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July 07, 2017

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Welcome to FierceLifeSci Weekly Digest, your roundup of the biggest and most popular stories from each of our publications.

Featured Story

Shire will cut U.S. locations and move HQ in consolidation push

Shire has decided to concentrate its U.S. operations into two main sites in Massachusetts—Cambridge and Lexington—in a move that will probably lead to the closure of some sites.

Top Stories Of The Week

Ex-AstraZeneca executive Luke Miels accuses CEO Soriot of threatening him for taking GSK job

Former AstraZeneca executive Luke Miels will start his new job at crosstown rival GlaxoSmithKline in a few weeks, but the path between is littered with accusations and retorts that illustrate how personal and nasty the defection of a top executive can be.

Celgene bags Beigene PD-1 drug for $263M up front

Celgene has bought itself a spot toward the back of the pack in the PD-1 inhibitor market. The prolific dealmaker is paying $263 million upfront to get its mitts on the ex-Asia rights to Beigene’s PD-1 inhibitor BGB-A317 in solid tumors.

Gilead's best M&A option? It's not oncology—it's Vertex, analyst insists

More than two years ago, one analyst touted Vertex as Gilead’s best option for a buyout that could chip in top-line growth once times got hard in hepatitis C. Now, those times are here—and that analyst is still singing the same tune.

Pharma shells out $2B-plus to doctors—again—with Allergan and Celgene in the lead

Despite some early predictions that transparency would change everything, drug and device makers' payments to doctors have remained remarkably consistent since the 2014 debut of the U.S. government's Open Payments database. All told, 631,000 doctors collected $2.8 billion in general payments in 2016, roughly the same as last year.

Could a 30-year-old asthma drug lead to a new treatment for diabetes?

The anti-inflammatory drug amlexanox was invented in the 1980s to treat asthma but was quickly eclipsed by more effective treatments. Now a team of scientists led by the University of California at San Diego is looking at repurposing the drug in an entirely new setting: Type 2 diabetes.

Merck moves up sales rankings in vaccine industry projection

Last year, life science commercial intelligence firm Evaluate released a vaccine market projection stating that GlaxoSmithKline would top the industry by 2022, with Sanofi, Pfizer and Merck trailing in order. While GSK is still expected to top the industry that year, projections in the firm’s latest World Preview now see a different order among the other major players.

Acquisitive Philips strikes $2.2B deal to buy Spectranetics

Philips has agreed to buy the Spectranetics Corporation for about $2.2 billion. The acquired assets will bolster the Dutch company’s heart disease therapy portfolio and equip it to mount an assault on the multibillion-dollar market for coronary stents.

Science Exchange raises $28M series C; plots growth

California-based outsourced research services provider Science Exchange has raised $28 million in its third funding round.

Oxford BioMedica and Novartis build on supply deal as CAR-T medication nears finish line

Swiss drugmaker Novartis expects big things from its CAR-T personalized leukemia med, including FDA approval this year, and Oxford BioMedica plans to be along for the ride. The Oxford, U.K.-based group has nailed down a new agreement with Novartis to provide the commercial supplies of the lentiviral vectors for Novartis' first CAR-T treatment.

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