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Today's Rundown

Merck's $4.2B bintrafusp alfa nabs a 3rd strike. Is the GSK-partnered cancer hopeful out?
Pfizer, BioNTech score FDA's first full COVID-19 vaccine nod, quickly triggering stricter mandates
Pharmacies gearing up to administer COVID-19 booster shots
Who's getting the most out of their R&D engine? Pharma's top 11, ranked
Abbott destroyed millions of COVID test cards when demand plummeted. Now, it's scrambling to ramp back up
Google says health projects will continue even as it unwinds dedicated health division
Bristol Myers Squibb nabs priority review tag for $3.15B arthritis drug Orencia to prevent transplant rejection
Nordic Capital, Insight Partners take Inovalon private in $7.3B acquisition
Cardinal Health lands back-to-back FDA Class I recalls for catheter kits, prefilled syringes
Bright Health planning to expand into 42 new markets in 2022
COVID-19 tracker: Pfizer, BioNTech nod quickly spurs stricter mandates; FDA warns against ivermectin to treat COVID

Featured Story

Merck's $4.2B bintrafusp alfa nabs a 3rd strike. Is the GSK-partnered cancer hopeful out?

By Annalee Armstrong

Merck KGaA’s biliary cancer hopeful bintrafusp alfa—the immunotherapy at the heart of a $4.2 billion deal with GlaxoSmithKline—has nabbed its third strike. The German pharmaceutical company announced Monday that a phase 2 clinical trial of bintrafusp alfa has been discontinued as the therapy is unlikely to improve overall survival.

Pfizer, BioNTech score FDA's first full COVID-19 vaccine nod, quickly triggering stricter mandates

By Noah Higgins-Dunn

The U.S. FDA awarded Pfizer and its German partner BioNTech its first full approval for a COVID-19 vaccine, a historic decision that could spark a wave of new vaccine mandates among businesses and universities awaiting the agency's final nod.

Pharmacies gearing up to administer COVID-19 booster shots

By Paige Minemyer

Major pharmacy chains are gearing up to administer COVID-19 booster shots, following the Biden administration's OK last week.

Who's getting the most out of their R&D engine? Pharma's top 11, ranked

By Fraiser Kansteiner

Drugmakers have myriad tools in their arsenal when looking to grow sales, but it's new drug approvals that reign supreme and ultimately prove the worth of a company's development engine. See how 11 of the world's top drugmakers are faring.

Abbott destroyed millions of COVID test cards when demand plummeted. Now, it's scrambling to ramp back up

By Conor Hale

While facing sharp declines in public demand for rapid COVID-19 screening over the spring and first half of this summer, Abbott directed its workers to shred millions of paper testing cards that it felt had no chance of selling, according to a report by The New York Times.

Google says health projects will continue even as it unwinds dedicated health division

By Heather Landi

Google says it is ramping up its investments in health-focused initiatives even as it dissolves its single health division. One industry analyst says the move to shutter the dedicated health division signals the end of a unified healthcare strategy at Google. So what's next for the tech giant's healthcare operations?

Bristol Myers Squibb nabs priority review tag for $3.15B arthritis drug Orencia to prevent transplant rejection

By Fraiser Kansteiner

Orencia, which made $3.15B in arthritis last year, is bound for a Dec. 23 decision date and if it passes muster with the FDA, would be cleared for patients ages six and up receiving hematopoietic stem cell transplants from unrelated donors.

Nordic Capital, Insight Partners take Inovalon private in $7.3B acquisition

By Dave Muoio

The health data software provider's acquisition is expected to close in late 2021 or early 2022 and will net shareholders $41 per share in cash.

Cardinal Health lands back-to-back FDA Class I recalls for catheter kits, prefilled syringes

By Andrea Park

Cardinal Health is facing two back-to-back product recalls, each of which was characterized this month as Class I, the FDA’s most serious classification, indicating a heightened risk of serious injury or death.

Bright Health planning to expand into 42 new markets in 2022

By Paige Minemyer

The insurer said it will be the first plan added to Covered California, the state's exchange, in six years.

COVID-19 tracker: Pfizer, BioNTech nod quickly spurs stricter mandates; FDA warns against ivermectin to treat COVID

By Noah Higgins-Dunn,Kevin Dunleavy,Fraiser Kansteiner

The FDA awarded its first full approval for a COVID-19 vaccine to Pfizer and its partner BioNTech. Meanwhile, regulators are warning against the use of ivermectin tablets, an anti-parasite medicine commonly used in livestock, as a coronavirus med. Plus more.

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