- French pharmaceutical giant Sanofi announced it would cut the US price of its most prescribed insulin by 78 percent, falling in line with two other major drug makers. Eli Lilly announced this month it would cut the US price of its insulin by 70 percent and Novo Nordisk followed suit by saying it would lower the price by 75 per cent. The moves come after US President Joe Biden urged insulin manufacturers to lower the price of a life-saving drug needed by millions of Americans living with diabetes. "Insulin costs less than $10 to make, but Americans are sometimes forced to pay over $300 for it," Biden said. Sanofi, Eli Lilly and Novo Nordisk dominate the insulin market in the United States. Sanofi said it would cut the list price of Lantus, its most widely prescribed insulin in the United States, by 78 percent from January 1, 2024. The incidence of diabetes in the United States in adults has doubled over the last 20 years, afflicting 37.3 million people, according to the US Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. Insulin prices have soared in the country, with the drug costing over eight times more than in 32 comparable high-income countries, a 2020 Rand Corporation study found. The unaffordability of insulin particularly for uninsured Americans has become a rallying cry for critics of Big Pharma. (ETHealthWorld)
- Eris Lifesciences Limited, an Indian branded formulations manufacturing company, has announced its acquisition of 9 Dermatology brands from Dr Reddy’s Laboratories for a total consideration of Rs 275 crore. The brands are largely in cosmetology segments like anti-acne, moisturisers, cleansers, anti-ageing, hair health, melasma etc. Post this deal, Eris will rank 3rd in its dermatology covered market with a market share of ~ 7%. Eris entered the dermatology segment through the acquisition of Oaknet Healthcare for Rs 650 crore in May ‘22 and strengthened this franchise with the acquisition of 9 dermatology brands from Glenmark in Jan ‘23 for Rs 340 crore. Commenting on the acquisition, Mr. Amit Bakshi, Chairman & Managing Director of Eris Lifesciences Ltd., said, “Starting with our inception in 2007, it took us 13 years to add the “First 1000 crore” of revenue. However we are adding the “Next 1000 crore” of revenue in just 4 years by deploying our internal cashflows along with external funding to drive a mix of organic and inorganic growth while protecting our margins. We expect this will continue to be a way of life at Eris going forward.” (Medical Dialogues)
- Scoring two of the three largest M&A deals in biopharma last year was just an appetizer for Pfizer. The industry giant sat down to the main course, gobbling up Seattle cancer specialist Seagen for $43 billion. It is the largest acquisition in biopharma since June of 2019, when AbbVie acquired Allergan for $63 billion. Five months before that, Bristol Myers Squibb pulled off the biggest transaction in industry history with its $74 billion purchase of Celgene. Seagen, long considered one of the world’s most attractive biotech targets, brings four commercial medicines and a deep pipeline full of antibody-drug conjugate (ADC) candidates. The company hit $2 billion in revenue last year, a 25% increase from 2021. Pfizer said that it expects the products brought by Seagen to bring $10 billion in annual revenues by 2030, with growth beyond that because of its rich pipeline. “We are not buying the golden eggs,” Pfizer CEO Albert Bourla said on a conference call on Monday. “We are acquiring the goose that is laying the golden eggs.” Seagen's four commercial products are Adcetris, Padcev, Tukysa and Tivdak, which together generated $1.7 billion last year. The foursome will bring in $8 billion annually by 2030, Pfizer estimates, with an additional $2 billion-plus expected to come from pipeline products. "I'm confident that this is the right time for Seagen to come together with Pfizer and benefit from each other's strengths," Epstein said. "Pfizer's footprint in clinical development, manufacturing and commercial oncology medicines will allow globalization of Seagen's products on a scale previously unattainable." (Fierce Pharma)
- Domestic pharmaceutical industry is expected to witness a revenue growth of 6-8 per cent in the next fiscal, rating agency Icra said on Thursday. Despite several disruptive events, the Indian pharmaceutical market (IPM) witnessed a healthy CAGR of 10.9 per cent between FY2012 and FY2022. "Going forward, ICRA expects revenues for its sample set to increase by 6-8 per cent in FY2024 against 3-4 per cent growth in FY2023," Icra Assistant Vice President & Sector Head - Corporate Ratings Mythri Macherla said in a statement. Higher sales of anti-infectives, further supported by price increases taken to offset raw material cost inflation, aided the overall IPM growth of 14.6 per cent in FY2022, she added. However, given the high base, the volume contracted by 1.2 per cent for the nine-month period of FY2023, Icra said.?In terms of emerging trends in the industry, e-pharmacies have gained significant traction in recent years and now account for 10-15 per cent of the IPM currently, it added. (ETHealthWorld)
- France's Sanofi SA agreed to acquire Provention Bio Inc for $2.9 billion to bolster its work on a U.S.-approved type 1 diabetes therapy and strengthen its drug pipeline following development setbacks. The deal builds on an existing co-promotion agreement between the two companies, and would give the French drugmaker full ownership of the drug, Tzield, Sanofi said, adding it expects to complete the acquisition in the second quarter of 2023. Sanofi, the maker of long acting insulin products Toujeo and Lantus for type 2 diabetes, in 2019 quit further type 2 diabetes drug development. Chief Executive Officer Paul Hudson said last month the company saw great promise in type 1 diabetes drug development and reaffirmed his commitment to steer clear of further work on type 2 diabetes and obesity. U.S.-based biotech firm Provention Bio won approval in the United States last year for Tzield, making it the first drug indicated to delay the onset of the third and final stage of type 1 diabetes in adults and children aged 8 years and older at stage 2. (Reuters)
The above news are a result of my own personal research and does not represent my organization's views.
