TOP STORIES
The embattled Valeant Pharmaceuticals will pay $47 million to settle a 2013 federal investigation of marketing practices related to Salix Pharmaceuticals, which Valeant bought last year. The drug company also agreed to pay $8 million to states, though that settlement requires approval by each affected state. — Triangle Business Journal
Alphabet Chairman Eric Schmidt is defending Google spinoff Verily Life Sciences — which falls under the Alphabet umbrella — in the face of a scathing report about the biotech company’s leadership and practices.
“We’re very very confident of not only [Verily’s] approaches, but also the controls, reviews, and processes that will ultimately produce some amazing medical breakthroughs,” Schmidt said Wednesday at Alphabet’s annual shareholders’ meeting.
He specifically addressed a “smart” contact lens intended to replace finger sticks for measuring blood glucose. “If you’re one of the very many people who will have diabetes in America – and by the way, it’s worse in many other countries – this is going to be a life-saver in terms of keeping you alive, especially as the disease progresses,” Schmidt said. — STAT
LIFE SCIENCES
Boston Scientific hopes to save $100 million a year by 2020 through a corporate restructuring. — The Wall Street Journal
Ginkgo Bioworks has closed a $100 million Series C round and announced that it will buy 600 million base pairs of synthetic DNA from Gen9 and Twist Bioscience. — Forbes, Boston Business Journal
Seattle-based cancer treatment company Oncothyreon is changing its name to Cascade Therapeutics. — Puget Sound Business Journal
Alexandria Real Estate Equities is devoting 15,000 square feet of its New York City campus for a biotech incubator called Alexandria LaunchLabs. — FierceBiotech
Harvard is building a similarly sized innovation lab in Boston, to be called Harvard Life Lab. — Xconomy
Remember the controversy about LifeSci Advisors hiring seductively dressed models for its party at the J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference in January? At BIO 2016 this week, the company is touting its commitment to gender equity. — San Francisco Business Times
PAYERS/PROVIDERS
The University of Alabama and local startup Kinematic Sports are going to commercialize the SidelinER, a pop-up canopy to deliver medical care in privacy on the sidelines of football games and other special events. — Birmingham Business Journal
SSM Health President and CEO William P. Thompson will retire next year. — Becker’s Hospital Review
“There’s an ‘easy button’ in the hospital that I press a hundred times every day. With each press, I make myself a better doctor. It’s not a button on a computer. It’s not electronic at all. It’s a hand sanitizer.” — Xconomy
TECHNOLOGY
Struggling EHR vendor Practice Fusion has agreed to settle FTC charges that it misled patients by publicly posting physician reviews. — FierceEMR
Xerox Healthcare has launched Virtual Health Solutions, offering telehealth consulting, design and management services to health systems. — Business Wire
Genomics software developer Omicia has landed $23 million in Series B funding. — Business Wire
Aktana, maker of decision support for life science companies, has raised $17.5 million, mostly to support international expansion. — PE Hub
POLITICS
Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin’s plan to dismantle Kynect, the state health insurance exchange, may not be purely politically motivated. — Louisville Business First
Ohio Gov. John Kasich has signed a bill to legalize medical marijuana. — Cincinnati Enquirer
A LITTLE BIT EXTRA
It probably was inevitable, but there’s a Martin Shkreli musical in the works. “Martin Shkreli’s Game: How Bill Murray Joined the Wu-Tang Clan” will premiere in New York City next month. Auditions are happening Saturday. — STAT
Photo: Cresa