coffee thx to chichacha on flickr creative commons

Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the middle of the week. You made it this far, so why not continue, yes? After all, consider the alternatives. So why not celebrate with a cup or two of stimulation as you persevere? Our flavor, for those keeping track, remains the ever-seasonal Pumpkin Spice. What do you prefer? Meanwhile, here is the usual menu of tidbits. Hope your day goes well and you conquer the world. Good luck…

Weeks before Valeant Pharmaceuticals said it would cut ties with Philidor Rx Services, the drug maker was planning to expand its use of the mail-order pharmacy, Bloomberg News reports. The mail-order pharmacy was on the brink of becoming a larger part of Valeant’s operations and widen its role beyond dermatology to other lines of medications, such as eye-care products.

More Americans are using prescription medicines, particularly drugs that treat conditions triggered by obesity, Stat writes, citing a study in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Among people 20 and older, usage climbed 59 percent in 2012 from 51 percent in 1999. And the percentage of people taking five or more prescription drugs nearly doubled, to 15 percent from 8 percent, during that same period.

If there was a drug that made you smarter, helped you learn, and made you more focused, would you take it? That question opened a debate the other night at George Washington University in which two sides argued both for and against whether “College Students Should Be Allowed to Take Smart Drugs.” At the end of the debate, 39 percent of the audience voted in favor of college students being allowed to use smart drugs, The Washington Post writes.

Bristol-Myers Squibb is laying off 78 workers as part of a plan to close a Wallingford, Ct., facility, a move that will involve relocating another 800 employees, The Record-Journal writes.

Pfizer says there were no safety or quality problems with the drugs made at the Chinese site reportedly issued with a 483 for expired materials and missing paperwork, InPharma Technologist tells us.

GlaxoSmithKline declared plans to file 20 new medicines by 2020, and another in the subsequent five-year period as the drug maker tries to dispel investor concerns over its prospects, Pharma Times reports.

Preliminary testing of two long-acting injectable drugs – from Johnson & Johnson and ViiV Healthcare – indicates it might be possible to keep HIV at bay indefinitely with injections every month or two, the Associated Press says.

Mylan received approval from the U.S. Federal Trade Commission for its proposed $27 billion takeover of generic drug maker Perrigo after it agreed to sell seven of its generic drugs.

Vertex Pharmaceuticals has ranked high on investor lists of likely biotech acquisition targets, but now that the drug maker is on the path to profit, it’s the one ready to go shopping, Bloomberg News writes.

Sanofi and BioNTech signed a collaboration and license agreement to discover and develop up to five cancer immunotherapies, according to The Economic Times.