1. Diabetes Patients at Risk from Rising
Insulin Prices
A Yale study found that one in four patients
admitted to cutting back on insulin use because of cost. Between 2002 and 2013,
the price of insulin jumped, with the typical cost for patients increasing from
about $40 a vial to $130. Due to the rising cost of the drug, a large number of
people with diabetes are using less insulin than prescribed, putting themselves
in danger of serious complications. Not getting enough insulin can have severe
consequences for someone with diabetes who does not produce enough of the
hormone, which regulates levels of glucose in the blood. Those who reported
underusing insulin because of cost were more likely to have dangerous blood
glucose levels compared with those who said they did not underuse. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/well/diabetes-patients-at-risk-from-rising-insulin-prices.html
2. FDA Approves First Cannabis-Based Drug
The US Food and Drug Administration approved a
cannabis-based drug for the first time. The twice-daily oral solution is
approved for use in patients 2 and older to treat two types of epileptic
syndromes: Dravet syndrome, a rare genetic dysfunction of the brain that begins
in the first year of life, and Lennox-Gastaut syndrome, a form of epilepsy with
multiple types of seizures that begin in early childhood, usually between 3 and
5. According to GW Pharmaceuticals, the drug is the “first pharmaceutical
formulation of highly-purified, plant based cannabidiol (CBD), a cannabinoid
lacking the high associated with marijuana, and the first in a new category of
anti-epileptic drugs.” https://www.cnn.com/2018/06/25/health/fda-approves-first-cannabis-drug-bn/index.html
3. Amazon Shakes Up Drugstore Business with
Deal to Buy Online Pharmacy PillPack
Amazon is acquiring online pharmacy PillPack
in a deal that is already shaking up the drugstore industry. It threatens to
remove one of the few distinguishing factors pharmacy chains have relied on to
fend off Amazon, the sale of prescription drugs. Retailers like Walgreens Boots
Alliance, CVS Health, and Rite Aid have seen their so-called front of store
sales threatened as shoppers increasingly buy household staples online or from
convenience stores. These retailers lost about $12.8 billion in market value. https://www.cnbc.com/2018/06/28/amazon-to-acquire-online-pharmacy-pillpack.html
4. Trump to Drop Call for Medicare to
Negotiate Lower Drug Prices
President Trump will lay out a broad strategy
to reduce prescription drug prices, but in a break from one of his most popular
campaign promises, he will not call for Medicare to negotiate lower prices with
drug manufacturers, senior administration officials said. The White House will
issue a blueprint that represents “the most comprehensive plan to tackle
prescription drug affordability of any president,” according to the senior
official. The plan would not include direct negotiations by Medicare.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/10/us/politics/trump-prescription-drug-costs.html
5. F.D.A. Approves First Drug Designed to
Prevent Migraines
The Food and Drug Administration approved the
first medicine designed to prevent migraines, ushering in what many experts
believe will be a new era in treatment for people who suffer the most severe
form of headaches. The drug, Aimovig, is a monthly injection with a device
similar to an insulin pen. Aimovig blocks a protein fragment, CGRP, that
instigates and perpetuates migraines. Three other companies, Lilly, Teva, and
Alder, have similar medicines in the final stages of study or awaiting FDA approval.
https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/17/health/migraines-prevention-drug-aimovig.html
6. J&J Agrees to Sell LifeScan Unit for
$2.1B
Johnson & Johnson accepted Platinum
Equity’s $2.1 billion offer for LifeScan, the company’s blood glucose
monitoring unit known for its OneTouch brand of glucose meters and insulin
pumps. LifeScan is known to diabetes patients worldwide for its OneTouch brand
of glucose meters, insulin pumps, and related products. J&J said the deal
is expected to close by the end of the year, assuming it clears regulatory
requirements and other customary closing conditions. LifeScan earned $1.5
billion in revenue in 2017. https://biospectrumasia.com/news/30/11075/jj-agrees-to-sell-lifescan-unit-for-2-1b.html
7. Pharma Shells Out $100B on M&A in 2018
So Far, With More to Come: Report
After an unusually slow 2017, deal-making in
Big Pharma roared back to life in the first half of this year, with $100
billion spent on mergers and acquisitions so far. And with such names as
Johnson & Johnson and Allergan mulling both acquisitions and selloffs of
some of their core assets, it’s likely the M&A boom will continue through
2018. All in all, the M&A landscape in Big Pharma this year is already a
far cry from 2017, when there were 101 deals, only 14 of which were worth more
than $1 billion, BioSpace reported. The industry is well on its way to
surpassing last year’s M&A total already. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma-shells-out-100b-m-a-2018-so-far-more-to-come-report
8. Biogen to Spend $700M to Build Its Stake to
49.9% in Biosims Joint Venture with Samsung
After Biogen reported first-quarter results
back in April, CFO Jeff Cappello said the company would get further involved in
an “attractive value creation” opportunity: its biosimilars joint venture with
Samsung BioLogics. Biogen says it’ll pay Samsung BioLogics about $700 million
to build its stake in the joint venture to 49.9%. The exact value will depend
on timing and exchange rates. Biogen’s move to scoop up more share comes as its
stalwart multiple sclerosis franchise operates in an increasingly competitive
field.
