1. Teva Pharmaceutical Industries is reportedly laying off thousands of staff in the U.S. and cutting its Israel workforce by 25%. In a letter to the Israeli parliament, the drugmaker said it plans to take “deep, meaningful steps around the world.” (Reuters)
2. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals halted plans to develop an Eylea combination eye drug to compete with Novartis’ experimental drug RTH258, which has shown advantages over Eylea. The combination of Eylea with nesvacumab did not effect significant changes in two mid-stage clinical trials. (Stat)
3. As federal officials block mega-mergers and behemoths like Amazon seek to enter the pharmacy business, insurers, drugstores, and hospitals are increasingly teaming up. Cleveland Clinic and insurer Oscar recently partnered to offer health plans to Ohio residents, while Aetna and CVS Health are discussing a potential partnership. (NYT)
4. Merck plans to invest $1.3 billion in a new research hub in London and hire 950 staff to work at the site. The R&D center is slated to open in 2020. (Endpoints News)
5. AstraZeneca and the state-run Chinese Future Industry Investment Fund have partnered to launch a new biopharmaceutical company aimed at developing drugs in the Asian market. (Endpoints News)
