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Moderna has begun testing an mRNA flu vaccine in clinical trials, with the company announcing Wednesday that the first participants had been dosed in the Phase 1/2 study. The vaccine, mRNA-1010, is Moderna’s first seasonal flu vaccine candidate to enter clinical trials and will target influenza A H1n1, H3N2, and influenza B Yamagata and Victoria. The company is aiming to enroll 180 participants ages 18 years and older in the trial, and eventually aims to study combination vaccines to target multiple respiratory viruses such as SARS-CoV-2 and RSV. (Hein, 7/8)

A congressional committee released a report on Thursday showing the 14 largest drug makers spent more on stock buybacks than research and development during the last five years, the latest sign that the cost of prescription medicines remains a political hot potato in Washington. Specifically, the companies spent $577 billion on stock buybacks and dividends from 2016 through 2020, which was $56 billion more than was spent on R&D over the same period. Of the drug makers that were examined, only AstraZeneca (AZN) and Roche (RHHBY) spent more on R&D during that time time, according to the report. (Silverman, 7/8)

KHN: Drugmakers’ Spending On Stock, Dividends And Executive Pay Exceeds Research, Democrats Say

The largest drug companies are far more interested in enriching themselves and investors than in developing new drugs, according to a House committee report released Thursday that argues the industry can afford to charge Medicare less for prescriptions. The report by the House Oversight and Reform Committee says that contrary to pharmaceutical industry arguments that large profits fund extensive research and innovation, the major drug companies plow more of their billions in earnings back into their own stocks, dividends and executive compensation. (McAuliff, 7/9)

In a bid to calm anxious patients, the Food and Drug Administration has extended the shelf life of a drug used to treat a rare form of glaucoma, which Pfizer (PFE) recently discontinued and which may disappear altogether unless the company finds a suitable buyer. The agency sent a notice to health care providers on Wednesday indicating that the shelf life for the medicine, known as phospholine iodide, would now run 12 months beyond the date stamped on its packaging, which would make “additional limited inventory of product available.” (Silverman, 7/9)

Medical device manufacturer Alere on Thursday agreed to pay the Justice Department $38.75 million to settle allegations that it knowingly sold defective blood monitoring test strips to Medicare beneficiaries. Alere and its subsidiary Alere San Diego allegedly failed to inform the Food and Drug Administration, patients and providers of issues with its INRatio blood coagulation monitor's test results. Many consumers billed Medicare to purchase the strips, which violates the False Claims Act. (Gellman, 7/8)

Philip Morris International Inc. agreed to buy U.K. asthma drug maker Vectura Group Plc for $1.2 billion, one of the biggest moves yet by a tobacco company toward treating conditions that its cigarettes can help cause. Philip Morris is offering 150 pence in cash for every Vectura share, the companies said in a statement Friday. That’s 11% higher than Thursday’s closing price, and beats an offer from Carlyle Group Inc. that management had agreed to in May. Vectura shares rose as much as 13%, trading above the new bid. Carlyle said it’s considering its options. As an increasing number of people across the developed world quit smoking to improve their health, Philip Morris has focused its investment on IQOS heated-tobacco devices. Chief Executive Officer Jacek Olczak is also targeting at least $1 billion in sales outside nicotine by 2025. (Gretler, 7/9)

A former Genentech principal scientist and her husband were convicted of stealing trade secrets and providing the information to a Taiwanese company, which then parlayed the purloined data to reach a $101 million partnership with Sanofi (SNY) to develop medicines. Xanthe Lam, who worked for Genentech from 1986 through 2017, helped to siphon information about four drugs — the Avastin, Rituxan, and Herceptin cancer treatments, as well as the Pulmozyme cystic fibrosis medication — to JHL Biotech, which was founded by former Genentech employees to develop biosimilar versions of these and other drugs, according to court documents. (Silverman, 7/8)