Category: Health

How Big Is the Opportunity for Celgene’s Otezla Overseas?

Since winning approval for use in psoriasis in September 2014, Otezla has steadily been chipping away at U.S. market share in the indication, turning into a billion-dollar blockbuster in the process. Otezla’s sales continued climbing throughout 2016, and with launches planned in new international markets soon, sales could head even higher.

What Is the FICA Tax, and Why Do I Have to Pay It?

If you’ve ever received a paycheck from your employer, you’ve probably felt a sense of accomplishment and disappointment all at once. The accomplishment comes in the form of the cash that’ll be flowing into your bank account, whereas the disappointment comes from the realization that you may owe quite a bit of tax on the wages you’ve earned.

What Is the Cassidy-Collins Obamacare Replacement Plan?

Repealing and replacing the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare, was a cornerstone of Donald Trump’s campaign for president. Recently, Trump said he wanted to repeal and replace Obamacare simultaneously.In response, Sen. Bill Cassidy and Sen. Susan Collins announced a plan that returns power to the states by allowing them to choose among three options.

Philip Morris International Gets Serious About Reduced Risk

But lately, a shift toward alternatives to cigarettes has taken hold among consumers, and Philip Morris has been surprisingly quick to embrace the idea that reduced-risk products could eventually supplant traditional cigarettes entirely. Philip Morris today reaffirmed its commitment to pursue reduced-risk product development to what it sees as its natural end: a smoke-free future.

Newron in Talks to License Schizophrenia Drug Tipped Blockbuster

Newron Pharmaceuticals SpA has held initial discussions with potential partners about licensing an experimental drug to treat schizophrenia, a mental health condition with no cure. “We see a good chance of a licensing deal in the second half of the year,” Chief Executive Officer Stefan Weber said in a telephone interview late on Tuesday.

Federal judge swats Aetna-Humana insurer combo

A federal judge has rejected health insurer Aetna’s plan to buy rival Humana Inc. for about $34 billion and become a major player in the market for Medicare Advantage coverage. U.S. District Judge John Bates says in an opinion filed Monday that he largely agrees with federal regulators who contended that such a combination would hurt competition.

Trump May End Obamacare Insurance Requirement, Conway Says

The Trump administration may stop enforcing the Obamacare requirement that most Americans carry health insurance even before Congress repeals the law, Kellyanne Conway, a top adviser to the new president, said in interviews broadcast on Sunday. Such a move would take the teeth out of former President Barack Obama’s health-care law and could destabilize insurance markets, analysts say.

3 Biotechs Likely to Be Acquired in 2017

The year is still young, but we’ve already seen acquisitions of Ariad and CoLucid . Which biotechs could be scooped up next in 2017? Here’s why Clovis Oncology The number of big companies battling to acquire Medivationin 2016 shows that the oncology space is hot.

What Does 2017 Hold for Medicare?

Medicare faces substantial uncertainty in 2017, as the incoming Trump administration has already promised to make major healthcare reforms. Although the president said during his campaign that he would not make cuts to Medicare, members of his cabinet and lawmakers in Congress might well see things differently.

Mallinckrodt Will Pay $100 Million to Settle Price-Hike Suit

Irish drugmaker Mallinckrodt Plc agreed to pay $100 million to settle claims that its U.S. unit illegally boosted the price of a rare autoimmune drug by 85,000 percent and bought the rights to a much-cheaper competitor to keep it out of the American market. The unit monopolized the market for years to increase sales of its H.P. Acthar Gel, typically used to treat multiple sclerosis, infantile spasms and other life-threatening diseases, the Federal Trade Commission said Wednesday in a statement.

Trumpcare, Not Obamacare, Could Be a Job Killer

In less than one week’s time Donald Trump is set to become the 45th president of the United States, which seemed mighty unlikely about a year and a half ago when campaigning began. While his agenda once in office is seemingly a mile long, at the top of the list appears to be the repeal of the Affordable Care Act, which you probably know best as Obamacare.

What Does 2017 Hold for Obamacare?

The Affordable Care Act became law in 2010, and the law has remained controversial long after its enactment. Until recently, policymakers didn’t expect any major changes to Obamacare during 2017, but they acknowledged that the outcome of the 2016 presidential election would have huge implications for the fate of healthcare reform going forward.

U.S. House Votes to Begin Repealing Obamacare

U.S. House Republicans on Friday won passage of a measure starting the process of dismantling Obamacare, despite concerns about not having a ready replacement and the potential financial cost of repealing repealing Democratic President Barack Obama’s landmark health insurance law. The House of Representatives voted 227-198 to instruct committees to draft legislation by a target date of Jan. 27 that would repeal the 2010 Affordable Health Care Act, popularly known as Obamacare.

