The national shortage of multiple cancer therapies is marginally improving compared to early summer, according to an Oct. 5 update from the National Comprehensive Cancer Network. 

As about 75,000 Kaiser Permanente workers strike in six states, the Oakland, Calif.-based system has temporarily closed at least 18 outpatient pharmacies across four states.

The FDA has started investigating schemes to sell counterfeit versions of Ozempic to unsuspecting pharmacies, according to an Oct. 4 industry alert obtained by CBS News. 

The active ingredients of Ozempic, Wegovy and Saxenda are associated with stomach paralysis, according to a study published Oct. 5 in JAMA. 

Research for a new oral cancer medication from pharmaceutical giant AbbVie yielded positive preclinical data that shows it "enhances anti-tumor immunity," according to an Oct. 4 news release. 

Moderna is moving forward with plans to develop a combination vaccine for flu and COVID-19 after early-stage studies yielded positive results, the company said Oct. 3. 

More than two dozen life science, pharmaceutical and biotech organizations partnered Oct. 4 to build a coalition advocating for mergers and acquisitions in the life sciences industry. 

Paxlovid (nirmatrelvir-ritonavir), a COVID-19 antiviral treatment, was found to be effective in reducing hospitalizations and deaths only among "the most clinically extremely vulnerable individuals," according to a study published Oct. 2 in JAMA. 

As Mark Cuban Cost Plus Drug Co. continues to make waves in the pharmaceutical market, it will soon begin to offer Clomid, a common fertility drug, to its customers.

Takeda Pharmaceuticals, a Japan-based drugmaker, is voluntarily withdrawing Exkivity (mobocertinib) in the U.S. after a phase 3 trial failed to confirm the lung cancer drug's efficacy.