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After setting record-high U.S. prices in the first half of 2022, drugmakers continued to launch medicines at high prices in the second half, a Reuters analysis has found, highlighting their power despite new legislation to lower costs for older prescription products. The median annual price of the 17 novel drugs the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved since July 2022 is $193,900, down from $257,000 in the first half of 2022, Reuters found. For full year 2022, the median was $222,003. (Beasley, 1/5)

For the past two months, patients have had a hard time finding methylphenidate drugs, a class that includes Novartis AG’s Ritalin and Johnson & Johnson’s Concerta. A drug manufacturer and a major pharmacy told Bloomberg News there are issues with the supply of the drugs, though it’s unclear what’s causing the shortage. (Swetlitz, 1/5)

A group of pricey breakthrough prescription drugs are poised to shake up the market this year — including an Alzheimer's treatment that could be approved today by the FDA. Though the drugs offer hope to patients with hard-to-treat conditions like Alzheimer's or sickle cell disease, or who struggle with obesity, their potentially eye-popping prices are sure to create dilemmas for insurers, government programs and patients themselves. (Owens, 1/6)

Everyone agrees that the world needs new antibiotics, as the number of drug-resistant infections continues to soar. But there's little agreement on how to finance their development, and the situation is deteriorating. (Primack, 1/5)

Johnson & Johnson on Wednesday filed IPO registration papers for its consumer health products business, which is being spun out under the name Kenvue. This could be the largest U.S. IPO since Rivian went public in late 2021, with Renaissance Capital estimating that Kenvue could raise up to $5 billion. It also encompasses a slew of household brands, including Tylenol, Band-Aid, Johnson's Baby Powder, Listerine, Neutrogena and Nicorette. (Primack, 1/5)

More than a year after Al Sandrock was pushed out as Biogen’s R&D chief, the company has set permanent plans to replace him into motion. Biogen announced Thursday that it will be splitting the head of R&D role into two, with Priya Singhal being named as the new head of development. The company has initiated a search for a new research chief, it said in a press release. (DeAngelis, 1/5)

Moderna Inc on Thursday announced a $35 million licensing deal with cancer-focused drug developer CytomX Therapeutics to work on messenger RNA-based therapies for a wide range of diseases. Shares of California-based CytomX rose more than 50% in extended trading. (1/5)

The UK government agreed to work with BioNTech SE to treat as many as 10,000 cancer patients with personalized therapies by 2030, a research partnership that will give the German company quicker access to patients it needs to test its drugs. (Kresge and Ashton, 1/6)

Fate Therapeutics, a biotech upstart with big ambitions to use cell-based therapies to treat autoimmune diseases and cancer, is now planning to cut back on both jobs and experimental drugs after an early end to a deal with Janssen. (Wosen, 1/5)