Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
New GlaxoSmithKline CEO Will Be First Woman To Head A Major International Pharmaceutical Firm
Reuters: GlaxoSmithKline Names Insider Emma Walmsley As New CEO
GlaxoSmithKline said on Tuesday it had chosen its head of consumer healthcare, Emma Walmsley, as its new chief executive, after considering internal and external candidates. She will become the first woman to head a top global pharmaceutical company and only the seventh to lead a business in Britain's FTSE 100 index. (Hirschler, 9/20)
Bloomberg: Bayer Raises Peak Sales Forecast For New-Medicine Portfolio
Bayer AG raised the sales forecast for its latest blockbuster drugs, increasing optimism for the pharmaceutical unit as the German company pursues a $66 billion takeover of U.S. seeds giant Monsanto Co. A group of five new medicines including clot-busting Xarelto and eye treatment Eylea could generate more than 10 billion euros ($11.2 billion) in annual revenue, up from a previous estimate of at least 7.5 billion euros, the Leverkusen-based conglomerate said in a statement on Tuesday. Top-seller Xarelto alone is likely to generate more than 5 billion euros a year in sales at its peak. (Kresge, 9/19)
The New York Times: Common Blood-Pressure Drug May Work On Malaria, Too
Giving malaria victims a common blood-pressure drug along with regular treatment may save lives by preventing lethal brain hemorrhages, scientists reported on Monday. The experiments were done only in infected mice and may not predict success in humans. But substantially more mice were saved when given the drug, according to scientists at NYU Langone Medical Center and their colleagues in Spain and Germany. (McNeil, 9/19)
