A Thaw Between Roche And Novartis? What About A Merger?
Will Roche and Novartis work more closely together and even consider a merger? Now that both drugmakers have new chairmen – replacing a pair who had famously icy relations – there is increasing talk about cooperation and that, in turn, is leading to speculation that a merger could even occur. In fact, a Novartis board member earlier this month suggested such a deal might make sense.
Earlier this month, you may recall, Roche named Lufthansa ceo Christoph Franz, who is also one of its board members, to succeed Franz Humer as chairman, a move that came only a few weeks after Jorg Reinhardt replaced the controversial Dan V...
Source: Pharmalot - September 30, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Rerun: Happy 7th birthday to the Health Business Blog
The Health Business Blog is on vacation and re-running some classic posts. This one is from March 2012, the seventh birthday of the Health Business Blog.
The Health Business Blog turns seven years old today. Continuing a tradition I established with birthdays one, two, three, four, five and six, I have picked out a favorite post from each month. Thanks for continuing to read the blog!
March 2011: Why you shouldn’t feel good about paying a low price for wet AMD treatment
Repackaging Avastin seems like a harmless, clever trick to save thousands on Lucentis. But now that the world has decided that the price poin...
Source: Health Business Blog - August 27, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: dewe67 Tags: Announcements Blogs Source Type: blogs
Rerun: Happy 3rd birthday to the Health Business Blog
The Health Business Blog is on vacation this week and re-running some classic posts. This one is from March 2008, the third birthday of the Health Business Blog.
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The Health Business Blog is three years old, with close to 1700 posts and counting. For the first and second birthdays I picked out my favorite post by month, and I’m continuing that tradition today.
March 2007: Eye-popping generic pricing disparities
Retail prices for a 30 day supply of generic Zocor (simvastatin) ranged from $6.97 at Sam’s Club to $131.99 at Rite Aid. Can you imagine seeing price differentials like that for any other pro...
Source: Health Business Blog - August 20, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: dewe67 Tags: Announcements Blogs Source Type: blogs
Rich pharma companies, poor patients.
Pharmaceutical companies are getting rich on the backs of their patients. Don't believe me? Here's some proof.First we have an article from New Jersey on how Roche's profits are up 10% and its revenues are up 4% on profits from its breast cancer drugs. The company is now focusing on cancer drugs and hopes to find more high profit drugs as generics come available for drugs such as Herceptin. By the way, their cancer drugs cost between $70,000 and $100,000+ annually per patient.If you ask a pharma company you get the standard lines: 'no one pays those prices', 'they are covered by insurance', 'we do have programs for ...
Source: Caroline's Breast Cancer Blog - July 28, 2013 Category: Cancer Tags: patient rights medication costs Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot... Pharmalittle... The Weekend Nears
Once again, another working week is about to draw to a close. And not a moment too soon. After a long week of high temperatures, we are ready to daydream about weekend plans. In fact, we are getting a head start, since we are rolling in the sidewalks this morning in order to take a few hours off to spend with Mrs. Pharmalot and one or more short people. We are also looking forward to catching up on some reading, puttering around the official Pharmalot grounds and socializing with other humans. And what about you? Perhaps the great outdoors are beckoning or this is an opportunity to reach out to someone special. You could a...
Source: Pharmalot - July 19, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
NHS could save £84m using cheaper drug to prevent blindness, trial finds
Researchers say Avastin is just as good as more-expensive Lucentis for treating wet age-related macular degenerationAn image of an eye with wet AMD, the most common cause of blindness, diagnosed in 23,000 people in the UK every year. Photograph: Queen's University Belfast/PASarah Boseley, health editorThe NHS could save more than £84m a year if it used a cheap, unlicensed drug to treat people in danger of going blind rather than the expensive one currently licensed and promoted by leading pharmaceutical companies for the purpose, a ground-breaking trial has shown.Researchers led by Prof Usha Chakravarthy from Queen's Univ...
Source: PharmaGossip - July 19, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
FDA Warns Genentech Trial Investigator Over Data Problems
An investigator for a Phase III trial for the Lucentis macular degeneration treatment, which is sold by Genentech, has received a warning letter from the FDA for failing to follow the protocol and maintain accurate case histories of patients. And his omissions and mistakes raised concerns about the “validity, reliability and integrity of the data” that was captured at his site, according to the FDA letter.
The physician, Bernard Doft, participated in the HARBOR study that compared low and high dose versions of Lucentis among patients with the eye affliction, which is a common affliction among the elderly (here is the l...
Source: Pharmalot - July 16, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Ophthalmologists Balk At Senate Compounding Bill Over Avastin Restrictions
As the US Senate considers legislation to toughen oversight of compounding pharmacies, one group of physicians is lobbying the Senate to create an exception for biologics. The American Academy of Ophthalmology is concerned about a provision in the Senate bill that requires patients to have specific prescriptions for each medicine that is ordered from a compounding pharmacy (here is the bill).
