DIRS.INFO The most relevant business & tech news

☆ Launch of arthritis drug biosimilars ramps up US pressure on pricing 'middlemen'
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-25 | by ( Patrick Wingrove | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +5 min

Seven drugmakers this month launched their own versions, known as biosimilars, of AbbVie's (ABBV.N) flagship arthritis drug Humira, once the world's top-selling prescription medicine. Three have kept their list price within 5%-7% of AbbVie's, two priced at an 85% discount and two have offered both types of prices. For insured patients who are often on the hook for co-pays of 10% to 25% of the list price, the savings have been minimal. Reuters GraphicsThe Biden administration has made lowering drug prices a priority. Amgen offered 5% and 55% discounts to AbbVie's $6,922 per month Humira price tag, and both were included on drug coverage lists at two large PBMs.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Humira, Ameet Sarpatwari, Biden, PBMs, Cigna, UnitedHealth, Amgen, Robin Feldman, Ron Wyden, Wyden, Chuck Grassley, Grassley, Patrick Wingrove, Moira Warburton, Josephine Walker, Caroline Humer, Bill Berkrot Organizations: REUTERS, Association for Accessible Medicines, Harvard Medical School, Reuters, Lawmakers, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, CVS, Biosimilars, Healthcare, Novartis, Sandoz, Reuters Graphics Reuters, University California College of the, Democratic, Republican, Thomson Locations: U.S, Humira, San Francisco, New York, Washington

☆ UnitedHealth is worth buying and can rally nearly 25%, Bernstein says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-18 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

UnitedHealth is worth buying as it still trades at a cheap valuation coming out of a good earnings report, according to Bernstein. Analyst Lance Wilkes upgraded the health insurance stock to outperform from market perform and raised his price target by $8 to $603. Now, he said those concerns are priced into the stock and valuation has fallen (from around 1.3 times earnings to 0.9 times earnings) to a level that undervalues the long-term growth opportunity. Despite the post-earnings rally, the Dow Jones Industrial Average member is still down nearly 9% in 2023 despite the broader market's rise. UnitedHealth trades at a 0.9 multiple relative to the S & P 500, near the Medicare-for-All lows of 0.85.

Persons: Bernstein, Lance Wilkes, Wilkes, UnitedHealth, That's, —, Michael Bloom Organizations: Dow Jones Industrial Locations: Monday's

☆ UnitedHealth stock jumps after earnings top estimates despite rising medical costs
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-14 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

UnitedHealth Group' s stock price jumped Friday after the health-care conglomerate reported second-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped Wall Street's expectations despite rising medical costs. UnitedHealth Group is the biggest health-care company in the U.S. by market cap and revenue, and is even bigger than the nation's largest banks. Given its size, UnitedHealth Group is considered a bellwether for the broader health insurance sector. UnitedHealth Care said that was driven by the previously noted uptick in elective surgeries and outpatient care activity, primarily among seniors. But UnitedHealth Group executives indicated that the trend may be reversing.

Persons: UnitedHealth, –, John Rex, Rex, Goldman Sachs Organizations: UnitedHealth, Refinitiv, Healthcare, Analysts, Goldman, Rex . Insurance Locations: Minnesota, U.S

Historically, doctors’ practices have been relatively small, and owned by doctors themselves. Hospitals and insurance companies have also bought out many independent physicians’ practices. Optum, an arm of the publicly traded UnitedHealth Group, which also owns one of the nation’s largest insurers, employs roughly 70,000 physicians. Private equity is often viewed by physicians as an attractive alternative to having their practice bought by a hospital. “It can be a really good thing, but the private equity firms have to keep their promises and be held accountable,” she said.

Persons: ’, “, ”, Richard Scheffler, Lisa Walkush, Grant Thornton, Michael Kroin Organizations: Physicians, Institute, Petris, . Hospitals, UnitedHealth Group, Growth Partners Locations: U.S, Berkeley, Chicago

☆ UnitedHealth offers over $3 bln for home health firm Amedisys
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Leroy Leo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

June 5 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group (UNH.N) on Monday made a surprise $3.26 billion all-cash offer to acquire Amedisys Inc (AMED.O), pitting itself against another healthcare company set to buy the home health and hospice care firm. UnitedHealth, through its Optum unit, offered to pay $100 per share in cash, just a month after Amedisys agreed to be bought by Option Care Health Inc (OPCH.O) for $97.38 per share in an all-stock deal. If Optum's offer is accepted by Amedisys, the deal will expand UnitedHealth's presence in home healthcare that it bolstered this year through a $5.4 billion deal to buy Amedisys' rival, LHC Group. Several analysts raised concerns that a UnitedHealth deal would likely face scrutiny from the Federal Trade Commission, given UnitedHealth's home health presence. Amedisys' board has not yet determined whether Optum's offer is superior to Option Health's and is currently in exploratory discussions with the UnitedHealth unit.

