1. The European Medicines Agency lifted a warning from Pfizer’s smoking-cessation drug Chantix after a study showed that the drug did not increase the risk of neuropsychiatric side effects. Chantix carries a black-box warning in the U.S. (Reuters)
2. The Obama administration’s proposal to reduce Medicare payments for drugs covered under Part B has been criticized by both Republican and Democrat lawmakers. Every member of the Senate Finance Committee as well as 300 House lawmakers have expressed concern about the proposal. (NYT)
3. France plans to propose stricter rules for clinical trials after a trial conducted by Biotrial was found to have breaches in its process. The trial was halted after six people became ill and one person died. (AP)
4. In other news from the E.U., Roche said Britain’s cost watchdog will not number Perjeta, its breast-cancer drug, due to its high price. (Reuters)
5. Digital ad spending in the healthcare and pharma sector is expected to top $1.93 billion in 2016, up 15.4% from 2015, according to a new report from eMarketer. The growth may be due to higher spending on mobile search and display and a greater portion of business-to-business spending going toward digital.
