The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Eastern District of New York said that Rite Aid will pay the United States a $4.75M penalty to resolve allegations that its employees, in violation of the Controlled Substances Act, recorded false or incomplete information about customers who purchased tens of thousands of products containing pseudoephedrine. Pseudoephedrine, an ingredient found in many cough and cold medicines, is used by some to illegally manufacture the drug methamphetamine. Richard P. Donoghue, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of New York, Grant C. Jaquith, United States Attorney for the Northern District of New York, Ray Donovan, Special Agent-in-Charge, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, New York Division, and Todd Scott, Special Agent-in-Charge, DEA, Louisville Division, made the announcement. "Pseudoephedrine products are regulated under federal law because they have been used in the production of a highly addictive and highly dangerous drug, methamphetamine," stated United States Attorney Donoghue. "The settlement with Rite Aid sends a clear message to all those engaged in the manufacture, distribution and sale of those products: you must comply with federal laws enacted to prevent the illegal use of your products." "Rite Aid had a moral and a legal obligation to keep track of its pseudoephedrine sales to help ensure that the regulated drug was purchased for legitimate reasons, and not for the illegal manufacture of methamphetamine," said United States Attorney Jaquith. "We are committed to enforcing that obligation with aggressive action and appropriate penalties that also reflect acceptance of responsibility, implementation of compliance measures, and ability to pay."

Asta Funding has entered into a definitive merger agreement under which the Stern Group, comprised of Gary Stern, Ricky Stern and certain related parties, will acquire the outstanding publicly held shares of common stock of Asta through the merger of Asta with a wholly-owned subsidiary of Asta Finance Acquisition, with Asta surviving as a wholly-owned subsidiary of Parent. Each share of outstanding common stock will be purchased for $11.47 in cash. The purchase price represents a premium of approximately 36.9% to Asta's closing stock price on April 7. The Merger was unanimously approved by the Asta board on the unanimous recommendation of a special committee of independent directors. The merger is expected to close in Asta's Q3 and is subject to the satisfaction of customary closing conditions as well as the approval by Asta's stockholders other than the Stern Group. Upon closing, Asta will become a privately held company and as such, the company's shares of common stock will no longer be listed or traded on the Nasdaq Global Select Market.

In an interview on CNBC's Mad Money, Murray Kessler said, "Private label does well during a recession. The company is perfectly positioned. On units, we outsell name brands." Kessler noted the company makes half the U.S. supply of acetaminophen. He added that it also makes and sells the majority of its pills in the U.S. Going forward, Kessler said people will behave differently with much more emphasis on self-care.

Pfizer announced that the FDA has approved BRAFTOVI or encorafenib in combination with cetuximab, marketed as ERBITUX, for the treatment of adult patients with metastatic colorectal cancer, or CRC, with a BRAFV600E mutation, as detected by an FDA-approved test, after prior therapy. The approval is based on results from the BEACON CRC trial, the only Phase 3 trial to specifically study patients with previously treated metastatic CRC with a BRAFV600E mutation. The most common adverse reactions seen in patients treated with BRAFTOVI in combination with cetuximab were fatigue, nausea, diarrhea, dermatitis acneiform, abdominal pain, decreased appetite, arthralgia and rash. The FDA granted this application Priority Review and Breakthrough Therapy designation.

Graf Industrial announced that it is in negotiations relating to a potential business combination with a polypropylene recycling company, pursuant to which the Target would become a publicly traded company. GRAF has mailed to its stockholders of record as of March 19, 2020 a definitive proxy statement for a special meeting to approve an extension of time for GRAF to complete an initial business combination through July 31, 2020.

"To further bolster our solid balance sheet and liquidity, we have taken several actions intended to preserve cash through cost reduction and minimizing capital expenditures, while continuing to produce the products needed by our customers," said Sherri Baker, Senior Vice President and CFO. Selected highlights of the company's liquidity profile are as follows: Current available liquidity of approximately $140M, including cash on hand of $64M and undrawn revolver capacity of $76M; No scheduled debt payments required until maturity of $64M term loan due October 2022; Delaying or canceling planned capital expenditures; Eliminating discretionary spending, with a primary focus on reducing selling, general and administrative expenses; Assessing overall network capacity; Optimizing net working capital; Focusing on preserving cash.