Early last year, Eli Lilly announced that instead of taking its blockbuster contender mirikizumab forward to the FDA for psoriasis, it would be essentially going nowhere in the indication. Instead, the pharma then announced in its Q1 ’21 earnings statement that it would be focusing on ulcerative colitis and Crohn’s disease indications in a sudden about-face.

And as the drug is before the FDA for potential approval for the first indication of ulcerative colitis, the megapharma is now ready to reveal more data to bolster its case.

Bristol Myers Squibb is bringing new life to a chemotherapy drug from the old Celgene pipeline as it touts another approval in a rare form of blood cancer affecting young children.

The FDA on Friday approved Vidaza (chemically known as azacitidine) for pediatric patients 1 month and older with newly diagnosed juvenile myelomonocytic leukemia (JMML). The new indication marks the first approval for Vidaza in more than a decade, though it’s commonly used to treat acute myeloid leukemia and myelodysplastic syndromes (MDS).

The area of Ireland famous for Blarney Castle and its cliffsides along the Atlantic Ocean is seeing Merck KGaA expand its commitment there.

The German drug manufacturer is expanding its membrane and filtration manufacturing capabilities in Ireland. The company will invest approximately €440 million ($470 million) to increase membrane manufacturing capacity in Carrigtwohill, Ireland, and build a new manufacturing facility at Blarney Business Park, in County Cork, Ireland.

Twenty House Democrats, including Reps. Katie Porter of California and Susan Wild of Pennsylvania, are calling on Senate leaders to move quickly with a reconciliation bill (meaning they only need a simple majority for passage) with prescription drug pricing reforms, and to include adding new authority for Medicare to negotiate drug prices.

They also called on the Senate to specifically follow suit with the House passage of a $35 per month insulin cap (as Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer’s deadline for a vote on that provision has come and gone), and to cap Medicare Part D costs at $2,000 per year for seniors.

2021 was a year of good fortune for pharmaceutical companies — at least the ones on this year’s Fortune 500 list. Many saw a massive surge in profits last year, led by Gilead and its mammoth 4,961% growth.

However, it appears Gilead isn’t alone in that respect. Despite its gains, the company actually fell 13 spots in Fortune’s rank to No. 129, as several other companies more than doubled their profits.

As the cases of monkeypox now sit at well over 100 worldwide and have spread to multiple continents, the orders for any type of vaccine against monkeypox are seeing nations and medical bodies looking to get their hands on anything and everything. And now SIGA Technologies seems to be getting in on the action.

According to Euronews, SIGA Technologies, a pharmaceutical company that is focused on providing medical countermeasures to biological and chemical attacks, is now in talks with several European authorities looking to stockpile its antiviral that can counter monkeypox. The drug known as tecovirimat or Tpoxx was approved by the FDA in 2018 as a vaccine for smallpox but was approved by the European Medicines Agency to also act against monkeypox, cowpox and complications from immunization with vaccinia.

Just this week, the Senate voted 51-50 along party lines (with tie breaker from VP Kamala Harris) to make President Biden appointee Alvaro Bedoya the deciding vote on a split 2-2 Federal Trade Commission. And now that it is no longer split, a group of senators wants the commission to actually move forward on investigating pharmacy benefit managers.

Republican senators Chuck Grassley (IA) and Mike Braun (IN), alongside Democrat senator Ron Wyden (OR), submitted a letter to FTC chair Lina Khan earlier this week, after the commissioners remained deadlocked in a 2-2 vote in February to formally look into anti-competitive practices at the hands of PBMs.