1. GlaxoSmithKline hired Hal Barron, formerly president of R&D at the Alphabet-funded biotech company Calico, as the drugmaker’s head of R&D. He succeeds Patrick Vallance, who was appointed as chief scientific adviser to the British government. (Financial Times)
2. Merck received FDA-approval for its cytomegalovirus treatment that prevents infection after patients receive a certain type of stem cell transplant. The drug will be marketed as Prevymis, and it will be the first new CMV therapy to come on the market in 15 years, according to the drugmaker. (Endpoints News)
3. Former Eli Lilly U.S. president Alex Azar is reportedly President Donald Trump’s top pick to succeed Tom Price as head of the Department of Health and Human Services. (Bloomberg)
4. Alphabet and Goldman Sachs were among investors that sued POC outfit Outcome Health for allegedly misleading them in the run-up to a nearly $500 million investment last March. Outcome’s founders countered that the investors’ claims are baseless and that their effort to freeze $225 million in funds controlled by the founders could damage the startup financially. (WSJ)
5. In a letter to Allergan CEO Brent Saunders, five senators requested information on a patent deal it made with the Saint Regis Mohawk Tribe. The drugmaker transferred the patents of eye drug Restasis to the tribe, which could disregard challenges from generic drugmakers questioning the patents’ validity. (CNBC)
