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State lawmakers are discussing "conflict of interest" in the pharmaceutical industry Wednesday that could result in CVS closing more than 100 locations. State Sen. Bobby Harshbarger proposed a bill that would not allow pharmacy benefit managers (PBMs) from owning or controlling pharmacies in Tennessee. CVS Health is now threatening to close all 134 of its pharmacies in Tennessee if this bill passes. (Maffei, 3/4)

Two major pharmacy chains are closing hundreds of stores across the U.S., reshaping access to everyday health care in many communities. Pharmacy chains have been under pressure for years as shopping habits change and costs rise. (Stevenson, 3/3)

Disc Medicine is laying off a fifth of its workforce as the biotech reels from the FDA’s rejection of its rare blood disease candidate. Last month, the agency knocked back an approval application for the glycine reuptake inhibitor bitopertin in erythropoietic protoporphyria (EPP) and X-linked protoporphyria. (Waldron, 3/3)

Prime Medicine said Tuesday it will ask the Food and Drug Administration to approve a gene-editing treatment that has been given to only two patients. The application will test an agency that has promised to speed new gene-editing treatments to patients but has recently come under scrutiny from regulators, executives, and advocates for spurring a string of gene therapies for neurological diseases. (Mast, 3/3)

Less than a month after the US Food and Drug Administration said a TV advertisement for Novo Nordisk A/S’ Wegovy weight-loss pill included “false or misleading” claims, the company was hit with a notice for its original blockbuster Ozempic. (Thornton, 3/3)