Good morning, everyone. Damian Garde here, in for Ed Silverman once more, and with another round of headlines to get your day started.
UK regulators say Bristol-Myers Squibb’s blockbuster cancer drug Opdivo is too expensive for patients with head and neck cancer, PharmaTimes tells us. According to the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence, the nation’s drug pricing watchdog, Opdivo’s cost, about £5,700 (or $7,000) a month, doesn’t justify its effect on quality of life. NICE made a similar ruling on Opdivo’s use in lung cancer last year.
Pharma patent troll Kyle Bass appears to have given up his assault on the industry, according to Bloomberg, and with little to show for it. Two years ago, the hedge fund manager went after high-priced drugs by challenging their patents, but he has managed to invalidate only three of the 14 he targeted. “In the end, lobbying and special interests pay,” he told Bloomberg, blaming an entrenched “pharma cabal.”
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