Some European countries are weighing whether to allow people who have received the first dose of AstraZeneca's COVID-19 vaccine to receive a booster shot made by another company. Some countries changed their criteria for the AZ vaccine amid an ongoing investigation into reports of thromobtic events, disqualifying some people who have already received the first dose.

The $1.9 trillion American Rescue Plan will help drive domestic and global economic growth, but some countries will feel the effects more than others, according to the International Monetary Fund. The IMF predicts 6.4% growth in the US economy this year, which is 1.3 percentage points higher than the IMF's January forecast, and the global economy will grow by 6%.

Janssen, a Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, has entered into a deal to gain access to antiviral conjugates being developed by Cidara Therapeutics, making Cidara eligible to receive an upfront payment of $27 million. The company's lead candidate, CD388, shows promise as a treatment for every flu strain with just one dose, said Cidara CEO Jeffrey Stein.

Children's hospitals facing shortages of critical medicines have relied on neighboring medical centers, adjusted drug delivery protocols, delayed treatments and recalibrated drugs. Eleven of those hospitals formed the Children's Hospital Coalition and will provide a list of priority drugs to Phlow, a new federally funded drugmaker in Virginia, to produce some of the drugs and contract out the manufacture of others.

Regardless of who wins the US presidency, it will be the Senate that determines what action, if any, the federal government takes to rein in rising drug prices, says SVB Leerink analyst Goeffrey Porges.