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1. IMS Health Holdings and Quintiles Transnational Holdings said they had agreed to a “merger of equals” that would create a company worth $17.6 billion. The all-stock deal is expected to generate $100 million in annual cost savings within three years. (NYT)

2. Biogen confirmed it plans to spin off hemophilia business, which will market Eloctate and Alprolix, for hemophilia A and B, respectively. These drugs generated $554 million in sales in 2015. (Reuters)

3. Google’s DeepMind, an artificial intelligence company, is working with the National Health Service in the United Kingdom. As part of the deal, DeepMind gains access to healthcare data from 1.6 million patients. (New Scientist)

4. The French government plans to push its G7 partners to launch a new system to better control the prices of new drugs. (Reuters)

5. ICYMI: The FDA has requested additional information about a new product that combines a medical device developed by Proteus Digital Health and one of Otsuka Pharmaceutical’s drugs. The companies are pairing Proteus’ ingestible sensor with Otsuka’s antipsychotic, Abilify.