Updated to include new details of Novartis’ M&A strategy. Novartis (NYSE:NVS) CEO Joe Jimenez’s consideration of the sale of the Alcon subsidiary has investors worried that the influx of cash – Alcon’s surgical devices and contact lens business could fetch as much as $35 billion – will result in another misguided acquisition. The Swiss drugmaker […]
Medtronic launches opioid-induced respiratory depression study
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) said today that it’s starting a large study on the effect of pulse oximetry and capnography in opioid-induced respiratory depression, using its Capnostream device. The 1,650-patient Prodigy study aims to create a tool to score the risk of OIRD in patients being treated with opioids for pain, using Capnostream’s continuous pulse oximetry and capnography monitoring […]
Sirtex Medical ticks up after Aussie court bars injunction
Sirtex Medical (ASX:SRX) said yesterday that Australia’s Federal Court denied a shareholders bid for an injunction barring its pending share buyback. The shareholders lawsuit accuses Sirtex of breaching continuous disclosure obligations and engaged in misleading and deceptive conduct, alleging that its guidance for double-digit sales growth “has no reasonable grounds.” Yesterday the Australian company said the Federal Court dismissal of the shareholders’ injunction […]
Boston Scientific’s Q1 sales top Wall Street, earnings miss by a penny
Boston Scientific (NYSE:BSX) today posted 1st-quarter sales that topped expectations on Wall Street, but share prices slid anyway in pre-market trading as investors reacted to a 1¢ miss on earnings. The Marlborough, Mass.-based company reported profits of $290 million, or 21¢ per share, on sales of $2.16 billion for the 3 months ended March 31, for a bottom-line […]
Medtronic updates 2011 battery warning on Synchromed II implantable drug pumps
Medtronic (NYSE:MDT) this month updated physicians on a warning it 1st issued in July 2011 about the batteries in its SynchroMed II implantable drug infusion pump. The pumps are used primarily to treat chronic pain or severe spinal or cerebral spasticity. The issue, 1st reported in July 2009, relates to the formation of a filmy substance within the […]
Novocure gains on additional Optune data
Shares in Novocure (NSDQ:NVCR) are on the rise again after the company today cited additional data from a pivotal trial evaluating its Optune device with temozolomide chemotherapy as a treatment for newly-diagnosed glioblastoma. Novocure’s Optune mobile device delivers low-intensity, intermediate frequency, alternating electric fields, called “tumor treating fields” or TTFields, to inhibit cancer cell replication. The […]
Innoviva bows to pressure from Sarissa hedge fund, to review executive pay
Innoviva (NSDQ:INVA) said yesterday that it plans to review its costs including the salaries of its top executive and board, bowing to pressure from hedge fund and activist investor Sarissa Capital Management. Two weeks ago the fund demanded that Innoviva cut CEO Michael Aguiar’s pay to less than $500,000 a year; Aguiar’s total compensation in 2015 […]
Abbott to restrict Absorb bioresorbable stent in Europe
Abbott (NYSE:ABT) plans to restrict the use of its Absorb bioresorbable stent in Europe after a clinical study found a higher risk of serious adverse events. In a March 31 letter to physicians (posted online April 5 by a prominent cardiologist from Atlanta), Abbott said it would restrict use of the Absorb and Absorb GT1 devices to […]
Samsung Biologics slides on South Korean regulatory probe
News that Samsung Biologics (KRX:207940) is facing a probe by South Korean regulators over its valuation ahead of an initial public offering last year sent its share price down this week in Seoul. South Korea’s Financial Supervisory Service is running a special audit of the drugs contract manufacturer, prompted by a Korean Institute of Certified Public Accountants review that […]
ViaCyte, Gore ink co-development deal for synthetic pancreas
ViaCyte and W.L. Gore & Assoc. said today that they inked a co-development deal for the synthetic pancreas ViaCyte is developing to treat diabetes. The San Diego-based company’s Encaptra device is designed to be seeded with stem cells engineered to become pancreatic cells and implanted under the skin. The newly created pancreatic cells generate insulin and […]
