The cancer drug developer led by former Gilead R&D head Norbert Bischofberger will start a registrational trial for its recently acquired SYK inhibitor and the first trial for its CDK9 inhibitor.

Also, deals involving Sumitomo Dainippon, Tolero, Boston Biomedical, Zai Lab, Turning Point, SciClone, EpicentRx, Yuhan, GI Innovation, Takeda, Carmine, HitGen, Morphic, CStone and Burning Rock.

Mid-size Japanese player Sumitomo Dainippon sets aside billions for potential M&A deals under a new business plan designed to fill gaps in its neurology pipeline as it prepares to lose exclusivity for its top global product.

FDA Commissioner-nominee Scott Gottlieb was approved by the Senate HELP committee April 27, sending his confirmation to the full Senate. Written responses from Gottlieb to senators' questions provided in advance of the vote don't hold any big surprises, but they provide a view into priorities of the incoming official and the lawmakers, including quick user-fee reauthorization, resolving the lab-developed test oversight debate, off-label and "right-to-try" issues and post-market surveillance.