Liz Barrett begins her new role as CEO of Novartis Oncology on February 1.

1. Novartis tapped Liz Barrett, currently Pfizer’s global president of oncology, as CEO of Novartis Oncology. Barrett succeeds Bruno Strigini, who is retiring. (Endpoints News)

2. Healthcare jobs are now the largest source of U.S. employment for the first time in history. The Bureau of Labor Statistics projects that healthcare jobs will account for about 33% of all new jobs in the next decade, with personal-care aides and home-health aides ranking as the fastest growing professions. (The Atlantic)

3. Alex Azar, President Trump’s pick for Health and Human Services secretary, cautioned that negotiating drug prices for Medicare could result in patients having less access to medicines. Trump himself endorsed the idea during the 2016 presidential campaign. (NYT)

4. A federal judge is pushing to resolve hundreds of city and county lawsuits involving the opioid crisis, asking opposing sides to come to an agreement on abuse-deterrence. (WSJ)

5. The adoption of data analytics, AI, and other IT-related techniques for drug discovery will increase at a compound annual growth rate of 8.9%. The market will reach $5.3 billion by 2020, according to a new report.