Drugmakers Betting Big On Gene Therapy By Investing Combined $2B Into Manufacturing Pricey Treatments

Reuters: Pfizer, Novartis Lead $2 Billion Spending Spree On Gene Therapy Production
Eleven drugmakers led by Pfizer and Novartis have set aside a combined $2 billion to invest in gene therapy manufacturing since 2018, according to a Reuters analysis, in a drive to better control production of the world's priciest medicines. The full scope of Novartis' $500 million plan, revealed to Reuters in an interview with the company's gene therapy chief, has not been previously disclosed. It is second only to Pfizer, which has allocated $600 million to build its own gene therapy manufacturing plants, according to filings and interviews with industry executives. (11/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Novartis Deal For Heart Drug Hinges On Succeeding Where Rivals Struggle
Novartis AG Chief Executive Vas Narasimhan has spent the past two years buying up cutting-edge science. His latest deal is a high-stakes bet that the Swiss health-care giant will succeed where many have struggled: launching a new heart drug. Cardiovascular diseases are the number-one cause of death in the U.S., but new drugs for conditions like high cholesterol and heart failure have proven tough to sell. (Roland, 11/29)

Stat: An Invite-Only Club For Biotech CEOs Offers Something Like 'Group Therapy'
The Boston-based organization was founded as a way for new CEOs to get together and learn from each other. Most of the group’s members head up smaller companies, many of which are private and not yet turning a profit. In return for a $4,500 annual membership fee, these CEOs get the chance to connect with a small group of 10 peers to workshop the unique problems that come with managing a company — an issue with a board member, perhaps, or with how to recruit top scientists. They’re also mentored by legends of the biopharma world like Massachusetts Institute of Technology professors Phil Sharp and Bob Langer. (Florko, 12/2)

The Hill: Trump's Drug Importation Plan Faces Resistance In US, Canada
President Trump’s proposal to import cheaper prescription drugs from Canada faces significant headwinds from U.S. pharmaceutical companies and the Canadian government. Canadian officials warn their country is too small to supply their neighbors to the south with prescription drugs, an argument that American drugmakers quickly seized on after years of aggressively opposing all drug importation efforts. (Hellmann, 12/1)

Stat: Biogen Strikes Value-Based Contracting Deal With UPMC Health 
In a twist on value-based contracting, a drug maker has agreed to offer a larger discount that a commercial health plan will receive for medicines – but only based on outcomes that patients report. In this instance, the UPMC Health Plan will pay less for two Biogen (BIIB) drugs — Tecfidera and Avonex — if patients say the medicines failed to help them, based on their assessments using a validated clinical scale known as Patient Determined Disease Steps. If the medicines work, however, both the health plan and patients could eventually be expected to experience lower overall health care costs. (Silverman, 11/27)

The Wall Street Journal: Early Drug Treatment Sharply Reduces Deaths From Ebola
A person’s chance of dying from Ebola increases substantially every day until he or she receives treatment, according to results from a landmark clinical trial conducted during a large epidemic in a violent region of the Democratic Republic of Congo. The study, published Wednesday in the New England Journal of Medicine, confirmed that two experimental drugs outperformed two others in saving the lives of people stricken with the deadly viral disease in northeastern Congo. (McKay, 11/27)

Stat: Two Ebola Treatments Yield 'Substantial Decrease' In Mortality, Trial Shows
Final data from a landmark clinical trial of four Ebola therapies conducted in the current outbreak in the Democratic Republic of the Congo show two of the drugs dramatically reduced the risk of dying from the disease, especially in people who started treatment quickly after onset of their illness. Findings of the PALM trial, published in the New England Journal of Medicine on Wednesday, show that two treatments based on Ebola antibodies led to a survival rate of about 65% in treated patients, compared to 33% in the outbreak overall. (Branswell, 11/27)