Rise and shine, everyone, another busy day is on the way. After all, this is the middle of the week, which means we still have some mountains to climb. In our case, this means rifling through documents and talking to interesting people as we race to meet deadlines. To cope, yes, we are quaffing cups of stimulation. Our flavor this week is Cinnamon Dolce for those seeking a recommendation. Meanwhile, here are your tidbits. Hope you survive …
Express Scripts received subpoenas requesting information about its relationships with drug makers, health plans, charitable foundations, and specialty pharmacies, according to a filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission. The demands, which can be seen on page 41, were made over the past two months by the Department of Justice, and US attorneys in New York and Boston.
Novartis chief executive Joe Jimenez expects a more difficult pricing environment for drugs in the US in coming years, Reuters writes. Last week, Roche chief executive Severin Schwan said he does not see a “fundamental change” in US pricing pressure after the coming presidential election, regardless of which candidate wins. So which CEO is correct?
Purdue Pharma thwarted plans by West Virginia officials to limit OxyContin prescriptions with a prior authorization program by offering rebates to pharmacy benefits managers, STAT reports. In return, the pharmacy benefit managers agreed to make the drug available without prior authorization and with low copayments. The arrangements removed a key safeguard in the system that may have slowed the use of the addictive painkiller.
The Chinese Food and Drug Administration is arguing reports that up to 80 percent of China’s clinical trial data are fraudulent had lacked context, Outsourcing Pharma tells us. An official with the agency maintained that there were various reasons that companies may withdraw marketing applications, including a failure to conform to good manufacturing practices and insufficient data to demonstrate safety or effectiveness.
A former investment adviser at an Oppenheimer Holdings unit pleaded guilty to charges that he engaged in insider trading based on information supplied by a childhood friend working at Pfizer, Reuters says.
The US Food and Drug Administration is adding a warning about the potential for abuse of testosterone medicines due to concerns about serious safety risks affecting mental health and the heart, brain, liver, and endocrine system.
India’s Pharmaceuticals Export Promotion Council of India is talking to the government about manufacturing best-selling drugs in the country rather than importing the meds from China, the Economic Times writes.
Vertex Pharmaceuticals confirmed it is moving its next-generation cystic fibrosis drugs into mid-stage clinical trials by the end of the year, TheStreet tells us.
Martindale Pharma received regulatory clearance of an oral formulation of its clobazam epilepsy therapy in Europe, according to PharmaTimes.
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