1️⃣ The importance of GSK + 23andMe deal

GlaxoSmithKline is investing $300M into 23andMe and the two companies announced a partnership to develop new therapies together. 23andMe will be contributing database of genotype/phenotype information of its 5 million customers, about 80% of which have consented to their data being used for research. GSK will bring their drug discovery and commercialization expertise.

The data 23andMe has is important, but one of the key parts is its direct access to consumers (especially ones with rare diseases and gene variants). From GSK:

The Wired: 23andMe GSK Deal

2️⃣ Drug prices

US pharma executives say price gouging is limited to a few bad actors such as Martin Shkreli, the convicted fraudster who raised the price of an Aids and cancer medicine by more than 5,000 percent. In truth, the practice is rife, says the FT's David Crow. This analysis shows how prescription drug spending is allocated in the US supply chain.

Health Affairs: Where Does All the Money Go?

3️⃣ How the top-selling drugs thwart their competition

A revealing new report from I-Mak sheds light on the creative methods that drug makers use to protect their best-selling products from any semblance of lower-priced competition, in essence thwarting generics while continuously hiking list prices on the medicines. Some key findings from the report outlines the trends among the top 12 grossing drugs in the U.S.

I-MAC Report: Overpatented, Overpriced

4️⃣ How drug companies are beating Trump at his own game

A July tweet from President Donald Trump sent panic through the C-suites of some of the world’s biggest drug companies, prompting Pfizer and nine other companies to roll back or freeze prices.

But there’s less to those announcements than meets the eye. The gestures turned out to be largely symbolic — efforts to beat Trump at his own game by giving him headlines he wants without making substantive changes in how they do business.

Politico: Trump and Drug Prices

5️⃣ Boston’s biotech boom could bring bold new treatments for cancer

The biotech industry has already remade the city. Now these startups and researchers are reinventing how we fight this insidious disease.

Boston Globe: Biotech Boom