(Reuters) – U.S. President-elect Donald Trump’s plan to incentivize U.S. companies to repatriate their swelling overseas cash piles could spur a new wave of dealmaking in a pharmaceutical industry seeking to buy its way into growth. For years, big U.S. drugmakers have turned to acquisitions of foreign companies to put their overseas cash to work, […]
Novo Nordisk joins Allergan in pledge to limit price hikes
Novo Nordisk (NYSE:NVO) president Jakob Riis said this week that the company will limit annual price hikes of its products’ list prices to single-digit percentages, joining Allergan (NYSE:AGN) CEO Brent Saunders who released a “social contract” 3 months ago with the same goal. “We hear from more and more people living with diabetes about the challenges […]
Sanofi throws hat in the ring with J&J’s in Actelion pursuit
Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) is reportedly considering a bid for Actelion Pharmaceuticals (VTX:ATLN), competing with an offer made to the Swiss biotech by Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ). Bloomberg reported that Sanofi is working with advisers to assess its options and has made its interest known informally to Actelion. The French drugmaker has not made a formal comment on the matter […]
Researchers show drug, catheter combo speeds up labor delivery
Using the drug misoprostol in combination with a Foley balloon catheter to induce labor can lead to a speedier delivery, with women delivering several hours earlier than either method alone, according to research from the University of Pennsylvania. The team’s work was published in Obstetrics & Gynecology. Nearly 1 million women who deliver in the U.S. […]
Scilex touts data for novel lidocaine patch
Sorrento Therapeutics (NSDQ:SRNE) subsidiary Scilex Pharmaceuticals said today that its lidocaine patch, ZTlido, met primary and secondary endpoints in a pivotal study comparing the patch to Endo Pharmaceutical‘s Lidoderm patch. The data will be used to resubmit a new drug application to the FDA in mid-2017, the Malvern, Pa.-based company said. The clinical trial evaluated Scilex’s […]
InGeneron inks collaboration with German Accelerator Life Sciences
InGeneron said today that it landed a collaboration with the German Accelerator Life Sciences program, establishing an additional U.S. presence in Cambridge, Mass. The initiative is supported by the German Federal Ministry for Economic Affairs & Energy. The GALS program will provide InGeneron with a group of mentors to help leverage its network within the […]
Sunovion launches clinical trial for anti-epileptic drug with wearable tech
Sunovion Pharmaceuticals said today that it will soon begin enrollment for a Phase IV study of its anti-epileptic drug Aptiom with Empatica‘s Embrace watch. The Marlborough, Mass.-based company touted its study as the 1st to incorporate a wearable seizure device with an anti-epileptic drug into the design of a clinical trial for partial-onset seizures. The Embrace watch […]
GSK, Innoviva seek EU nod for triple combo inhaled therapy
GlaxoSmithKline (NYSE:GSK) and Innoviva (NSDQ:INVA) said last week that they filed a regulatory submission with the European Medicines Agency for the once-daily, triple-combination therapy fluticasone furoate/umeclidinium/vilanterol (FF/UMEC/VI) for patients with chronic obstructive pulmonary disease. Last month, the companies submitted a new drug application for the inhaled therapy to the FDA for approval in the U.S. The triple combination therapy is […]
J&J’s Evarrest fibrin sealant patch wins expanded indication for hemostasis
Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ) subsidiary Ethicon said today that the FDA approved an expanded indication for its Evarrest fibrin sealant patch as an supplementary hemostat. With the expanded indication, the patch can be used with manual compression as an adjunct to hemostasis in adult surgery patients, when standard surgical techniques to control bleeding such as suture […]
Pharma execs assess landscape under President Trump
Executives from U.S. drugmakers such as Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and Pfizer talked about the possible changes awaiting the industry under President-elect Donald Trump at the Forbes Healthcare Summit this week. After he was elected, pharmaceutical stocks surged as investors concluded the threat of action on drug pricing had lessened. Trump has said he wants to repeal […]