Good morning, everyone, and how are you today? We are doing just fine, thank you, especially now that the Pharmalot campus has settled down. One short person has left for the local schoolhouse and the other is immersed in gainful employment. Hopefully, you are, as well. In any event, the time has come to dig in for another busy day. On that note, here are some items of interest. Hope your journey today is productive and pleasant. And as always, please do keep in touch …
Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) chief executive Giovanni Caforio wrote employees that he is “disappointed” that Wellington Management, the drug maker’s largest institutional shareholder, opposes its $74 billion deal to buy Celgene (CELG), jeopardizing what would be the biggest-ever biopharma acquisition. Wellington, which has a stake of about 8 percent in Bristol-Myers, maintains the deal asks shareholders to take on too much risk and offers Bristol stock too cheaply to Celgene shareholders.
A shift into high-tech drugs won Novartis (NVS) praise for providing patients with new options but criticism over prices at its annual general meeting, Reuters writes. Actares, a Swiss shareholder watchdog group, argued insurance systems are being “taken hostage” by high prices for life-saving drugs. “With this business model you are taking hostage an insurance system that depends on solidarity,” Actares president Veronika Hendry says. “There’s currently a broad discussion going on over exorbitant drug prices, and this discussion is creating resentment and disbelief.”
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