Despite having little or no presence in the respiratory market, Pharmacia fought off Novartis, Roche and Aventis to win worldwide marketing right to Altana's roflumilast for COPD and asthma--a drug that could become a blockbuster. Altana reckons that Pharmacia, with no similar products of its own that might compete for attention, is strongly committed to roflumilast's success.

Boston Scientific has agreed to pay $1.07bn to acquire Lumenis’ surgical laser business from Baring Private Equity Asia. See what Meghan Scanlon, president of Boston Scientific’s urology and pelvic health business, said about it here.

The Center for Disease Control and Prevention’s Advisory Committee on Immunization Practices concerns about making COVID-19 vaccine dose regimen changes based on unproven immune correlates of protection could be a warning sign to sponsors about roadblocks they might face if updating vaccines to address viral variants or conducting pediatric studies relying on such surrogate endpoints.