Ronny Jackson, nominee for Veterans Affairs secretary, withdrew on Thursday after a string of allegations surfaced about his personal behavior. He returned to his job as the president’s personal doctor. (CNN)
Vertex Pharmaceuticals’ newest cystic fibrosis drug beat expectations. In its first seven weeks, the new drug Symdeko raked in sales of $34 million, double what analysts expected from the new treatment. The company’s older treatments also showed growth. (Reuters)
Another CRISPR company has launched, cofounded by CRISPR developer Jennifer Doudna. The company, Mammoth Biosciences, joins the legions of companies using diagnostics and genome editing. Mammoth is focused on a CRISPR-based platform for disease detection. (STAT)
Johnson & Johnson subsidiary Cerenovus is phasing out a lifesaving pump for cancer patients. Doctors are appealing to the company to continue manufacturing the device, which pumps chemotherapy directly into the liver. The company stopped production on April 1. (New York Times)
Autism cases are increasing, likely because of more accurate diagnosis of minority children. Autism used to be 20% higher in white kids than black children and 50% higher in Hispanic children, but both shrank significantly in this latest report. (Associated Press)
