Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. And it is getting off to a good start here on the Pharmalot campus, where we have bright sunshine and cool breezes. Who could ask for anything more? Actually, we could — it is time to reheat the coffee kettle for another cup of stimulation. Feel free to join us, since no prescription is required. And now, here are your tidbits. Hope you have another smashing day and conquer the world …
Mylan chief executive officer Heather Bresch will testify on Sept. 21 before the House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform about price increases for the EpiPen emergency allergy treatment. Over the past decade, the list price climbed 548 percent to $608 for a pack of two injectors. The committee leaders said there is “justified outrage from families and schools across the country struggling to afford the high cost of EpiPens.”
Allergan agreed to pay $639 million to acquire Vitae Pharmaceuticals, which has a pipeline of dermatology drug candidates. In particular, the deal gives Allergan a drug in mid-stage trials that is intended to treat psoriasis, but also is an attempt to make good on strategic plans to shift the drug maker toward developing an R&D pipeline. The move comes shortly after Allergan sold its generic business to Teva Pharmaceuticals for $40 billion.
With its $66 billion acquisition of Monsanto, Bayer will become the world’s biggest supplier of seeds and pesticides, but the deal may leave the company with little room for acquisitions to boost its profitable pharmaceuticals business, Bloomberg News writes. And this may hamper the growth of the prescription drug unit as a patent expiration looms in 2020 for its best-selling Xarelto heart medicine.
Santhera Pharmaceuticals received orphan drug designation from the Australian Therapeutic Goods Administration for its Raxone treatment for Duchenne muscular dystrophy.
A US Food and Drug Administration panel voted that Spectrum Pharmaceuticals’s experimental bladder cancer drug is not effective in delaying the time to recurrence of the disease, Reuters tells us.
An experimental GlaxoSmithKline vaccine for shingles remained 90 percent effective in people over age 70 even four years after receiving the injection, Reuters writes, citing newly published data.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals shares sank more than 5 percent on Wednesday after the drug maker disclosed that refills for its Orkambi cystic fibrosis drug have been slow in recent months, CNBC reports.
Rigel Pharmaceuticals is cutting 46 jobs, or 38 percent of its workforce, to focus on commercializing fostamatinib, a treatment for chronic immune thrombocytopenia, MarketWatch writes.
The European Commission approved the use of Eisai’s Kisplyx to treat advanced kidney cancer, according to PharmaTimes.
The UK’s National Institute for Health and Care Excellence does not believe Roche’s Gazyvaro drug for follicular lymphoma should receive regular National Health Service funding, Pharmaphorum says.
About the Author Reprints
If I were Heather Bresch I couldn’t ask for better timing. She goes before Congress on September 21st. The pre election recess starts September 30th. Nothing will happen in the interim. Congress will be out until November 14th. By that time this will all be ancient history.