The state of Ohio filed a lawsuit against opioid-makers this week, alleging that the companies produced misleading marketing schemes to convince doctors and patients that opioids were not addictive. Ohio isn’t alone – Mississippi and West Virginia have filed similar cases against major players in the pharmaceutical industry. Purdue Pharma, Johnson & Johnson (NYSE:JNJ), Endo […]
Legal News
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 […]
Novartis slapped with $49m fine over kickbacks
South Korea regulators said today that it fined Swiss drugmaker Novartis (NYSE:NVS) $48.8 million for offering doctors kickbacks in exchange for recommending the company’s drugs to patients. The Ministry of Health and Welfare also decided to suspend insurance coverage of 9 variations of 2 drugs, including the Alzheimer’s drug Exelon, for 6 months, according to Reuters. […]
Bankrupt Unilife asks judge for $1m in bonuses for top execs
Unilife (NSDQ:UNIS), which filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy earlier this month, reportedly asked a Delaware bankruptcy court yesterday to approve a “key employee retention plan” that would provide 4 top executives with nearly $1 million in bonuses, contingent upon a successful sale of the company. Unilife added it has already approved the plan with its debtor-in-possession lender. The […]
Sanofi levels antitrust suit against Mylan over EpiPen device
Sanofi (NYSE:SNY) reportedly sued Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) today, accusing the company of illegally suppressing competition to the EpiPen device. The lawsuit filed in a New Jersey federal court alleges that Mylan’s conduct has cost Sanofi hundreds of millions of dollars in sales for its rival allergy treatment, Auvi-Q. Canonsburg, Penn.-based Mylan has found itself at the center of […]
Hospira, Baxter subpoenaed in antitrust probe over intravenous saline
Drugmakers received grand jury subpoenas from the U.S. Justice Dept. this week in connection with an antitrust probe into companies that market intravenous saline solutions. ICU Medical (NSDQ:ICUI), which recently acquired Hospira Infusion Systems from Pfizer (NYSE:PFE), and Baxter (NYSE:BAX) disclosed the subpoenas this week. Pfizer revealed that it is also wrapped up in the investigation, according […]
Acorda to cut 20% of staff in restructuring effort
Acorda Therapeutics (NSDQ:ACOR) said today that it plans to cut 20% of its workforce as a part of a cost reduction and restructuring effort. The move comes less than 1 week after the company lost patents related to its multiple sclerosis drug, Ampyra. The Ardsley, N.Y.-based company had 597 employees as of February, according to Reuters, […]
EpiPen purchasers level class action against Mylan over price hikes
Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) was hit with another class action lawsuit over the price of its EpiPen device yesterday. The lawsuit, which was filed in the Washington Western District Court, alleges that Mylan engaged in a scheme with pharmacy benefit managers to dominate the market and overcharge customers. Although the Canonsburg, Penn.-based company has been hit with several lawsuits […]
Do patient advocacy organizations have a conflict of interest?
At least 83% of U.S. patient advocacy organizations receive financial support from medical device, drug and biotechnology companies, according to new research out of the University of Pennsylvania’s Department of Medical Ethics and Health Policy. The Penn research team – which included Matthew McCoy, Harald Schmidt and Ezekiel Emanuel – examined websites and annual reports for 104 organizations […]
Medtech stories we missed this week: March 17, 2017
The FDA awarded 510(k) clearance to a couple of medtech companies this week while others received tax breaks and incentives, including a local tax break for a $154 million Stryker R&D facility planned in Michigan. Here are some medtech stories we missed this week but thought were worth mentioning. 1. FirstRay wins FDA 510(k) clearance […]