Top news
* Gene therapies from Novartis AG, Juno Therapeutics Inc. or Gilead Sciences Inc. used to treat blood cancers could emerge as winners at the American Society of Hematology conference in Atlanta. The companies are developing medicines based on the chimeric antigen receptor T-cell, or CAR-T, treatment.
* U.S. Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Scott Gottlieb is seeking to reform the agency's review process of medical devices into a more benefit-risk based system.
* Financial ties to various industries are impeding the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention director Brenda Fitzgerald from doing her job, Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., charged.
M&A and capital markets
* Mallinckrodt Public Ltd. Co. completed the $42 million acquisition of Ocera Therapeutics Inc.
* Enzymotec Ltd. shareholders approved the previously announced acquisition by Frutarom Industries Ltd.
* Clearbridge Health Ltd. launched an IPO of 88 million shares priced at 28 Singaporean cents apiece to raise about S$24.6 million, Deal Street Asia reported.
* Quanterix Corp. closed its IPO of 4,916,480 common shares at $15 apiece with gross proceeds of about $73.7 million.
ASH results
* Juno Therapeutics Inc.'s JCAR017 demonstrated a reduction in disease in 74% of patients in a phase 1 trial to treat relapsed or refractory aggressive B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma. The data was presented at the American Society of Hematology conference in Atlanta.
* Gilead Sciences Inc. said its KTE-C19 gene therapy had a 71% response rate in an ongoing phase 1/2 trial of acute lymphoblastic leukemia patients whose disease is refractory to or has relapsed following standard chemotherapy or hematopoietic stem cell transplantation.
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* Amgen Inc. said its Kyprolis, in combination with dexamethasone and Celgene Corp.'s Revlimid, helped in extending the life of blood cancer patients in a phase 3 study.
* Johnson & Johnson's immunotherapy Darzalex produced a significant response in over half of the patients treated for a type of intermediate or high-risk smoldering multiple myeloma, preliminary data of a phase 2 trial showed.
* GlaxoSmithKline plc said its drug candidate GSK2857916 showed positive results in a phase 1/2 trial for previously treated patients with multiple myeloma.
* Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc.'s selinexor, in combination with currently available treatments, showed high durable response rates in an ongoing phase 1b/2 study to treat multiple myeloma.
* Adaptimmune Therapeutics plc's NY-ESO SPEAR T-cell therapy showed "promising efficacy and acceptable safety" in a pilot study of multiple myeloma patients.
* Mustang Bio Inc.'s gene therapy MB-102 was found to be safe and well-tolerated in a phase 1 study for two types of blood cancer.
* Agios Pharmaceuticals Inc.'s drug ivosidenib showed promising responses in patients with relapsed or refractory acute myeloid leukemia and a mutation in an ongoing phase 1 trial.
* BeiGene Ltd.'s investigational drug zanubrutinib in combination with tislelizumab showed a reduction in disease for 40% of patients with B-cell malignancies in an ongoing phase 1b trial.
Other drug news
* Johnson & Johnson and development partner Bayer AG submitted an application to the U.S. FDA seeking two new indications for its heart drug Xarelto.
* Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. exclusively launched a generic version of Pfizer Inc.'s Viagra in the U.S.
Operational activity
* French pharmaceutical Sanofi urged Philippines to lift the suspension of its dengue vaccine Dengavaxia, which has recently come under regulatory scrutiny amid a public scare, Agence France-Presse reported.
* Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd. dismissed a patent infringement lawsuit against Mylan NV after a U.S. district court accepted Mylan's interpretation of the patents' claims.
* Medivir AB said Johnson & Johnson will terminate its license for hepatitis C treatment Olysio, after J&J assessed market demand for the medicine.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a mixed opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng dropped 0.59% to 28,793.88, while the Nikkei 225 slid 0.32% to 22,866.17.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 gained 0.16% to 7,465.70 and the Euronext 100 climbed 0.20% to 1,046.20.
The Daily Dose is updated as of 6:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription.

