Top news
* AstraZeneca PLC's experimental immunotherapy Imfinzi met a crucial goal of extending life in patients with hard-to-treat non-small cell lung cancer in a late-stage study, further advancing the Cambridge, England-based company's ambitions in the highly competitive field of immuno-oncology.
* The U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved San Rafael, Calif.-based BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc.'s Palynziq, or pegvaliase, injection to reduce blood amino acid phenylalanine concentration in adult patients with the genetic disease phenylketonuria.
* CSPC Pharmaceutical Group Ltd. said profit for the three months ended March 31 rose 42.6%, while revenue increased 55.2%. The Chinese pharmaceutical company's profit attributable to owners of the company reached about HK$909.9 million for the period, up from about HK$637.9 million a year ago.
* Two Ebola patients may have exposed 50 other people to the infection after their relatives helped them escape a hospital in the Democratic Republic of the Congo to attend a prayer meeting, Reuters reported.
* Private equity firm KKR & Co. LP and French food products company Danone are among the bidders looking to acquire GlaxoSmithKline PLC's 72.5% stake in its Indian consumer products division, GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare Ltd., The Economic Times reported. A deal for the pharmaceutical giant's stake in GlaxoSmithKline Consumer Healthcare would reportedly be valued at about $4 billion.
* Zhi Hong, a former head of GSK's infectious diseases therapy area unit, launched Brii Bio in China with $260 million initial funding. The company has entered strategic partnerships with U.S.-based Vir Biotechnology, Inc., Chinese online retail giant Alibaba Group Holding Ltd.'s healthcare arm AliHealth as well as WuXi AppTec Co., Ltd.
* China Grand Pharmaceutical and Healthcare Holdings Ltd. agreed to acquire Taiwan Tung Yang International Co. Ltd. for about HK$1.90 billion.
* Strata Oncology Inc., a precision oncology platform company, said it raised about $26 million in series B funding round, which saw the participation of U.S pharmaceutical giants Pfizer Inc. and Merck & Co. Inc.
* Magenta Therapeutics Inc., a developer of stem cell-based therapies, is looking to raise up to $100 million in its IPO by listing its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol MGTA.
* South San Francisco, Calif.-based biotechnology company Kezar Life Sciences Inc. is planning an up to $80.5 million IPO to list its shares on the Nasdaq under the symbol KZR.
Drug and product pipeline
* AbbVie Inc.'s Imbruivca met the main goal of a phase 3 study evaluating the drug in adults with chronic lymphocytic leukemia, a type of blood cancer. The North Chicago, Ill.-based company said the results pave the way for the first potential chemotherapy-free CD20 combo in the first-line treatment of that form of blood cancer.
* Danish drugmaker Genmab A/S said the phase 3 trial of its medicine Arzerra failed to meet its main goal in treating a type of blood cancer. The company was studying whether adding Arzerra to bendamustine was better for patients with indolent B-cell non-Hodgkin lymphoma who had stopped responding to Roche Holding AG's Rituxan.
* Japan's Eisai Co. Ltd. and Merck & Co. Inc. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration extended its review of Lenvima as a treatment for a type of liver cancer by three months.
* Malvern, Penn.-based Recro Pharma Inc. said the U.S. Food and Drug Administration rejected the new drug application for its nonopioid painkiller intravenous meloxicam.
Operational activity
* Pfizer has agreed to pay nearly $24 million to settle claims that it paid illegal kickbacks to ensure that Medicare beneficiaries kept using, and the government kept covering, three of the company's medicines.
* The Coalition for Epidemic Preparedness Innovations will provide $25 million to Profectus BioSciences, Inc. and Emergent BioSolutions Inc. to develop a vaccine for the Nipah virus.
* Newton, Mass-based Karyopharm Therapeutics Inc. and Shanghai-based Antengene Corp. signed a deal to develop and commercialize four Karyopharm drugs in China and certain regions in Asia.
* Dublin-based biotechnology company Prothena Corp. PLC said it will reduce its workforce by about 57% following the discontinuation of its rare drug development program in April.
* Antitrust charges filed by the Federal Trade Commission against the maker of generic drugs Impax Laboratories Inc. have been dismissed by a judge within the agency. The FTC in a January 2017 complaint had alleged that in June 2010 Impax and Endo Pharmaceuticals Inc. reached a deal under which Impax will not launch a generic version of an Endo painkiller for three years, a press release from the agency said.
Our features
As genetic testing companies look to enter the medical arena, criticism grows: Genetic testing companies such as 23andMe, once focused on heritage and physical traits, are moving into the realm of diagnosis and disease — raising questions about consumer trust and drawing ire from medical professionals.

Other features
* Containing the Ebola outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo may be a challenge for health authorities due to skepticism over the use of a new vaccine, The New York Times wrote.
* The New York Times also has a feature on migraines, including its symptoms and characteristics.
* Scientists at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology have developed a prototype bio-electronic pill that can potentially detect diseases in the human body with the help of genetically engineered bacteria, The Financial Times reported.
The day ahead
Early morning futures indicators pointed to a higher opening for the U.S. market.
In Asia, the Hang Seng declined 0.56% to 30,588.04, while the Nikkei 225 increased 0.6% to 22,450.79.
In Europe, around midday, the FTSE 100 was up 0.24% to 7,736.44, and the Euronext 100 was up 0.46% to 1,077.21.
The Daily Dose has an editorial deadline of 6:30 a.m. ET. Some external links may require a subscription. Links are current as of publication time, and we are not responsible if those links are unavailable later.
Editor's note: We will not publish The Daily Dose on Monday, May 28. We will resume publication Tuesday, May 29
