy an Insurer? The Retail Squeeze (WSJ)
• On Medicare? Check the mail for your new, secure ID card (CNBC)
• FDA may consider over-the-counter regulation for e-cigarettes (CNBC)
• Prevalence of Diagnosed Diabetes in Adults by Diabetes Type — US, 2016 (CDC)
• Survey Snapshot: Payer-Provider Alignment Is Difficult Even for Integrated Organizations (NEJM)

• FDA Advisory Committee Calendar

• EMA accepts BioMarin's pegvaliase MAA to treat phenylketonuria (Pharmabiz) (Press)
• Biovica announces new positive results support early treatment evaluation of breast cancer using DiviTum (Pharmabiz)
• Medicrea inks Belgian JV deal with Motion Medical (MassDevice)
• TAP Blood Collection Device Receives CE Mark (Press)
• MIVI Neuroscience Begins European Commercialization After Achieving CE Mark Approval Of The R4Q Revascularization Catheter For Ischemic Stroke (Press)
• New government initiative to reduce rough sleeping (MHRA)

• TPG Said to Pursue Stake in $500 Million Thai Fertility Hospital (Bloomberg) (Business Standard)
• Dr. Reddy's Labs appoints Erez Israeli as new chief operating officer (Pharmabiz)
• New chairman for Workplace Safety and Health Council (The Straits Times)
• Taiwan's National Health Insurance advances WHO goal of universal coverage (The Korea Times)

• Is hospital care getting prioritised over primary healthcare in India? (Asian Age)
• CDSCO discontinues joint inspection of manufacturing units offering loan licenses in Maharashtra (Pharmabiz)
• BeatO is India’s first full stack digital solution for managing diabetes (Pharmabiz)

• Royal flying doctors funded to provide mental health outreach for first time (The Guardian)
• A data bungle put at risk the private health details of millions of Australians (Business Insider)
• Transvaginal mesh use should be suspended, health groups say (The Guardian)

• 1 in 66 Canadian children diagnosed with autism, report reveals (CBC News)
• Veritas Pharma Closes Private Placement (Press)
• Salmonella outbreak from raw chicken products leads to 30 cases in Canada (CBC News)
• Canada's largest health research platform teams up with University of Toronto to accelerate cancer and chronic disease research (Press)

• Starbucks coffee in California must have cancer warning, judge says (Reuters)
• Hawaii lawmakers approve bill to legalize physician-assisted suicide (The Hill) (Reuters)
• Customer Service In Assisted Living, Homecare And Healthcare: The 'Required Hospitality' Difference (Forbes)