A report from Politico detailed how Republican presidential candidate and former Roivant Sciences CEO Vivek Ramaswamy helped turn Martin Shkreli into the ‘Pharma Bro.’ Reached by phone, Shkreli demanded money from the outlet and its parent company Axel Springer to cooperate. (POLITICO)
The Food and Drug Administration approved a new easy-to-use version of a medication to reverse overdoses caused by fentanyl and other opioids driving the nation’s drug crisis. Opvee is similar to naloxone, the life-saving drug that has been used for decades to quickly counter overdoses of heroin, fentanyl and prescription painkillers. (TIME)
Ironwood bulked up on its digestive therapies with a $1.15 billion purchase of VectivBio. Ironwood said it believes VectivBio’s once-weekly GLP-2 analog apraglutide is differentiated from Takeda’s once-daily Gattex in short bowel syndrome with intestinal failure. (Reuters)
U.S. Surgeon General Vivek Murthy issued an advisory noting that social media is a threat to young people’s mental health. “What kids are experiencing today on social media is unlike anything prior generations have had to contend with,” Murthy told Axios in an interview. (Axios)
New HIV infections in the U.S. have dropped between 2017 and 2021, according to data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Still, the agency noted that people who are at the highest risk of contracting the virus don’t have access to preventive medications. (CNBC)
