Axios

The Food and Drug Administration will require drug manufacturers to conduct more scientific studies before approving updated COVID-19 vaccines for healthy adults under age 65.

Why it matters: The policy change announced Tuesday will likely limit access to the shots to seniors and individuals with pre-existing conditions who are at higher risk of serious infections.

Pfizer on Tuesday announced a cancer drug licensing deal with Chinese biotech 3SBio that includes a $1.25 billion upfront payment and $4.8 billion in potential earnouts. Pfizer also plans to invest $100 million for an equity stake.

Why it matters: This highlights how globalization is still finding a way in pharma, despite trade tensions that threaten to fracture the market.

Opioid abuse is as much an economic problem as a public health one, according to a comprehensive analysis provided first to Axios that concludes the total average annual cost associated with each case is nearly $700,000.

Why it matters: The cost burden falls unevenly, with states in a belt stretching through Appalachia to New England typically having bigger caseloads and a higher cost per case.

The Medicaid battle being waged by House Republicans is just the latest iteration of a long-running fight to repeal the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare.

Why it matters: Millions of Americans stand to lose health coverage if the Medicaid cuts in the latest version of the reconciliation bill become law.

Former President Biden's disclosure that he had Stage 4 prostate cancer was quickly met with sympathy late Sunday. By Monday morning, the questions — from Democrats and Republicans alike — had begun.

Why it matters: The timing of Biden's announcement, coupled with the way his handlers tried to cover up his health issues in the past, fueled speculation about how long he'd known about the cancer.

National Institutes of Health budget cuts proposed by the Trump administration and staff layoffs at the largest funder of cancer research threaten to stall innovation, doctors and researchers said.

The big picture: Cancer remains the second-leading cause of death in the U.S. As former President Biden said Monday after announcing he had been diagnosed with prostate cancer, the disease "touches us all."

The Trump administration has instituted all sorts of requirements in its first months to monitor Americans, particularly immigrants.

The big picture: From an undocumented immigrant registry to proof-of-citizenship for voting, President Trump has attempted to create a landscape in which the government can demand to know — and force people to prove — their identity in radical new ways.

Regeneron Pharmaceuticals has agreed to acquire the assets of bankrupt genetic testing company 23andMe for $256 million.

Why it matters: 23andMe holds personal genetic data on more than 15 million customers, and there have been widespread concerns about what a buyer could do with that information.

Women should be offered pain management before an intrauterine device placement and get counseling on different options for pain control, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists says in new clinical practice guidelines.

Why it matters: Women's pain is often dismissed in medical settings, resulting in lack of pain relief. More patients in recent years have taken to social media, posting videos of their experience with IUD insertions and bringing attention to unmanaged pain around the procedures.

After targeting dyes and other chemicals allowed for use in food, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. is zeroing in on the active ingredient in Roundup in his bid to root out what he calls environmental toxins that contribute to chronic disease.

Why it matters: The herbicide glyphosate is expected to feature prominently in a report due out this week from President Trump's Make America Healthy Again Commission, which was charged with identifying top contributors to America's chronic health problems.

Former President Biden's cancer diagnosis prompted an outpouring of support from across the political spectrum Sunday, including from President Trump and former Vice President Harris.

The big picture: After Biden's representatives announced that he was diagnosed Friday with an "aggressive form" of prostate cancer, Democrats and Republicans took to social media to pay tribute.

Former President Biden is being praised following his prostate cancer diagnosis for his efforts in spearheading Cancer Moonshot, an initiative that's designed to improve treatments and combat rates of the disease.

The big picture: Former President Obama, who appointed Biden to lead the drive a year on from his son Beau Biden's 2015 death from brain cancer, said after it was announced that his VP has an aggressive for of cancer that's spread to his bones: "Nobody has done more to find breakthrough treatments for cancer in all its forms than Joe."

Former President Biden and his family are reviewing treatment options after he was diagnosed with prostate cancer, which the National Cancer Institute (NCI) says is the "most common" type of cancer in U.S. men.

The big picture: Biden's representatives said Sunday the 82-year-old has an aggressive form of the disease that's spread to his bones — though it "appears to be hormone-sensitive which allows for effective management."