https://www.fiercepharma.com/biogen-spending-700m-to-build-stake-biosims-joint-venture-samsung
9. Johnson & Johnson Has the Most Bucks
for Biopharma M&A, Astellas the Easiest Target: Analyst
The recent surprise of Takeda’s acquisition of
Shire and available financing provide further evidence that almost any such
potential transaction could be possible. After going through the balance sheets
of 20 biopharma companies with the largest market caps, Porges and colleagues
found that, at peak leverage ratios, the group could collectively borrow $460
billion in M&A war chests even without counting leverage capacity of target
or potential synergies. The top three companies with the most options for
takeovers coincide with the top three with the highest 2017 revenues. Johnson
& Johnson, Roche and Pfizer have $65 billion, $55 billion and $41 billion
leverage capacity, respectively—cash and debt—while Novartis, Merck & Co.
and Gilead also have mid-level options, according to Leerink’s report. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/johnson-johnson-wealthiest-buyer-astellas-easiest-target-biopharma-m-a-analyst
10. Universal Flu Vaccine Biotech Seeks Big
Pharma Partnership for Phase 3 Testing: CEO
Problems with seasonal flu shots have been
well documented, and now U.K. biotech Imutex believes it has the next big
advance for flu vaccine technology. The company reported phase 2b data showing
that its universal flu shot, FLU-v, boosted immune responses and lowered
infection rates. Other companies, including global giants Sanofi and Johnson
& Johnson, are also working on advancing flu vaccine technology. FluGen and
Vaccitech are among the biotechs with universal flu programs. https://www.fiercepharma.com/universal-flu-vaccine-biotech-seeks-big-pharma-partnership-for-phase-3-testing-ceo
11. When a Health Insurer Also Wants to Be a
Hospice Company
Hospice, the business of caring for those who
are nearing death, has become a booming multibillion-dollar industry that is
attracting more and more for-profit companies, including one of the nation’s
major insurers, Humana. Humana plans to buy two hospice chains that together
would create the industry’s biggest operator with hundreds of locations in
dozens of states. The Medicare Payment Advisory Commission, which does research
for Congress, estimates that for-profit companies running hospices, which make
up about two-thirds of the industry, had an overall profit margin of 16
percent, compared to about break-even for nonprofits. https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/22/health/hospice-humana-private-equity.html
12. Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan
Name C.E.O. for Health Initiative
Amazon, Berkshire Hathaway and JPMorgan Chase,
the powerful triumvirate that announced its hope to overhaul the health care of
its employees and set an example for the nation, said that it had picked one of
the country’s most famous doctors to lead the new operation: Dr. Atul Gawande.
Dr. Atul Gawande, a Harvard surgeon and staff writer for The New Yorker
magazine, will become chief executive of the new company. He said he was not
stepping down from his current medical and other duties to take the job.
https://nyti.ms/2K5McQB
13. Disability Applications Plunge as the
Economy Strengthens
The number of Americans seeking Social
Security disability benefits is plunging, a startling reversal of a decades-old
trend that threatened the program’s solvency. It is the latest evidence of a
stronger economy pulling people back into the job market or preventing workers
from being sidelined in the first place. In addition to stronger economic
growth, the drop reflects newly tightened standards for eligibility and the
increasing number of baby boomers who are leaving the program because they have
become eligible for Social Security retirement benefits and Medicare. https://nyti.ms/2tb0WqR
14. Gilead’s Kite Taps Eisai Cancer Vet
Amoroso to Lead the Charge for CAR-T Sales
Just one month after naming a new head of
corporate development, Gilead is strengthening its top management team
again—this time plucking an oncology vet to head up its entrance into the
burgeoning market for CAR-T cancer treatments. Gilead unit Kite, which won FDA
approval for the CAR-T drug Yescarta last year, has hired Michael Amoroso as
SVP and head of worldwide commercial efforts in cell therapy. Amoroso’s
previous experience as SVP of Eisai’s oncology business group in the U.S. will
help as Gilead seeks to build on its existing portfolio, expand its commercial
presence in cell therapy in the U.S. and around the world, and advance new
products to market. https://www.fiercepharma.com/pharma/gilead-s-kite-taps-eisai-oncology-vet-amoroso-to-helm-car-t-commercial-strategy
15. Success of Blood Test for Autism Affirmed
One year after researchers published their
work on a physiological test for autism, a follow-up study confirms its
exceptional success in assessing whether a child is on the autism spectrum. A
physiological test that supports a clinician’s diagnostic process has the
potential to lower the age at which children are diagnosed, leading to earlier
treatment. Results of the study, which uses an algorithm to predict if a child
has autism spectrum disorder (ASD) based on metabolites in a blood sample,
published online today, appear in the June edition of Bioengineering &
Translational Medicine. https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/06/180619122434.htm