Six of the world's largest drugmakers reported third quarter earnings that exceeded Wall Street's expectations, according to BioPharma Dive. 

CVS Pharmacy opened its first standalone store in Oregon on Oct. 29.

A bipartisan Senate bill designed to stop drug companies from manipulating the patent system to block cheaper competitors from the market has been stalled in the debate over drug prices, according to Politico.

An FDA advisory panel recommended the agency remove Makena, a treatment for preventing preterm births, from the market after reviewing data that shows it may not be effective, according to STAT. 

Walgreens Boots Alliance plans to develop more than 30 "small store" pharmacies, mostly in big cities, that will focus less on retail and more on health and wellness, according to Forbes.

In a setback for Novartis' efforts to expand the use of its gene therapy drug Zolgensma to older patients, the FDA halted the drugmaker's clinical trial after it found a safety concern in an animal study, according to STAT.

Chronic drug shortages are a result of low prices for older generic medicines and what officials call a "broken marketplace," because it doesn't follow the textbook model of supply and demand, according to a new federal report released Oct. 29. 

A House subcommittee will hold a hearing Oct. 30 to discuss the safety of the U.S. drug supply chain after two major drugs were recalled due to potential carcinogens, according to Politico's Prescription Pulse newsletter.

Fifteen drugmakers will pay the state of Illinois $242 million to settle allegations they published inflated average wholesale price information to increase Medicaid reimbursements, Illinois Attorney General Kwame Raoul said Oct. 28. 

The FDA may create a rating system for drugmakers' manufacturing facilities as a strategy to combat drug shortages, according to STAT.