Dow Jones Newswires | Abbott Laboratories has agreed to pay as
much as $575 million as part of a deal to help develop and
commercialize Neurocrine Biosciences Inc.’s endometriosis treatment.
Filed under: Pharmaceuticals
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Abbott to buy rights to endometriosis drug
FDA, NIH set out plans for ‘personalized medicine’
Reuters | Top U.S. health officials laid out a road map Tuesday
to speed drug development and ensure the safety of diagnostic and gene
tests based on personalized medicine — treatments tailored to a
person’s genetic makeup.
In a commentary released online by the New England Journal of Medicine,
Dr. Margaret Hamburg, commissioner of the Food and Drug Administration,
and Dr. Francis Collins, head of the National Institutes of Health, said
their agencies will invest in efforts to provide companies with a clear
regulatory path for drugs and companion diagnostics.
Walgreen willing to honor CVS contracts
Dow Jones Newswires/Wall Street Journal | Walgreen Co. is “willing to honor” existing pricing terms for patients
currently under contract with CVS Caremark Corp.’s pharmacy-benefit
manager unit, leaving open the possibility that some of those patients
may still be able to fill their prescriptions at Walgreen stores after
July 9, according to an email from Hal F. Rosenbluth, Walgreen’s health
and wellness president.
CVS Caremark board OKs repurchase program
Associated Press | CVS Caremark Corp. said Monday its board has approved a new share repurchase program for up to $2 billion of its stock. The new CVS buyback authorization comes as the drugstore chain and rival Walgreen Co. are taking shots at each other over CVS’ pharmacy benefits management program.
Abbott back in contact lens solution game
Dow Jones Newswires | Three years after pulling a contact-lens
solution from the $1.7 billion global market because it was linked to
damaging eye infections, and then relying on an older version, Abbott
Laboratories’ (ABT) eye-care unit is launching something new.
Called RevitaLens, the multipurpose lens solution for cleaning and
storing lenses gained approval from European regulators in late May.
Abbott is launching the product in select overseas markets this month,
and more fully by year end. Meantime, it hopes for approval from the
U.S. Food and Drug Administration in the second half of this year.
FDA tells genetic-test makers to wait for its OK
Associated Press | The Food and Drug Administration has put five
makers of genetic tests on notice that they must get federal approval
before marketing their products for use by consumers.
The regulatory letters posted online Friday are the first sign that the
government agency plans to crack down on companies marketing products
that claim to predict inheritable diseases using DNA samples.
June 11, 2010 at 1:55 p.m.
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Filed under: Investing, Pharmaceuticals, Retail, Stock activity Analysts warn of Walgreen share risk
From Crain’s Chicago Business | Wall Street analysts say shares in Walgreen could take a major hit from its split with CVS Caremark. Analysts say investors are underestimating the amount of business the No. 1 pharmacy chain could lose in its decision to leave Caremark’s benefits management business.
Shares of Walgreen were down down 2.2 percent, to $29.30, in late afternoon trading.
Read the full story: chicagobusiness.com
Novartis MS drug sent to full FDA for approval
Associated Press | Federal health experts say a first-of-a-kind
multiple sclerosis drug from Novartis is effective at controlling
tremors, concentration problems and other symptoms of the debilitating
disease.
Swiss drugmaker Novartis has asked the Food and Drug Administration to
approve its drug Gilenia as the first pill for multiple sclerosis. All
existing drugs require frequent injections or infusions.
Hospira approved for second Europe biogeneric
Reuters | Hospira Inc (HSP.N) has won European approval for a version of Amgen Inc.’s white-blood cell boosting drug Neupogen, as it makes more inroads in the fledgling market for generic biotechnology medicines.
FDA: Pfizer mum on Viagra, Lipitor side effects
Reuters | The U.S. Food and Drug Administration has warned
Pfizer Inc for failing to quickly report serious and unexpected
potential side effects from its drugs already on the market.
In a 12-page warning letter to Pfizer Chief Executive Jeffrey Kindler,
the FDA cited numerous examples involving some of the company’s
top-known brands, including impotence drug Viagra, cholesterol pill
Lipitor and seizure medicine Lyrica.
CVS Caremark retaliates, drops Walgreens
Reuters | CVS Caremark Corp will remove Walgreen Co from its pharmacy benefits
management network in retaliation for Walgreen’s decision to stop
filling prescriptions for new CVS Caremark business.
The two drugstore rivals’ shares fell Wednesday as both stand to lose
in the dispute. Shares of Walgreen, which gets about 7 percent of its
revenue from the CVS drug plan business, were down 0.9 percent, while
CVS’s shares slipped 0.8 percent.
FDA accepts filing for drug licensed to Abbott unit
Reuters | Depomed Inc. said U.S. health regulators accepted the company’s
marketing application for its experimental pain drug, triggering a $10
million milestone payment from its licensee and sending its shares up 12
percent.
Walgreens, CVS to end network relationship
A CVS store in Boston. (AP Photo/Chitose Suzuki, file)
Associated Press | Drugstore chain Walgreen Co. said Monday that it will end its
relationship with competitor CVS Caremark’s pharmacy benefits management
business because of complaints about prices and policies intended to
bring customers to CVS stores.
The decision does not affect
current Caremark plans, but if Walgreen stands by its decision, it won’t
handle any Caremark-managed prescriptions in about three years.
Walgreen said it will not participate in plans that are awarded to
Caremark or contracts renewed with Caremark starting Monday.
BioSante gets orphan status for leukemia vaccine
Reuters | BioSante Pharmaceuticals Inc. said the U.S. health regulator granted orphan drug status to its experimental cancer vaccine, sending the drugmaker’s shares up 9 percent in pre-market trade. The vaccine, called GVAX CML vaccine, is for the treatment of chronic myeloid leukemia, the specialty pharmaceutical company said in a statement.
Walgreens to take $44M charge for health care
A Walgreens in New York. (AP Photo/Yanina Manolova, file)
By Ameet Sachdev | Walgreens
reported Thursday that it will record an after-tax charge of $44 million, or 5 cent a share, in the third quarter after a tax benefit was repealed in the health-care reform legislation passed in March.
The company said it will no longer receive a tax benefit for a Medicare subsidy for retiree drug benefits. The loss of the tax benefit will increase the company’s annual taxable income by about $13 million.
