Here are the editors' top picks for the week ended Feb. 16.

US healthcare spending to accelerate over a decade, agency predicts

Spending on a range of products and services from medicines to hospital care will increase on average by 5.5% a year, which is 1 percentage point faster than the overall economy, economists at the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services predict.

Drugmakers expect multibillion-dollar hit under Capitol Hill budget deal

Brand-name drugmakers will take a multibillion-dollar hit under a newly passed congressional measure that closes a coverage gap one year earlier in the Medicare Part D prescription drug benefit than previously anticipated, analysts estimated.

US health chief defends Trump's budget; vows to lower drug prices, uphold ACA

Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar was peppered with questions at a House hearing over funding cuts in the administration's 2019 budget proposal, but the deep reduction at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention was not discussed.

Axovant shares fall as CEO resigns, company focuses on diversifying pipeline

David Hung, CEO and board member of the U.K. company that discarded development of its lead Alzheimer's drug candidate in January, is being replaced by Pavan Cheruvu.

Competition to bite into Shire's hemophilia treatment sales

The Dublin-based biopharmaceutical company is bracing for a drop in sales of its bleeding disorder treatments as it faces greater competition.

China deal adviser talks license partnerships, HKEX's bid to attract biotech

Tony Chu is the co-founder and managing partner of TPP Healthcare, a cross-border deal advisory company that specializes in the Chinese healthcare sector.

AmerisourceBergen may be latest pharma chain M&A target after Walgreens report

AmerisourceBergen Corp., a medical distributor for roughly a third of the U.S. market, could be the next acquisition target in a pharmaceutical supply chain shuffle featuring major healthcare retailers, providers, and even some industry outsiders.

Merck & Co. joins race to launch China's 1st immune checkpoint cancer drug

With the addition of Merck & Co. Inc., three drug manufacturers have filed applications for their PD-1 treatments to the China Food and Drug Administration.

Trump seeks to boost opioid, drug price efforts, but cut health agencies' funds

President Donald Trump wants his health agencies to prioritize combating the opioid crisis and lowering the costs Americans pay for their medicines, giving them their marching orders in his fiscal-year 2019 budget proposal.

Hospital mergers in focus as House lawmakers explore rising healthcare costs

The House Energy and Commerce oversight and investigations subcommittee is examining what role healthcare consolidation is having on rising healthcare spending.

Trump aims to cut drug costs in Medicare, Medicaid

President Donald Trump has put the profits of generic drugmakers, insurers and pharmacy benefit managers in his bullseye for finding savings on medicines in the Medicare and Medicaid programs.