Persons: Amedisys, Jefferies, Brian Tanquilut, Oppenheimer, Michael Wiederhorn, Leroy Leo, Shounak Dasgupta, Shinjini Organizations: UnitedHealth, Amedisys Inc, Care Health Inc, LHC, Federal Trade Commission, FTC, Care, Thomson Locations: Bengaluru

☆ Stocks making the biggest moves midday: Palo Alto Networks, 3M, Amedisys, Target and more
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-05 | by ( Tanaya Macheel | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

A view of the exterior of the new Dutch head office of international technology company 3M in Delft, Netherlands, November 5, 2014. EPAM Systems — Shares of the software engineering firm tumbled 18% after it cut guidance amid further deterioration in near-term demand. Amedisys — The health care company's shares rallied 14% after it received an unsolicited buyout offer from Optum, a unit of UnitedHealth , to acquire Amedisys for $100 a share in cash. ImmunoGen — The biotechnology company's shares gained 5% after it announced results from ovarian cancer treatment Elahere showing a roughly 35% reduction in the risk of disease progression or death compared to chemotherapy. Dollar General — Shares fell 2.7% after Morgan Stanley downgraded the discount retailer's stock to equal weight from overweight Sunday.

Persons: Dow, Coinbase, Binance, Changpeng Zhao commingled, Robinson, Ford's David Bozeman, Morgan Stanley, KeyBanc, —, Yun Li, Alex Harring, Jesse Pound, Samantha Subin, Brian Evans Organizations: Palo Alto Networks, Dow Jones, Dish Network, 3M, Bloomberg, U.S . Securities, Exchange Commission, Care, Ford, Equitrans Midstream Corporation, Ford Motor Co, Citi, Spotify, Target, Apple —, Developers Conference, Apple Locations: Delft, Netherlands, Optum, Bozeman, U.S, Cupertino , California

☆ The pharmacy that quietly powered top startups in the hottest part of healthcare is trying to reinvent itself after losing customers and closing facilities
▼ + stars: | 2023-05-15 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +10 min

"We were shocked," a former employee in Truepill's business development division said of the layoffs. Insider spoke with five former and two current Truepill employees about the challenges the company is confronting after a tumultuous year. Truepill was hiring employees rapidly, accumulating about 1,800 employees by the spring of 2022, according to one former employee in Truepill's business division. Since then, there's been a companywide push to inch closer to profitability, one of the current employees told Insider. It's also downsizing its Miami pharmacy, the current employee said.

Both sides blame each other for high drug prices. Senator Bernie Sanders, who chairs the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is a fierce critic of both industries and will likely grill the executives. Optum Rx CEO Heather Cianfrocco will say manufacturers alone set the drug prices and abuse patent protections to stifle competition, her written testimony shows. Lilly, Novo Nordisk, and Sanofi all said in March they were cutting list prices by more than 70% for some insulin products. Uninsured people often have to pay full list prices, an average of $900 a month, forcing many to ration or skip doses.

☆ Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi CEOs to testify before Senate on lowering insulin prices
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-21 | by ( Spencer Kimball | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

In this photo illustration, an insulin pen manufactured by the Novo Nordisk company is displayed on March 14, 2023 in Miami, Florida. Those companies — Eli Lilly, Novo Nordisk and Sanofi — had announced in March that they will slash prices of their most widely used insulin products by 70% or more. The companies' versions of insulin cost at least $275 before the announced price slashes, Sanders noted. Novo Nordisk said its CEO looks forward to "a productive and collaborative discussion about this important issue." PBMs have come under criticism for inflating drug prices and not passing on all the discounts they negotiate to consumers.

☆ UnitedHealth flexes market and political power
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

NEW YORK, April 14 (Reuters Breakingviews) - UnitedHealth (UNH.N) powered on in the first quarter. Revenue grew 15% compared with the same period last year as the firm added about 2 million customers to its insurance arm. The company’s Optum division, which provides medical care among other things, expanded even faster as it keeps adding services. Health insurance is a highly concentrated business, giving UnitedHealth power over markets in which it operates. Further cuts may be a risk, but history suggests UnitedHealth will keep chugging along.

☆ Morgan Stanley named this health stock a top pick because of its business diversification
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-11 | by ( Alex Harring | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

UnitedHealth 's business diversification and positioning within Medicare can take the health insurance giant a long way, according to Morgan Stanley. Analyst Erin Wright switched her top pick to UnitedHealth from Cigna in the health care facilities and managed care space. And within Optum's 56% share, she said earnings are evenly split between the company's health care, prescription and technology arms. She noted that UnitedHealth's earnings were closer to 90% from health insurance and 10% from Optum 10 year ago. (Medicare Advantage provides a way to get benefits from the "A" and "B" parts of Medicare.)