The language is designed to prevent compounding pharmacies from expanding into large-scale production, which is what the New England Compounding Center had been doing before producing medicines that led to a nationwide outbreak of fun...
Source: Pharmalot - May 22, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: esilverman Source Type: blogs
Lucentis multi-dosing? Reader comment
A reader made an interesting comment on an old post, so I’m highlighting it here in the hopes that more might see it.
Anyone heard about this?
“Has Genenetch looked into the practice of retinal specialists multi-dosing Lucentis, i.e., administering up to 4 doses, from a single use vial? Some providers argue that, since each vial contains 5 doses, they can do this by drawing out the doses into multiple injection needles (other the one injection needle that Genetech supplies in the package). It seems that there is a danger here for microbial infection, and also some concern about the provider lowering there actua...
Source: Health Business Blog - April 22, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Pharma Source Type: blogs
Happy 8th birthday to the Health Business Blog!
The Health Business Blog turns eight years old today. Continuing a tradition I established with birthdays one, two, three, four, five, six, and seven I have picked out a favorite post from each month. Thanks for continuing to read the blog!
March 2012: Should medical debt count against your credit rating?
As far as I’m concerned, a lot of medical debt isn’t real debt. Real debt is borrowing money from a bank to buy a car or using a credit card to finance a vacation or taking out a student loan to pay for college. Borrowers know ahead of time that they are incurring a financial obligation for a known amount of mone...
Source: Health Business Blog - March 1, 2013 Category: Health Managers Authors: David E. Williams of the Health business blog Tags: Announcements Blogs Source Type: blogs
Italy Probes Roche & Novartis For Forming A ‘Cartel’
The latest chapter in the controversy over the use of over two Roche drugs for treating wet macular degeneration – Avastin and Lucentis – is being written in Italy, where antitrust regulators opened a probe into whether the drugmaker and Novartis, which markets one of the medicines in Europe, formed a cartel.
Specifically, the Italian Competition authority is investigating whether the drugmakers may have struck an “illicit agreement” to exclude ophthalmic use of Avastin and favor the sales of Lucentis. Roche’s Genentech unit developed both drugs, although Lucentis is marketed in Europe by Nova...
Source: Pharmalot - February 20, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Antitrust Avastin Lucentis Novartis Roche Wet Macular Degeneraiton Source Type: blogs
Age-related macular degeneration - 2012 Lancet review
From the The Lancet:
Age-related macular degeneration is a major cause of blindness worldwide. With ageing populations in many countries, more than 20% might have the disorder.
Advanced age-related macular degeneration is associated with progressive visual impairment. It includes two subtypes:
- neovascular age-related macular degeneration (wet)
- geographic atrophy (late dry) macular degeneration
What are the risk factors for macular degeneration?
Major risk factors include:
- cigarette smoking
- nutritional factors
- cardiovascular diseases
- genetic markers, including genes regulating complement, lipid, angiogeni...
Source: Clinical Cases and Images - Blog - January 7, 2013 Category: Professors and Educators Tags: Lancet Review Ophthalmology Source Type: blogs
Lucentis - Roche and NICE see eye to eye after a price cut
The extent of the price cut in Lucentis is unknown, as it is covered by a confidentiality agreement between pharma companies and the government. But Roche has confirmed that a new lower price will apply to the drug in both wet AMD and DMO.
http://www.pharmafile.com/news/176562/new-price-and-data-changes-nice-view-lucentis?
Anyone know the price cut? (Source: PharmaGossip)
Source: PharmaGossip - January 4, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: insider Source Type: blogs
Pharmalot… Pharmalittle… Good Morning
Top of the morning to you. And a fine one it is, if a bit cold. But it is wintertime, so we are not surprised. Another thing that is unsurprising is the amount of goings-on now that the new year has sprung. So to celebrate – and to cope – we are brewing a delicious cup of stimulation and invite you to join us. After all, this may help tackle that to-do list. Meanwhile, here are some tidbits. Have a grand day and stay in touch…
Merck CEO Sees More Consolidation (Wall Street Journal)
Novartis Wins UK NICE OK For Lucentis After Price Cut (Bloomberg News)
Merck Resubmits Combo Cholesterol Pill To FDA (Associa...
Source: Pharmalot - January 3, 2013 Category: Pharma Commentators Authors: Ed Silverman Tags: Uncategorized Abbvie ALS Amgen Aranesp Bayer Biogen Cholseterol Drug Shortages Lucentis Merck Novartis Salix Pharmacuetical Synergy Pharmaceutical Whistleblower Source Type: blogs
