Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
In Effort To Ease Investors' Minds, Allergan To Sell Women's Health, Infectious-Disease Units
The Wall Street Journal: Allergan To Sell Businesses In Bid To Appease Shareholders
Allergan is exploring the sale of two relatively small businesses, in a bid to jolt sagging shares and ease the minds of worried investors. Allergan Chief Executive Brent Saunders told investors Wednesday that the company has begun a process to sell its women’s-health and infectious-disease businesses. (Rockoff, 5/30)
Reuters: Allergan To Sell Women's Health, Infectious Disease Units
Saunders said that after the sales, the company would focus on four core businesses: medical aesthetics, central nervous system, eye care and gastrointestinal products. “We have a very strong pipeline in all those areas. Having a focus on those four areas will make Allergan a more exciting company,” he said in an interview. (Erman, 5/30)
The Hill: Allergan Recalls Birth Control Pills Over Packaging Error
Drugmaker Allergan issued a voluntary recall for nearly 170,000 birth control packs after it was revealed that a packaging error could cause unintended pregnancies. The recall targets sample packs of Taytulla that were distributed to doctors' offices and then given to patients. (Hellmann, 5/30)
Reuters: Gap In Regulating Biotech Drug Copies Prompts WHO To Step In
Cut-price copies of expensive biotech drugs promise to slash the cost of treating serious diseases, including cancer, in rich and poor countries alike - but uneven regulation has created a lopsided market. Now the World Health Organization (WHO) is stepping in to assess the quality of such so-called biosimilars, offering a global stamp of approval that could make them more widely available, while also raising the quality bar. (Hirschler, 5/30)
And on the topic of CEO pay -
The Wall Street Journal: Did We Say $1.5 Million? We Meant $10.9 Million. Firms Fix CEO Pay Flubs
When Laboratory Corp. of America disclosed pay for its chief executive in March, the company said he made $1.5 million in 2016. A week later, the diagnostic-lab chain filed a new document listing his pay at $10.9 million. Chief Executive David King didn’t get a retroactive raise. His employer just proofread its work. Such a big discrepancy is unusual, but LabCorp isn’t the only big company to make significant adjustments to past pay disclosures. (Francis, 5/30)
