Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
Italy Becomes First Country To Force Drugmakers To Disclose Data On Public Funding
Stat: Italy Will Require Pharma To Disclose Public Funding For R&D
Amid growing clamor for more transparency from the pharmaceutical industry, Italy has become the first country to require drug makers to disclose data about public funding for any of their medicines during negotiations over pricing and reimbursement. As a result, the Italian Medicines Agency, known as AIFA, will have insight into various costs, such as R&D and marketing, that drug companies incur, as well as data on revenue, patents, and prices offered to other countries, according to a decree published last week. (Silverman, 8/6)
Also —
MarketWatch: Pfizer To Help Manufacture Gilead's Remdesivir
Shares of Pfizer Inc. PFE, -0.46% gained 1.0% in premarket trading on Friday after it announced that it will help manufacture Gilead Sciences Inc.'s GILD, -0.27% COVID-19 treatment remdesivir as part of a multi-year agreement. Gilead's stock was up 0.6% on Friday before the market opened. This is a rare manufacturing deal between two of the world's largest drugmakers. (Lee, 8/7)
San Francisco Chronicle: Drugmaker AbbVie To Pay $24 Million To Settle California Insurance Fraud Allegations
The California Insurance Commissioner’s Office settled a case with drugmaker AbbVie it brought almost two years ago over allegations the company gave perks and payments to health care providers so they would prescribe the arthritis drug Humira, resulting in health insurers paying $1.2 billion in fraudulent insurance claims. AbbVie will pay $24 million to settle the claims and agreed to a range of reforms but continues to deny the allegations, the office of state Insurance Commissioner Ricardo Lara said Thursday. The company has locations in San Francisco, Redwood City, and Sunnyvale. (DiFeliciantonio, 8/6)
Stat: Biogen Pay Denali $1 Billion For Parkinson’s Drug Rights, Delivery Systems
Biogen said Thursday it will pay more than $1 billion to the biotech firm Denali for rights to a Parkinson’s drug based on an approach that was nearly abandoned by several major pharmaceutical firms in recent years but that has since shown potential to help treat the disease. The deal also includes rights to a Denali technology for delivering medicines to the brain. (Herper, 8/6)
