Sanofi has completed its previously announced $11.6-billion acquisition of Bioverativ, a company created from the spin-off of Biogen’s hemophilia business. The deal provides Sanofi with further assets to support its rare-disease focus and other areas. Read More

In a move reflecting increased consolidation in the healthcare value chain, Cigna, a health insurance company, has agreed to acquire Express Scripts, a pharmacy benefit manager, in a deal worth approximately $67 billion. Read More

Takeda Pharmaceutical Company plans to invest EUR 25 million ($30 million) to construct a new regenerative medicine facility at its site in Grange Castle, Dublin, Ireland. The investment will add a stand-alone modular cell-therapy facility dedicated to manufacturing a stem-cell therapy. Read More

Eisai and Merck & Co. have partnered to develop and commercialize Eisai’s Lenvima (lenvatinib mesylate), a cancer drug, in a deal worth up to $5.76 billion. The companies will also test Lenvima in combination with Merck’s Keytruda (pembrolizumab), one of its top-selling drugs. Read More

As negotiations continue in relation to the UK’s withdrawal from the European Union (i.e., Brexit), the UK and EU have offered differing positions on a future economic partnership with each other post Brexit, and the UK pharmaceutical industry weighs in on its priorities. Read More

Biogen and AbbVie have voluntarily withdrawn Zinbryta (daclizumab), a multiple sclerosis drug, from markets worldwide. This follows the start of a review by the European Medicines Agency following several cases of inflammatory brain disorders in Germany and Spain. Read More

Pfizer’s Hospira is voluntarily recalling three lots of hydromorphone HCI injection, an opioid agonist for pain relief, to the hospital/institution level, due to potential cracks in glass vials. This follows a voluntary recall by Hospira in February over cracked vials in lots of a blood-pressure drug. Read More

The FDA has cited a sterile manufacturing plant of Aurobindo, a Hyderabad, India-headquartered generics and active pharmaceutical ingredients manufacturer, with nine observations following an inspection in February 2018. Read More

Almac Group, a Craigavon, UK-based CDMO, has opened a 95,000-square-foot cold-storage facility at its headquarters in Northern Ireland. The facility represents a £20 million ($27.5 million) investment in the company’s cold-chain-management capabilities. Read More

Novartis has partnered with Pear Therapeutics, a prescription digital therapeutics company, to develop prescription digital therapeutics using software applications designed to treat disease and improve clinical outcomes for patients, particularly   those with schizophrenia and multiple sclerosis. Read More