Good morning, everyone, and welcome to the middle of the week. Congratulations on making it this far and remember there are only a few more days until the weekend arrives. So keep plugging away. After all, what are the alternatives? While you ponder the possibilities, we invite you to join us for a delightful cup of stimulation. Remember that no prescription is required. Meanwhile, here is the latest menu of tidbits to help you on your way. Have a wonderful day and please do stay in touch …
Teva Pharmaceuticals chief financial officer Eyal Desheh is stepping down and will likely be appointed chairman of an Israeli bank, according to a filing with the US Securities and Exchange Commission. Desheh joined Teva in 2008 and briefly served as acting chief executive officer from October 2013 to February 2014. Teva has been without a permanent chief executive since February after Erez Vigodman stepped down amid a series of managerial missteps.
A loophole and a conflict: In 2013, US Representative Chris Collins (R-N.Y.) bought $2.2 million of Innate Immunotherapeutics stock as part of its initial public offering, The Daily Beast writes. The prospectus said Innate would seek FDA approval of a multiple sclerosis drug and, later, he wrote into a bill language to speed the approval process for such drugs. Shortly before the bill became law, Collins bought more stock and experts say the events warrant investigation. But thanks to a loophole in US law, he did not have to disclose purchases on financial disclosure forms.
The US Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions committee will hold an executive session for committee members today to vote on the nomination of Scott Gottlieb to head the Food and Drug Administration. Meanwhile, Gottlieb is taking a softer tone than the White House on the “right to try” debate over the ability of a terminally patient to gain access to a medicine that is in the early stages of testing, STAT writes.
Kmart is sharply cutting the price of a Adrenaclick, a generic competitor to the EpiPen allergic reaction device, and commercially insured customers will not have to pay anything out of pocket, CNBC says. Cash-paying patients will have to fork out $199.99, however. By contrast, the brand-name version of EpiPen sells for $642.69 for a two-pack, while an authorized generic version sells for $330 at Kmart pharmacies. Both are made by Mylan Pharmaceuticals.
A widely anticipated hearing takes place at the US Supreme Court today about biosimilars and the eventual decision is expected to have widespread implications for health care costs. At issue, as we wrote, are some of the complex procedures found in federal law that are supposed to determine when biosimilars can be launched. Amgen is squabbling with Sandoz, the generic unit of Novartis, over competing interpretations of two key provisions.
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Concerning Spain’s ‘momentum’ – after 25 years, why not try again?
(Unless Catalonia votes to leave Spain of course..):
“Barcelona also proposed a candidacy when the agency was founded in 1992, but lost the run-off against London.” – from the referenced article