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Today's Rundown

Biogen's Aduhelm call to action backfires as CMS receives many more comments in favor of restrictive coverage: analyst
Pfizer poaches Roche's pharma R&D leader to fill MacKenzie's shoes as chief development officer
Kaufman Hall: Hospital financials fared better across 2021 but still lag pre-pandemic numbers
BD picks up Spanish developer of minimum residual disease cancer blood tests
Optum: 3 (more) drugs in the pipeline payers should be watching
Novartis, Amgen settle their dueling lawsuits over migraine drug Aimovig
Anavex touts 'very large' phase 3 win for Rett syndrome drug—2 weeks after moving study's goalposts
Komodo Health notches another major partnership as it gears up to go public
Doctor groups urge Biden administration to disclose costs of federally funded clinical trials
Otsuka signs on Jolly Good for $43M mental health VR deal
CMS' Biogen decision could spell problems for Lilly, Roche Alzheimer's drugs, half of surveyed neurologists say
Walmart teams up with Health at Scale to help its workers find the right doctor
AstraZeneca runs first kidney disease focused Farxiga TV ad, getting in the homes of 37M people with this ‘silent disease’
Scipher Medicine decodes rheumatoid arthritis treatment with drug response blood test: study
Takeda shunts jewel of Shire takeover to new spinoff Oak Hill

Featured Story

Biogen's Aduhelm call to action backfires as CMS receives many more comments in favor of restrictive coverage: analyst

By Fraiser Kansteiner

Despite Biogen and certain Alzheimer's advocacy groups' opposition, the public seems to support the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services' restrictive coverage decision on controversial Alzheimer's disease drug Aduhelm.

Pfizer poaches Roche's pharma R&D leader to fill MacKenzie's shoes as chief development officer

By Kyle LaHucik

Pfizer's new development leader is on the way from Roche. Replacing 35-year Pfizer veteran Rod MacKenzie, Ph.D., as chief development officer will be William Pao, M.D., Ph.D.

Kaufman Hall: Hospital financials fared better across 2021 but still lag pre-pandemic numbers

By Dave Muoio

Although the second calendar year of the COVID-19 pandemic was kinder to hospitals' bottom lines, ballooning expenses still have the industry playing catchup to 2019.

BD picks up Spanish developer of minimum residual disease cancer blood tests

By Conor Hale

The medtech has bought Cytognos, developer of blood tests for tracking minimal residual disease, or the minuscule amounts of cancer cells left behind while a patient is in remission.

Optum: 3 (more) drugs in the pipeline payers should be watching

By Paige Minemyer

While much of the energy in the drug pipeline has centered on orphan drugs, novel therapies in more crowded markets have also been marching toward approval, according to a new report from Optum.

Novartis, Amgen settle their dueling lawsuits over migraine drug Aimovig

By Eric Sagonowsky

Novartis and Amgen have spent years arm wrestling one another over their development and commercialization deal on migraine prevention drug Aimovig. Now, the parties appear ready to drop their dispute and move on.

Anavex touts 'very large' phase 3 win for Rett syndrome drug—2 weeks after moving study's goalposts

By Annalee Armstrong

Anavex Life Science’s press release touting a phase 3 win for a Rett syndrome drug read very much like a doge meme. They claimed “very large” and “large” wins on the main and secondary endpoints.

Komodo Health notches another major partnership as it gears up to go public

By Heather Landi

Komodo Health has inked another big partnership, this time with the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative to enable patient advocacy organizations to access software and analytics to accelerate research into rare diseases. Komodo Health's co-founder and CEO Arif Nathoo, M.D., chatted with Fierce Healthcare about the company's growth, strategic acquisitions and plans to go public.

Doctor groups urge Biden administration to disclose costs of federally funded clinical trials

By Kyle LaHucik

International nonprofits and doctor groups are calling for the U.S. government to disclose the cost of federally funded clinical trials and are urging President Joe Biden to nominate a National Institutes of Health director who will ensure biopharmas reveal that R&D figure to the public.

Otsuka signs on Jolly Good for $43M mental health VR deal

By Andrea Park

Virtual reality and artificial intelligence technology developer Jolly Good is likely feeling very jolly indeed after being tapped by Otsuka Pharmaceutical to develop a mental health treatment program combining pharmacological and psychotherapeutic techniques.

CMS' Biogen decision could spell problems for Lilly, Roche Alzheimer's drugs, half of surveyed neurologists say

By Ben Adams

Neurologists in the U.S. are agreeing with a new draft decision from the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) that restricts reimbursement of Biogen’s controversial Alzheimer’s drug, Aduhelm, to clinical trials only. In fact, half of those surveyed said CMS' decision would hit how they prescribe the rival drugs waiting in the wings that are also included in CMS' decision.

Walmart teams up with Health at Scale to help its workers find the right doctor

By Rebecca Torrence

Walmart is partnering with machine learning platform Health at Scale to connect its employees with personalized provider recommendations, aiming to leverage health data to improve outcomes.

AstraZeneca runs first kidney disease focused Farxiga TV ad, getting in the homes of 37M people with this ‘silent disease’

By Ben Adams

Diabetes patients can be a target for chronic kidney disease but can also take aim back: This is the message from AstraZeneca’s new Farxiga TV ad, which is pushing the drug’s new CKD label.

Scipher Medicine decodes rheumatoid arthritis treatment with drug response blood test: study