Good morning, everyone, and apologies for the late start. We were delayed by the news that Martin Shkreli — you know him, he jacked up drug prices astronomically and was proud of it — was arrested for securities fraud. You can read about that here. Meanwhile, here is the usual assortment of tidbits. Hope you have a better day than Shkreli and keep in touch …
The Food and Drug Administration approved what is expected to be a cheaper version of the Lantus, a pen-like insulin injector sold by Sanofi, the Associated Press reports. The new form of the treatment is from Eli Lilly and Boehringer Ingelheim, which already sell the drug in several European countries. They have not yet set a US price, but it likely will be significantly lower than the price for Lantus.
Mylan Laboratories wants compensation from Strides Arcolabs for remediating three Indian manufacturing plants that were part of its $1.75 billion purchase of Agila Specialties two years ago, Pharmaceutical Manufacturing says. The demand comes after the FDA earlier this year issued a warning letter to Mylan concerning quality control problems at the facilities.
The FDA is eliminating a risk mitigation program for the Avandia type 2 diabetes drug, MedPage Today tells us. The agency decided the program is no longer needed to ensure that the benefits of the GlaxoSmithKline drug outweigh the risks. The medication had been under a cloud since 2007, when a controversial meta-analysis found links to heart attacks.
AstraZeneca will pay $4 billion for a 55 percent stake in Acerta Pharma, which has a promising cancer treatment, in hopes of rebuilding its pipeline, the Wall Street Journal tells us.
CVS Health CEO Larry Merlo says a deal in which Valeant Pharmaceuticals will sell to Walgreens certain drugs at discounts could marginalize pharmacy benefits managers, according to Fortune.
Endo International-owned Qualitest Pharmaceuticals reached a $39 million settlement with the federal government and 47 states for unlawfully labeling multivitamins, Reuters reports.
Bionpharma, which was formed by former Ranbaxy Laboratories execs in New Jersey to buy and sell generic drugs, raised another $6.5 million on top of the $31 million raised last year, MedCity News says.
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