Eric Palmer
FiercePharma
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Past articles by Eric:
Net prices for insulins keep dropping, but patients are paying more, Sanofi says
Amid the fight over high insulin prices, insurers have blamed drugmakers for repeatedly raising prices for years. But in a new report, Sanofi pushes back, saying prices after rebates and discounts are actually falling while patients keep paying more. In all, the French drugmaker shelled out nearly $14 billion in rebates in 2019. → Read More
Eli Lilly's Trulicity nabs novel CV approval in patients with or without established disease
Analysts and investors were less than amazed when Eli Lilly revealed cardiovascular outcomes data for its GLP-1 diabetes med Trulicity in late 2018. It wasn't that the study didn't hit its mark, they argued, but that the results weren't impressive enough to move the needle in a competitive field. → Read More
ArQule wanted a partner. Merck wanted control. Solution? A buyout deal
It’s not uncommon for partnership talks focused on one drug to escalate into a full-on buyout. And that's just what happened with Merck & Co.’s $2.7 billion deal for ArQule. But in this case, it only took the two parties 20 days from shifting gears to buyout talks to inking an agreement. → Read More
After 'nonsense' retort, Lilly CEO urges patients to seek its help affording insulin
Eli Lilly's insulin generic hasn't exactly taken the market by storm, and this week the company faced accusations that it hasn't done enough to make sure it's readily available. Lilly CEO David Ricks first called the idea "nonsense," but now he's changed his tune with an open letter urging patients to go directly to the company for help finding it. → Read More
Seattle Genetics, Astellas snag quick FDA approval for bladder cancer fighter Padcev
Historically, metastatic bladder cancer has been “a very bad prognosis,” in the words of Seattle Genetics CEO Clay Siegall. But his company and partner Astellas now have a shot at trying to change that. Wednesday, the FDA approved Padcev, a first-of-its kind antibody-drug conjugate. → Read More
GE jettisoning its biomanufacturing-in-a-box business for $21.4B
General Electric which pioneered the factory-in-a-box concept for biomanufacturing, is bailing out of the business. It has agreed to sell the biologics manufacturing portion of its healthcare operations to conglomerate Danaher. → Read More
Former AstraZeneca UK plant back up for sale, putting 270 jobs at risk
A CDMO that has made a habit of snapping up Big Pharma’s discarded manufacturing plants has put a former AstraZeneca plant into bankruptcy. → Read More
Novartis’ AveXis doubles down with $115M manufacturing investment
AveXis, which Novartis acquired last year for $8.7 billion, announced it will invest another $60 million and hire another 200 workers for the site it is building in Durham, North Carolina. That is on top of the $55 million it pledged to invest in the plant last year when it first projected hiring 200 employees. → Read More
Dr. Reddy's racks up more repeat violations at Bachupally formulations plant
Dr. Reddy’s, which has been struggling to bring a number of its key plants up to FDA standards, has been unable to learn from past mistakes, including at its formulations plant in Bachupally. → Read More
McKesson called out by FDA's Gottlieb over opioid tampering
McKesson, one of the largest drug wholesalers in the country, was lashed in an FDA warning letter for shipments in which opioids were replaced by over-the-counter drugs. → Read More
Pfizer Japan drawn into valsartan recall after finding API from Mylan is tainted
The global recall of valsartan has now extended to Pfizer and to Japan, via Mylan and India. Pfizer’s Tokyo-based subsidiary said it is recalling from the country five lots of its blood pressure combo drug Amubaro because its API contains impurities that are probable carcinogens. → Read More
Another hospital group targets drug shortages and says blood pressure drug metoprolol up first
Healthcare management company Premier has pledged to attack hospital drug shortages in the U.S. and has created a new subsidiary to focus exclusively on the problem. It says its first offering will be to market soon. → Read More
Allergan tries to blunt impact of Botox competitor with complaint of pilfered manufacturing secrets
It may not be a trend as yet, but for the second time recently, drugmakers have tried to put the kibosh on a competitor’s launch by alleging its product was made using stolen manufacturing secrets. → Read More
‘De-intergration’ of Sandoz from Novartis expected to include manufacturing cuts
Novartis had what CEO Vas Narasimhan called a transformative year in manufacturing in 2018 as it closed or sold eight facilities and restructured eight others to be more efficient. But more is in store for manufacturing over the next 18 months as Novartis transforms its generics unit Sandoz into an “autonomous unit within Novartis.” → Read More
Samsung BioLogics sees sales rise but profit fall as it continues expansion
Biologics CDMO Samsung BioLogics has kept up its frantic growth even as it deals with legal issues tied to its joint venture with Biogen. → Read More
FDA moving to 'risk-based' inspections even as valsartan scare adds new wrinkle to oversight
FDA inspections of generic drug plants are on the rise and should continue to increase through 2019, Commissioner Scott Gottlieb said this week in a series of tweets. → Read More
Pfizer CEO: It'll be 2020 before issues in sterile injectables manufacturing are resolved
It appears it will be another hard year for U.S. hospitals to get their hands on sterile injectables as work continues at Pfizer’s troubled plant in Kansas, perhaps the largest U.S. producer of the drugs. → Read More
FDA finds more issues at Lupin plant it spanked in warning letter
The FDA in 2017 ripped Indian drugmaker Lupin in a warning letter for not learning from past mistakes. In a new visit to one of the two plants cited in that letter, the FDA has again found issues. → Read More
FDA’s aggressive move on tainted ‘sartan’ leads to shortages
The FDA took aggressive action when it learned that some “sartan” drugs contained a probable carcinogen which developed during manufacturing. Now the long list of recalls has caught up to supply, leaving some products in shortage and the FDA trying to decide how to balance exposure versus going without a medication. → Read More
Novartis sounds alarm over what a hard Brexit will do to pharma, patients
As it looks more and more like England’s exit from the EU will turn into a train wreck, one of the world’s largest drugmakers pleaded with authorities to get their acts together so drug supplies do not get lost in the wreckage. → Read More