The U.S. Senate Judiciary Committee yesterday called on the Federal Trade Commission to investigate whether Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) broke the law after reports claimed the EpiPen maker prevented schools from buying competing allergy treatments. In a letter penned to the FTC, committee chairman Sen. Charles Grassley (R-Iowa) and ranking member Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) wrote, “increasing patient access […]
Pharmaceuticals
Catalent tops Q1 estimates, profits fall 61%
Shares in Catalent (NYSE:CTLT) rose yesterday after the drug-delivery company met expectations on Wall Street with its fiscal 1st-quarter results. The Somerset, N.J.-based company posted profits of $4.6 million, or 4¢ per share, on sales of $442.2 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, for a bottom-line slide of -60.7% on sales growth of 4.5% compared with […]
Flamel Technologies tops Q3 revenue, EPS estimate
Shares in Flamel Technologies (NSDQ:FLML) rose today after the pharmaceutical company met expectations on Wall Street with its 3rd quarter results. The Venissieux, France-based company posted a loss of -$22.3 million on sales of $32.1 million for the 3 months ended Sept. 30, for bottom-line growth of 20% despite a sales loss of 32% compared with the […]
CMS acting chief Slavitt slams drug pricing
Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services acting chief Andy Slavitt admonished pharma companies like Mylan (NSDQ:MYL) over unsustainable price increases before the Biopharma Congress in Washington D.C. last week. Mylan came under fire this year after reports showed that the Canonsburg, Penn.-based company raised the price of its emergency allergy epinephrine injector by 500% since it acquired the product in 2007 […]
UCB’s Cimzia AutoClicks pen hits the U.K. market
UCB (EBR:UCB) said today that its Cimzia AutoClicks pre-filled pen is available in the U.K., after the European Medicines Agency’s Committee for Medicinal Products for Human Use recommended the device for all approved indications, including rheumatoid arthritis and axial spondyloarthritis. The Belgian company partnered with OXO to develop the pen, based on technology licensed from Bespak. The AutoClicks […]
Cerulean, Novartis ink $5m deal to co-develop nanoparticle-drug conjugates
UPDATED Oct. 20, 2016, with Cerulean share price movement. Cerulean Pharma Inc. (NSDQ:CERU) said today that it inked a deal with Novartis (NYSE:NVS) to develop nanoparticle-drug conjugates. The products will match Cerulean’s tumor-targeting tech with Novartis compounds directed at up to 5 targets. The agreement calls for Cerulean to receive $5 million plus funding for 5 full-time equivalents […]
Hospital survey shows inpatient drug prices rose 40% in 2 years
A community hospital survey sponsored by the American Hospital Assn. and the Federation of American Hospitals shows that inpatient drug prices rose 40% between 2013 and 2015. Almost all of the surveyed hospitals reported that the increases had a moderate to severe effect on their ability to manage costs. “These price increases are extremely troublesome throughout the healthcare system,” according […]
Tunable hydrogel helps predict tissue response to chemotherapy
Researchers from the Wyss Institute developed a hydrogel microenvironment to evaluate how physical properties like stiffness of the extracellular matrix impacts the efficacy of chemotherapy. “To have success with chemotherapy and other drug therapies, we will likely need to screen their effectiveness against cells living in various environments, and not just assume that cells will always […]
Lupin, MonoSol Rx ink licensing deal for pediatric products
Lupin Pharmaceutical (NSE:LUPIN) said last week that it inked a licensing agreement with MonoSol Rx to develop pediatric products using MonoSol’s drug-delivery technology. Warren, N.J.-based MonoSol touts its dissolvable film, PharmaFilm, as a quick-dissolving system that’s easy to administer and masked by taste. The sublingual film is designed to support pediatric populations that often have trouble swallowing […]
Ocular therapeutics company Novaliq names new CEO
Novaliq GmbH said yesterday that it named Christian Roesky as its new CEO, replacing co-founder Bernhard Günther, who will take on a new role as chief innovation officer. The Heidelberg, Germany-based company focuses on renovating poorly soluble drugs into effective ocular therapeutics. Its CE-marked product, NovaTears, was developed from its proprietary EyeSol technology. With its […]
