Top news
* The U.S. House vote on the right-to-try bill — which would give critically ill patients greater access to experimental drugs beyond the U.S. Food and Drug Administration's current compassionate-use process — fell short of the required two-thirds of the 435 House members needed to pass. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence have voiced their support for the measure, which had been criticized as an attempt to weaken the FDA.
* The U.S. must take immediate, bipartisan and multilateral action to address the high costs of cancer drugs and deem the effort a national priority, a panel of White House advisers told President Trump in a new report. Drug costs are accelerating far faster than the costs of other healthcare components, which can result in a significant financial burden on patients and their families, said the President's Cancer Panel.
* The U.S. spent 17.8% of its gross domestic product on healthcare in 2016, nearly twice the rate of 10 other high-income nations, according to a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Americans spent $1,443 on pharmaceuticals in 2016 on a per-capita basis, compared to a range of $466 to $939 in other countries.
M&A and capital markets
* India's Glenmark Pharmaceuticals Ltd. is planning to sell its domestic orthopedic business in an effort to reduce debt, The Economic Times reported, citing sources. The generic-drug maker is looking to raise 8 billion to 9 billion Indian rupees from the divestment, which has attracted the interest of certain strategic investors.
* China's Ministry of Commerce said it conditionally approved Germany-based Bayer AG's $62.5 billion takeover of St. Louis, Mo.-based seed company Monsanto Co.
* Polyphor Ltd., a Switzerland-based specialty pharmaceutical company, is looking to raise more than CHF100 million in an IPO in the second quarter, Reuters reported, citing anonymous sources.
Drug and product pipeline
* According to a market analysis by the IQVIA Institute for Human Data Science, branded medicine spending in developed markets will drop this year and will remain flat over the next half-decade.
* Bellicum Pharmaceuticals Inc. said interim results from the ongoing phase 1/2 BP-004 study of the company's BPX-501 T cell therapy showed that the treatment may contribute to a "durable" anticancer effect in patients with acute myeloid leukemia.
* The U.S. FDA granted priority review to Merck & Co. Inc.'s new supplemental biologics license application for Keytruda to treat advanced cervical cancer, the 14th accepted regulatory filing for the drug.
* Switzerland-based Auris Medical Holding AG said its phase 3 study of Keyzilen in tinnitus, which is the perception of noise or a ringing sound in the ear, did not meet its main goal.
Operational activity
* Hikma Pharmaceuticals PLC said core profit attributable to shareholders for the full year ending Dec. 31, 2017, fell year over year to $252 million from $276 million. The London-based drugmaker said its earnings were impacted by "intense" pricing pressure and by the delay in approval for its generic version of Advair Diskus, GlaxoSmithKline PLC's blockbuster asthma treatment.
* Allergan PLC awarded CEO Brenton Saunders a $32.8 million compensation package in 2017, according to an SEC filing. The Irish drugmaker raised Saunders' base salary by 26% to $1.3 million in 2017, from about $1.0 million a year earlier.
* Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. denied EU antitrust charges related to the delayed launch of a generic version of Cephalon Inc.'s sleep disorder drug Provigil. The European Commission's charges state that Teva was part of an unlawful deal with Cephalon to delay selling the generic version of Provigil.
* Indian pharmaceutical company Unichem Laboratories Ltd. is under regulatory oversight for allegedly launching six high blood pressure treatments before the company asked the National Pharmaceutical Pricing Authority to set the drugs' retail prices, The Economic Times of India reported.
Our features
UCLA researchers: Hip, joint replacements are a chance to cut costs: UCLA researchers in a piece published in JAMA: The Journal of the American Medical Association say the U.S can save billions on hip and knee replacements by reducing unnecessary procedures and capping prices.
AbbVie blockbuster leads 2017 top drug sales; Roche cancer meds follow closely: Although three Roche Holding AG cancer drugs were among the top revenue drivers across large pharmaceutical companies in 2017, immunology medicines such as AbbVie Inc.'s Humira still led big companies' drug sales in the year.

Other features
* London-based GlaxoSmithKline PLC, which is led by CEO Emma Walmsley, has one of the narrowest gender pay gaps reported at large U.K. companies, with women paid about 3% less than men, compared with the national average of roughly 17%, Bloomberg News wrote.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng fell 0.53% to 31,435.01 and the Nikkei 225 dropped 0.87% to 21,777.29.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 rose 0.26% to 7,157.38 and the Euronext 100 rose 0.24% to 1,026.40.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 6:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription.
