Tag Archives: pharma

The Wall Street Journal reports: More than three dozen drugmakers raised the prices on hundreds of medicines in the U.S. on Tuesday, according to an analysis from Rx Savings Solutions, which sells software to help employers and health plans choose the least-expensive medicines. The average increase was 6.3%, according to the analysis, including increases on different doses for the same …

STAT News reports: For years, so-called influencers — celebrities, former reality television contestants and sometimes, former lawyers or other professionals — have hawked diet teas and hair products everywhere from Facebook to Snapchat. And now, pharma is catching on. An entire industry has cropped up to link drug makers with the industry’s own version of an influencer — people, usually …

The Salt Lake Tribune reports: Amid a flurry of national proposals to bring exorbitant U.S. drug prices in line with other countries’ charges, one Utah insurer has a different option for patients: Pay them to go to Mexico. PEHP, which covers 160,000 public employees and family members, is offering plane tickets to San Diego, transportation to Tijuana, and a $500 …

Courthouse News reports: “I will regret every day of my life the day I met Martin Shkreli.” Evan Greebel, the former lawyer for “Pharma Bro” Shkreli, briefly addressed the court for the first time during his sentencing Friday for wire and securities fraud conspiracy. U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto sentenced Greebel to 18 months in prison and over $10 million …

Axios reports: The 64 health care CEOs in the S&P 500 cumulatively made almost $1.7 billion in 2017, according to a new Axios analysis of their compensation. That total is 74% higher than the $949 million that is normally highlighted in company proxy documents. Within the compensation totals, Axios’ Bob Herman calculated the actual realized gains of CEOs’ stock options …

CNBC reports: Ambien maker Sanofi isn’t buying Roseanne Barr’s claim that she compared former Obama aide Valerie Jarrett to an ape because she was “ambien tweeting.” “While all pharmaceutical treatments have side effects, racism is not a known side effect of any Sanofi medication,” the French drugmaker posted to its American Twitter account on Wednesday. Ambien is used to treat …

CNN Money reports: The top lawyer at Swiss pharmaceutical company Novartis stepped down on Wednesday following revelations that the company made payments to President Donald Trump’s personal attorney Michael Cohen. Novartis (NVS) said its general counsel, Felix Ehrat, had decided to retire from his position in the “context of discussions” surrounding the payments to Cohen. Cohen’s company Essential Consultants had …

CNN Money reports: President Donald Trump will lay out his vision for lowering drug prices in a long-awaited speech on Friday. The president plans to provide a blueprint on how he will make prescription medication more affordable, according to senior administration officials. It will seek to increase competition and improve the negotiation of drug prices, as well as reduce consumers’ …

Yahoo Finance reports: Goldman Sachs analysts attempted to address a touchy subject for biotech companies, especially those involved in the pioneering “gene therapy” treatment: cures could be bad for business in the long run. “Is curing patients a sustainable business model?” analysts ask in an April 10 report entitled “The Genome Revolution.” “The potential to deliver ‘one shot cures’ is …

A federal judge in Manhattan just sentenced infamous pharma douche Martin Shkreli to seven years in prison. Before the judge issued the sentence, Shkreli sobbed and begged for mercy. The Associated Press reports: “Pharma Bro” Martin Shkreli cried in court Friday as he apologized for defrauding investors while being sentenced by a federal judge. Shkreli, his cocky persona nowhere to …

CNBC reports: Convicted fraudster Martin Shkreli will have to forfeit $7.36 million to the federal government as part of his upcoming criminal sentence, a judge ruled Monday. Judge Kiyo Matsumoto said that in order to satisfy that award amount Shkreli — who was said to be completely cash-broke last year by his lawyer — must forfeit his interest in a …

Reuters reports: Martin Shkreli, the former drug company executive convicted of defrauding investors in two hedge funds he ran, has asked a federal judge to sentence him to 12 months to 18 months in prison, much less than suggested federal guidelines. Shkreli, 34, has been in jail since September, when U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto revoked his bail after he …

Reuters reports: Former U.S. drug company executive Martin Shkreli will be held responsible for $10.4 million in financial losses when he is sentenced for defrauding investors, a federal judge ruled on Monday, rejecting his argument that he did not cause any losses because his investors eventually came out ahead. The ruling from U.S. District Judge Kiyo Matsumoto could mean more …

CNBC reports: Tronc said Wednesday it has struck a deal to sell the Los Angeles Times, The San Diego Union-Tribune and other titles in the California News Group to billionaire biotech investor Patrick Soon-Shiong. The agreement with Soon-Shiong, a major shareholder in Tronc and chief executive of NantHealth, includes $500 million in cash plus the assumption of $90 million in …

NBC News reports: New York City filed a $500 million lawsuit Tuesday against prescription opioid manufacturers and distributors, seeking to hold them accountable for their alleged part in the city’s drug epidemic. The lawsuit aims to recover expenses the city will incur in combating the crisis. In 2016, more than 1,000 people in New York City died of an opioid …

Bloomberg reports: Insys Therapeutics Inc. founder John Kapoor is accused of helping fuel the U.S. opioid epidemic by bribing doctors to prescribe a powerful form of fentanyl to patients who didn’t need the potent drug. Kapoor, 74, was arrested Thursday in Arizona and charged with racketeering conspiracy and other felonies. He’s scheduled to appear in a Phoenix court later in …

The New York Daily News reports: This bro’s got issues. A federal judge has signed an order for a psychiatric exam for convicted Pharma Bro Martin Shkreli, just days after yanking his $5 million bail, court records show. Brooklyn Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto signed off on the test for the 34-year-old on Tuesday, according to court records. The reason for …

The New York Daily News reports: Martin Shkreli got socked into jail Wednesday when a federal judge delivered a poetic punchline to the Pharma Bro’s own Hillary Clinton jokes. Brooklyn Federal Judge Kiyo Matsumoto revoked Shkreli’s $5 million bail Wednesday evening, saying Shkreli’s $5,000 bounty on Clinton’s hair was the final straw. Shkreli was convicted in August on securities fraud …

NBC News reports: Former pharmaceutical executive Martin Shkreli apologized Tuesday for offering his Facebook followers $5,000 to pull a hair from Hillary Clinton’s head, saying it was an “awkward attempt at humor or satire” and not a real threat. The contrite-sounding note to a federal judge from the man known as “Pharma Bro” came five days after prosecutors asked the …

The Washington Post reports: Martin Shkreli, the former hedge fund manager awaiting sentencing for defrauding his investors, should have his bail revoked after offering his Facebook followers $5,000 to grab a strand of Hillary Clinton’s hair during her book tour, federal prosecutors say. Shkreli’s conduct since his conviction in early August has escalated and he poses a threat to the …