(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, […]
Pharmaceuticals
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
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 […]
Hedge funds betting on J&J after Actelion remains silent on takeover bid
Despite reports this week that Actelion Pharmaceuticals (VTX:ATLN) rejected Johnson & Johson‘s (NYSE:JNJ) 2nd takeover bid, hedge funds are piling into the Swiss biotech firm, encouraged by Actelion’s silence on the matter. The 2 companies have been engaged in informal talks for 2 months, according to Reuters, and the latest offer was pegged at 250 Swiss francs per share. […]
Mylan CEO Bresch accepts “full responsibility” for EpiPen price hikes
Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) CEO Heather Bresch reportedly accepted “full responsibility” for the company’s EpiPen price hikes that sparked outrage over the past 2 months, but defended the company’s actions while blaming an opaque industry that she said was not built for consumer engagement. The CEO made her remarks at the Forbes Healthcare Summit in New York on Thursday. “There are […]
Impel NeuroPharma closes $36m series C round for intranasal CNS treatments
Impel NeuroPharma Inc. said today that it closed a $36 million series C financing round to fund its pipeline of precision olfactory delivery (POD) intranasal devices. Life science firms venBIO, 5AM Ventures and Vivo Capital made investments in the round. Seattle-based Impel will get $21 million upfront and $15 million after it reaches development and […]
Modification to delivery polymer sidesteps allergic response
Researchers from Duke University have reconfigured the popular drug-delivery polymer, polyethylene glycol, to sidestep dangerous immune responses that have previously halted clinical trials. The team’s work was published in Nature Biomedical Engineering. Polyethylene glycol, PEG, is a polymer that is found in toothpaste and cosmetics, but is often used in pharmaceuticals. It can be attached to […]
