Three pharma industry groups are suing HHS and the FDA to block a rule that would allow the importation of certain prescription drugs from Canada.

Drugmakers and public health officials should educate the public about the brief but potentially unpleasant immune responses that COVID-19 vaccines can cause, physicians told CDC advisors during a Nov. 23 virtual meeting.

HHS on Nov. 23 said it would rapidly distribute Regeneron's COVID-19 antibody drug to states, prioritizing areas of the country that have been affected the most by COVID-19 surges.

Merck announced Nov. 23 it will buy Rockville, Md.-based drugmaker OncoImmune for an upfront cash payment of $425 million to obtain rights to the drug it's developing for patients hospitalized with severe and critical COVID-19.

CVS Health has named Neela Montgomery president of its CVS Pharmacy business, effective Nov. 30. 

The FDA granted emergency use authorization to Regenron's COVID-19 antibody treatment Nov. 21, the only other COVID-19 antibody treatment granted emergency approval by the agency since its Nov. 9 approval of Eli Lilly's bamlanivimab.

AstraZeneca released its interim trial analysis Nov. 23 for the COVID-19 vaccine it's developing with the University of Oxford, which showed the candidate to be up to 90 percent effective in preventing the disease.

President Donald Trump announced two new drug-pricing rules Nov. 20, one that would link Medicare Part B drug prices to those paid in other countries and one to eliminate rebates drugmakers pay to pharmacy benefit managers, The Hill reported. 

James Kehoe, Walgreens Boots Alliance's global CFO, expressed little concern about Amazon's recent entry into pharmacy Nov. 19 when he spoke at the Wolfe Healthcare Conference, according to Bloomberg.

Medical device and drug recalls, whether voluntary or mandated by the FDA, ensure patient safety. Here are five reported to the FDA since the end of October:

Fresenius Kabi is recalling one lot of its sedative drug, dexmedetomidine, after finding it contains trace amounts of lidocaine, an anesthetic. 

The FDA has granted emergency authorization for Eli Lilly's drug, Olumiant, in combination with Gilead's remdesivir as a treatment for hospitalized COVID-19 patients, Eli Lilly said Nov. 19. 

Pfizer submitted an application for an emergency use authorization of its COVID-19 vaccine candidate to the FDA Nov. 20.

The World Health Organization on Nov. 20 recommended patients not be given remdesivir to treat COVID-19, saying there is no evidence that the antiviral drug improves patients' disease severity or mortality rates.

With both Moderna and Pfizer reporting that their vaccine candidates are close to 95 percent effective, and Pfizer planning to submit an application for emergency authorization for its vaccine in the next few days, health systems across the country are finalizing plans to distribute a COVID-19 vaccine.

HHS Secretary Alex Azar said Nov. 18 that the department is seeing "tremendous uptake" of a program between HHS, CVS and Walgreens to deliver COVID-19 vaccines to long-term care facilities, with 99% of facilities signed up for the program, CNBC reported. 

Health insurers will have to disclose customers' estimated out-of-pocket costs for prescription drugs as well as the negotiated prices they pay for drugs under a new rule passed by the Trump administration, Kaiser Health News reported. 

Gundersen Health System in La Crosse, Wis., has launched a mobile app. 

Most people know caffeine can be found in drinks like coffee, tea, soda and energy drinks, but many don't realize that caffeine can also be present in over-the-counter drugs, prescription medicines and dietary supplements. 

AstraZeneca and the University of Oxford's COVID-19 vaccine candidate produces a strong immune response in older adults at high risk of severe illness if they contract the virus, according to phase 2 trial results published Nov. 18 in The Lancet.