Good morning, everyone, and welcome to another working week. We hope the weekend respite was relaxing and invigorating, despite the overwhelming winter storm that emerged, on this side of the pond, anyway. In any event, that oh-so-familiar routine of meetings, deadlines, and messages has returned. But what can you do? There is no pause button to stop the world, such as it is, from spinning. So this means one thing: time to dig in to the tasks at hand. On that note, we have fired up the tea kettle and our choice today is ginger peach. Meanwhile, we have assembled a menu of tidbits to help you get started. Hope your day is simply smashing and, as always, do keep in touch if something saucy arises. …
Merck is no longer in discussions to buy Revolution Medicines, The Wall Street Journal reports. Merck had been in talks to acquire the company in a deal valued at around $30 billion, but an agreement on price could not be reached. Earlier this month, AbbVie was reported to be in advanced talks for a deal for Revolution, which was drawing interest from multiple suitors, but AbbVie later said it “is not in discussions.” Revolution is developing drugs that target a molecular driver of cancers known as RAS and its experimental drugs seek to block the driver, thereby thwarting common cancers including lung, pancreatic, and colon that have proven difficult to treat. The company is expected to release closely watched testing data for its pancreatic and colorectal cancer drug candidates during the first half of this year.
The pharmaceutical industry, long one of the most powerful lobbies in Washington, is spending more than ever to influence the nation’s capital, Politico tells us. The Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America, which represents brand-name drugmakers, spent nearly $38 million on lobbying last year, up 22 percent from 2024 and the highest annual total on record. Nine of the 13 U.S. drugmakers on the Fortune 500 list, including Bristol-Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, Johnson & Johnson, Merck and Zoetis, reported their highest spending in at least a decade. Bristol-Myers Squibb reported the highest jump in annual spending, investing $10 million this year, a 91% change from 2024. The record investment in lobbying reflects the scale of disruption under the Trump administration, which has upended traditional levers of influence, demanding drugmakers negotiate deals directly with the White House to lower prices in exchange for tariff reprieves.Continue to STAT+ to read the full story…