Tag Archives: pharma

Bloomberg reports: McKesson Corp., Cardinal Health, and AmerisourceBergen Corp. have proposed paying $10 billion to settle claims they helped to fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic — the first sign of progress in resolving state lawsuits against the drug distributors, according to people familiar with negotiations. The companies, which deliver the majority of prescription medications to U.S. pharmacies, made the verbal …

USA Today reports: Earlier this week, Merck released the results of a small and early trial showing a prototype of a pin-sized implant could block HIV from infecting individuals for a full year. Through an upper-arm implant, the same device used to administer certain birth controls, doctors will likely be able to deliver “meaningful doses” of an experimental anti-HIV drug, …

CNBC reports: A federal appeals court on Thursday upheld the criminal conviction of notorious “pharma bro” Martin Shkreli. The three-judge panel in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circut also upheld the more than $6.4 million in foreiture that a judge imposed on Shkreli last year when she sentenced him for his conviction on two counts of securities …

Axios reports: Pfizer, which has clashed with President Trump over drug prices, has appointed former FDA commissioner Scott Gottlieb to its board of directors. The role pays $335,000 annually in cash and stock. Since leaving the Trump administration roughly 3 months ago, Gottlieb has rejoined a conservative think tank and a venture capital firm that has pharmaceutical investments. Cycling between …

The Guardian reports: Personal interest from Donald Trump appears to have put a controversial antidepressant on a fast track at the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) that shoved aside usual protocols, even though experts inside and outside the government have serious concerns the drug is effective and say it may be dangerous. Sources inside the Department of Veterans Affairs say …

The New York Daily News reports: Takes one to know one. Imprisoned “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli sued three former colleagues Friday over his ouster from the unethical pharmaceutical company he founded, alleging they were “driven by their egos, jealousy, and greed.” The notorious Brooklyn-born troll is serving seven years for securities fraud. His lawsuit describes a Bizarro Shkreli who was …

The Hill reports: Republican members of Congress defended Gilead, the leading manufacturer of HIV drugs in the U.S., during a testy hearing Thursday focused on the prices of its products. “I just cannot understand why we are spending time sitting here listening to people lecturing companies about making money. I hope you make a lot of money,” Rep. Chip Roy …

STAT News reports: In a bid to maintain its dominance in the HIV market, Gilead Sciences (GILD) allegedly conspired with other drug makers whose medicines were part of a so-called combination cocktail in order to block generic competition, according to a lawsuit filed by AIDS activists and two unions. The complaint describes an unusual scheme concerning these cocktails, which are …

Axios reports: The Trump administration finalized a rule Wednesday that will require pharmaceutical companies to post the list prices of their drugs in TV commercials. The drug industry may sue to block the rule, and many people are skeptical that publishing prices in ads would help patients or successfully shame drugmakers into lowering their prices. But the rule is another …

The New York Daily News reports: “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli has been transferred out of his low-security prison and hauled back to Brooklyn after a report he was still running his business and tweeting with a contraband cell phone. Shkreli, 36, who’s serving seven years in a federal prison for defrauding investors, has been moved from the prison at Fort …

Forbes reports: The much-maligned pharmaceutical businessman and uber troll Martin Shkreli has been put in solitary confinement at Federal Correctional Institution in Fort Dix, New Jersey, Forbes has been told by two sources with knowledge of the situation. That came after the Wall Street Journal described how he was using a contraband phone to run his pharma business from behind …

CBS News reports: New York state prosecutors on Thursday filed a lawsuit against Purdue Pharma and the family that owns the OxyContin-maker, alleging they fraudulently transferred funds out of the company. The complaint also adds charges previously filed against other companies that made and distributed opioids. “We found that pharmaceutical manufacturers and distributors engaged in years of deceptive marketing about …

The Daily Beast reports: Purdue Pharma and its owners, the Sackler family, will pay $270 million to settle claims by the Oklahoma attorney general that the company helped fuel America’s opioid crisis, The Wall Street Journal reports. It’s the first settlement to be agreed upon from more than 1,600 opioid lawsuits the OxyContin maker faces various from states, cities, and …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The U.S. Bureau of Prisons opened an investigation into pharmaceutical wunderkind Martin Shkreli’s behavior behind bars, a bureau spokesperson said Friday. The Wall Street Journal reported Thursday that Mr. Shkreli, 35 years old, is largely running his former drug company, Phoenixus AG, from his prison cell in Fort Dix, N.J., via a contraband smartphone. Mr. …

The Wall Street Journal reports: The Food and Drug Administration approved a controversial drug for depression that could be the first of a long-awaited wave of new treatments, but that has also raised concerns about abuse. The drug, a nasal spray that manufacturer Johnson & Johnson JNJ 0.21% has branded Spravato, is a close chemical relation to ketamine. Ketamine is …

Reuters reports: OxyContin maker Purdue Pharma LP is exploring filing for bankruptcy to address potentially significant liabilities from thousands of lawsuits alleging the drug manufacturer contributed to the deadly opioid crisis sweeping the United States, people familiar with the matter said on Monday. The deliberations show how Purdue and its wealthy owners, the Sackler family, are under pressure to respond …

The New York Times reports: The drugmaker Eli Lilly will begin selling a cheaper version of its most popular insulin, Humalog, in an effort to head off criticism about the rising costs of prescription drugs, the company said Monday. Lilly will begin selling an “authorized generic” of Humalog 100 for $137.35 per vial, a 50 percent discount off the list …

The Guardian reports: Art photographer and activist Nan Goldin brought the Guggenheim Museum in New York to a standstill on Saturday night as thousands of fake prescriptions were dropped into the atrium to protest against the institution’s acceptance of donations from the family who owns the maker of OxyContin – the prescription painkiller at the root of America’s opioids crisis. …

NBC News reports: As the nation’s opioid crisis was deepening, the company that makes a powerful prescription painkiller considered marketing an anti-addiction drug to “an attractive market” of people with addictions, according to allegations in court documents made public Thursday. The attorney general’s office in Massachusetts is suing Connecticut-based Purdue Pharma, along with some company executives and members of the …

Politico reports: The White House is expected to soon name Joe Grogan as the next head of its Domestic Policy Council, two sources with knowledge of the decision told POLITICO. The move would elevate Grogan, a top Office of Management and Budget health care official and ally of acting White House Chief of Staff Mick Mulvaney, to a role that …