Limiting interactions to two-dimensional settings will hinder collaboration, innovation and the mentoring of younger employees, Merck & Co. CEO Kenneth Frazier says. Frazier, who will retire in June, is looking forward to returning to public service but says "politics with a capital P is not my thing."

Agency approved Regeneron’s monoclonal antibody cocktail Inmazeb and Ridgeback’s mAB Ebanga on data from a multi-arm, adaptive trial in which several investigational agents were independently compared to a control group. Efficacy for both drugs was demonstrated on a mortality endpoint, with lingering uncertainties to be addressed through postmarketing studies.

Sponsor preferred a tropical disease voucher because it could be redeemed for a supplemental application, but the FDA awarded a voucher under the medical countermeasures program, which prohibits redemption for supplements; agency says it takes a case-by-case approach to deciding whether tropical disease and rare pediatric disease vouchers can be redeemed for supplements.