Pharma’s Concerns That Trump Will Do Something Radical To Cut Prices Have All But Evaporated
The J.P. Morgan Healthcare Conference, the biggest annual investors event in biotechnology, is underway and the worries from last year haven't exactly carried over into 2018. In other pharmaceutical news: an Alzheimer's drug may have gotten its second wind; Celgene has agreed to buy cancer drugmaker Impact Biomedicines; and an executive facing sexual harassment allegations still hasn't stepped down.
Boston Globe:
The Year In Biotech Begins Flush With Cash
As the biggest annual investors event in biotechnology gets underway here Monday, concerns that Trump might do something radical — like push to allow Medicare to negotiate drug prices — have evaporated. He just signed a tax cut that will let drug makers bring billions of dollars in overseas cash home, and possibly fuel a round of corporate mergers and acquisitions. (Saltzman, 1/7)
Stat:
'Failed' Alzheimer's Drug Looks Better With Additional Analysis, Neurotrope Says
A small biotech that got hammered by investors when it unveiled disappointing results from a Phase 2 clinical trial of its Alzheimer’s drug last spring will report better news on Sunday. After following patients with advanced Alzheimer’s for an additional two weeks, Neurotrope (NTRP) found that the improved cognitive scores of those on a low dose of the compound, bryostatin, were large enough compared to patients in the control group to come within a whisker of statistical significance. And in subsets of the low-dose patients, the cognitive improvement cleared that statistical bar. All of the follow-on analyses, which Neurotrope president and chief scientific officer Dr. Daniel Alkon will present at the Sachs’ Neuroscience Innovation Forum in San Francisco, were pre-specified in the statistical plan for the clinical trial, not post hoc — which is considered statistically suspect. (Begley, 1/5)
Bloomberg:
Celgene To Buy Cancer-Drug Maker Impact For $1.1 Billion
Celgene Corp. agreed to buy closely held Impact Biomedicines for $1.1 billion upfront to gain an experimental blood cancer treatment. The price could reach as much as $7 billion over time if the drug reaches certain milestones. Under the agreement, Celgene will add as much as $1.25 billion to the upfront payment if Impact’s drug fedratinib reaches approval milestones to treat myelofibrosis, a form of bone marrow cancer, and another $150 million for other indications. Additional payments could reach as much as $4.5 billion if global annual sales rise above $5 billion, according to a statement Sunday. (Daurat, 1/7)
Stat:
A Month After Promising To Step Down, Sam Isaly Is Still At OrbiMed
Amonth after saying he would resign in the face of sexual harassment allegations, the founder of biotech’s largest and most powerful hedge fund is still on the job, according a federal filing. Sam Isaly’s signature appears at the bottom of a document submitted to the Securities and Exchange Commission on Friday, a filing that lists him as the managing partner of OrbiMed. (Garde, 1/5)
