Trump Executive Order Strips Seven Vaccines From Childhood Immunization Recommendations

President Trump’s order stripping seven diseases from federal childhood immunization recommendations threatens demand across the pediatric-vaccine franchise, while Eli Lilly’s UK clearance for oral Foundayo opens a new European front in the obesity war.

Today’s top developments:

• President Trump signed an executive order removing seven diseases from federal childhood immunization recommendations and advising changes to the MMR vaccine schedule — a move described as nearly halving U.S. childhood immunization coverage and one of the most significant federal interventions in pediatric vaccine policy in decades (Pharmaceutical Technology)
• Eli Lilly’s oral weight-loss pill Foundayo won approval from the UK’s MHRA — the first European regulator to clear the drug, with the EU’s EMA review still pending — handing Lilly a first-mover edge over Novo Nordisk’s injectable Wegovy in the European oral-obesity market (CNBC)
• Sentynl Therapeutics signed an option deal potentially worth $475 million to commercialize Mereo BioPharma’s phase 3-ready drug for a rare genetic respiratory disease in the U.S., an option-to-commercialize structure that limits upfront outlay while giving Mereo a resourced U.S. partner ahead of a pivotal readout (Fierce Biotech)
• Bristol Myers Squibb unveiled plans for a $2.3 billion multi-modal manufacturing facility in Texas — its first major in-house manufacturing presence in the state — reflecting the industry’s push to onshore and diversify capacity amid supply-chain and geopolitical pressures (Pharmaceutical Technology)
• Epicrispr Biotechnologies closed a $90 million Series C backed by Sanofi Ventures to advance its epigenetic-medicine pipeline, led by an early-phase candidate for facioscapulohumeral muscular dystrophy (FSHD), signaling continued institutional conviction in epigenetic editing despite the field’s pre-revenue stage (Fierce Biotech)