TOP STORIES
Now that its $160 billion merger with Pfizer is off, Allergan has committed $3.3 billion to license the neurological portfolio of Heptares Therapeutics. — FierceBiotech
Pfizer got some good news of its own: A federal judge in Philadelphia dismissed more than 300 cases alleging that Zoloft caused birth defects. — Reuters
LIFE SCIENCES
Medtronic has won FDA approval of a device said to be the world’s smallest pacemaker. — MassDevice
J. Craig Venter’s Human Longevity has a new president, Dr. Kenneth Bloom. — PR Newswire
A Deep-dive Into Specialty Pharma
A specialty drug is a class of prescription medications used to treat complex, chronic or rare medical conditions. Although this classification was originally intended to define the treatment of rare, also termed “orphan” diseases, affecting fewer than 200,000 people in the US, more recently, specialty drugs have emerged as the cornerstone of treatment for chronic and complex diseases such as cancer, autoimmune conditions, diabetes, hepatitis C, and HIV/AIDS.
Researchers in Sweden are trying to crowdfund the study of a drug that might be used for “chemical castration” of pedophiles. — Reuters
Arrowhead Research, Pasadena, California, has changed its name to Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals. — Business Wire
PAYERS-PROVIDERS
Consumers are finally realizing that higher costs don’t always translate to better care. — Reuters
Catholic Health Initiatives needs approval from the Vatican to complete the sale of 35 medical office buildings. — Milwaukee Business Journal
TECHNOLOGY
McKesson’s RelayHealth has won a Department of Defense contract to supply secure messaging services to the Military Health System. The deal is worth $139 million over five years. — Business Wire
A computer-assisted method called parabolic personalized dosing is helping take the guesswork out of treating conditions that require precise medication dosing. — STAT
Patient identity management vendor CrossChx has raised $15 million in a Series C venture round. — PR Newswire
Ayasdi, maker of machine intelligence software, has hired its first chief medical officer, Dr. Francis “F.X.” Campion, of Harvard Vanguard Medical Associates in Boston. — PR Newswire
POLITICS
The Obama administration is transferring $589 million to the fight against the Zika virus. $510 million had previously been earmarked for Ebola response. — The New York Times
The conservative Citizens Against Government Waste group “performed a collective facepalm” to mark the release of supplementary appendices to the 2015 CMS Improper Payment Report. — Business Wire
A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
Mylan is in trouble with a British pharma watchdog for handing out frozen yogurt at a convention last year. — STAT