UnitedHealthcare’s Fourth-Quarter Earnings May Bring This

Health insurance giant, UnitedHealthcare Group is set to report earnings for the fourth quarter of fiscal year 2016 on Tuesday, and analysts expect its acquisition of Surgical Care Affiliates to be centerstage. “The new development will be this acquisition of Surgical Care Affiliates,” he said by phone Friday.

Is Biogen’s Stock Ready to Heat Up After a Forgettable 2016?

The underlying reason for this dip is the biotech’s inability to shake off the political turmoil surrounding specialty-drug prices last year. And that’s not exactly surprising, given that Biogen’s flagship multiple sclerosis drug Tecfidera relied heavily on price increases to drive sales growth in the U.S. in 2016.

The definitive guide to what experts know about the effects of marijuana use

Cannabis plants grow in the greenhouse at Vireo Health’s medical marijuana cultivation facility, August 19, 2016 in Johnstown, New York. As eight states plus the District of Columbia have moved to fully legalize recreational marijuana, debates on the merits of legalization have focused on the effects of marijuana use on individuals and society: is marijuana bad for your lungs, or for your brain? Does it have therapeutic applications? Is it safer than alcohol or tobacco? Marijuana is one of the most studied substances in scientific literature, but the answers are scattered across tens of thousands of scientific papers.

Trump Asks Vaccine Skeptic Kennedy to Lead U.S. Safety Panel

President-elect Donald Trump has asked Robert F. Kennedy Jr. to lead a committee on the safety of vaccines, selecting an environmentalist who has linked the shots to autism in defiance of broad scientific consensus. Kennedy met with the incoming president at Trump Tower in New York on Tuesday and afterward told reporters that he had accepted an offer to lead a panel on “vaccine safety and scientific integrity.”

L’Oreal Buys Three Skincare Lines from Valeant for $1.3 Billion

L’Oreal shares traded higher in Paris Monday after the luxury group bought three skincare lines from Valeant Pharmaceuticals for $1.3 billion in a bid to expand its skincare portfolio. The Paris-based beauty and hair care product manufacturer entered an agreement to buy the skincare brands CeraVe, Acne Free and Ambi from Valeant.

Valeant to Sell $2.1 Billion in Assets to Pay Down Debt

Valeant Pharmaceuticals International Inc. agreed to sell about $2.1 billion in assets as the embattled Canadian drugmaker seeks to streamline its businesses and ease its debt burden. L’Oreal SA will pay Valeant $1.3 billion for three skincare brands, the Paris-based company Tuesday said in a statement.

Secretive Biotech Unicorn Moderna Unveils Pipeline, Financials

Moderna Therapeutics Inc., one of the best-funded private biotechnology companies in the U.S., unveiled its long-secret research and development pipeline on Monday, including experimental vaccines, cancer treatments and a cardiovascular therapy. The Cambridge, Massachusetts-based startup has about $1.3 billion in cash on hand from investors, pharmaceutical partners and government grants, according to a presentation Monday at the J.P.Morgan Chase & Co.

Here’s Why Merrimack Pharmaceuticals Inc. Fell 47.3% in 2016

Investors in the cancer-focused biotech had to stomach a 47% decline during the year, according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence . That was a far worse decline than the 17% pullback that was rung up by the First Trust NYSE Arca Biotech ETF As the chart above indicates, Merrimack’s stock gave its investors a wild ride during 2016.

Merrimack Soars on $1 Billion Sale of Cancer Drugs to Ipsen

The Nasdaq-listed cancer drugs developer is up 43% in pre-market trading after promising shareholders special dividends worth more than its closing share price on Friday. Nasdaq-listed Merrimack Pharmaceuticals agreed to sell oncology treatments, including its pancreatic-cancer treatment Onivyde, to French drugmaker Ipsen for as much as $1.05 billion, including benchmark payments.

Fresenius Medical Care Slumps After Patient-Aid Subpoena

Fresenius Medical Care AG fell the most in almost seven months after saying it had received a subpoena in the U.S. over premium-assistance programs that support dialysis patients on private insurance plans that can be more lucrative for providers. Fresenius said the U.S. Attorney for the District of Massachusetts is investigating its connections to the American Kidney Fund, which manages a patient-assistance program for the private plans.

GOP Should – Show Their Cards’ on Obamacare Redo, Obama Says

Republicans should “show their cards” with a better Obamacare replacement before taking steps to repeal the law, President Barack Obama said in an interview on his signature health program. “Republicans have to go ahead and show their cards, if in fact they have a program that would genuinely work better,” he said Friday in a webcast interview with the online news outlet Vox in Washington.

3 Takeover Candidates in the Drug Space

This commentary originally appeared on Real Money Pro at 7 a.m. ET Friday, Jan. 6. Click here to learn about this dynamic market information service for active traders. We expect quite a number of M&A deals in the health-care sector in 2017.