1. Merck said the FDA will review its application for a combination of its immuno-oncology drug Keytruda with chemotherapy as a first-line treatment for patients with advanced non-small cell lung cancer. The combo drug’s FDA decision date is May 10, 2017.
2. Valeant Pharmaceuticals International agreed to sell three skin-care brands to L’Oreal S.A. for $1.3 billion. It will also sell its Dendreon Pharmaceuticals unit to Sanpower Group for $820 million. The two agreements represent Valeant’s largest divestiture in three years as it works to pay down $30 billion in debt. (Bloomberg)
3. Independent pharmacies are filing lawsuits against big pharmacy benefit managers (like Express Scripts) over payment disputes and also accusing PBMs of steering their customers towards their own specialty pharmacies. (NYT)
4. Instagram plans to add advertising to its stories feature to compete with Snapchat. The Facebook-owned company will commence an advertising pilot in a few weeks with 30 clients. (Bloomberg)
5. Sarepta Therapeutics told CNBC that the launch of its Duchenne muscular dystrophy drug, eteplirsen, is going “very well” and generated $5.4 million in revenue in December. (CNBC)