UnitedHealth shares are well-positioned to have a strong 2023, according to Raymond James. Analyst John Ransom upgraded shares of UnitedHealth to strong buy from outperform. UnitedHealth shares are down 7% in 2023, lagging the S & P 500's 6.8% advance. UNH YTD mountain UNH in 2023 Ransom said that many of the policy overhangs on UnitedHealth, which accounted for his previous downgrade in December, are now past the company. Raymond James sees these measures as "a win for the industry as it buffers the initial impact and buys time for behavior changes.

☆ Bank of America lists its top stock picks for the second quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-04-05 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

With the start of the second quarter, Bank of America has a new list of short-term ideas for investors seeking clarity amid ongoing market volatility. The bank expects its Medicare Advantage plans to comprise two-thirds of the company's revenue growth for this year. The bank assigned a $650 price target on UnitedHealth, suggesting the stock could gain more than 31% from Tuesday's close. The bank expects even more gains for the stock, with its 12-month price target of $115 per share implying 11% upside from Tuesday's close of $103.58. Analysts at the bank aren't as bullish on CarMax Bank of America expects CarMax shares to shed 37% to its $40 per share price target.

☆ Pharmacy startups are losing their battle with giants like CVS and Walgreens
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-28 | by ( Rebecca Torrence | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +12 min

Pharmacy startups like Capsule and Truepill are crumbling in the fight against pharmacy giants. But in the past year, the pharmacy startups have begun to crumble. Plus, each chain has thousands of stores across the country, providing the convenience that the pharmacy startups seek to replicate with tech. The digital-pharmacy shakeoutAnalysts suggested that healthcare startups with pharmacy components, rather than pure-play pharmacy startups, are best positioned to succeed. Truepill CEO Sid Viswanathan TruepillBut the pharmacy startups that have attempted to offer additional services have largely shelved those efforts in recent months.

☆ The government is cracking down on online prescriptions. Patients with addiction and the startups caring for them are caught up in the fight.
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-27 | by ( Blake Dodge | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +9 min

Proposed rules would limit online addiction treatmentIn February, the Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, published much-anticipated rules meant to set the record straight on online prescribing. The rules, if implemented, generally don't allow providers to prescribe controlled medications online if they don't see the patients in person. For buprenorphine and other drugs, there's an exception that would allow for initial 30-day prescriptions for online patients. Some patients are flights away from in-person careFor some patients, especially in rural areas, in-person appointments are hard to find. Last year, Alabama passed a new law prohibiting providers from prescribing controlled drugs to patients they hadn't seen in person within the past year.

☆ Jefferies says this under-the-radar health stock can rally nearly 30%
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-23 | by ( Pia Singh | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Jefferies reiterated HealthEquity as a buy on Wednesday, noting the company's favorable position in the health savings account market. Analyst Glen Santangelo placed a price target of $84 on the stock, suggesting shares stand to gain nearly 29% from Wednesday's close. HealthEquity shares gained 39% in 2022, but the stock is only up about 6% year to date. Although the stock has "seemingly fallen off investor's radar screens," Santangelo noted that the company is highly favored in the HSA market. "Most importantly, we believe that current consensus estimates underappreciate the impact of higher rates in [fiscal 2025 (calendar year 2024)].

☆ CVS wants to be the doctor for people on Medicare
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-09 | by ( Nathaniel Meyersohn | ) edition.cnn.com time to read: +2 min

New York CNN —CVS is buying a primary care doctor’s network, moving the pharmacy deeper into providing physician services for patients. Medicare Advantage, also known as Medicare Part C, is a type of Medicare health plan offered by a private company that contracts with Medicare. In 2018, CVS bought Aetna, making it one of the largest health insurers in the country. “In the last three years, health insurers have become increasingly interested in purchasing primary care practices and employing physicians,” Nicholson said. Additionally, private Medicare plans typically offer higher reimbursement rates from the federal government than traditional Medicare, and CVS wants to capitalize on this, he said.

☆ Factbox: Which CVS rivals also own primary care services
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Here is a list of some big companies that are also providing medical services or have announced similar deals:UnitedHealth Group IncUnitedHealth's (UNH.N) Optum Health business provides services that range from primary care to specialty care such as cardiology and oncology. UnitedHealth last year also announced a deal to buy LHC Group (LHCG.O), which provides healthcare services at home, for about $5.4 billion. Walgreens Boots AlliancePharmacy chain Walgreens (WBA.O) in 2021 took a majority stake in primary care provider VillageMD, which has nearly 400 clinics in the United States including 200 co-located with Walgreens retails stores, as of the end of 2022. VillageMD completed the acquisition of urgent care provider Summit Health in a deal valued at $9 billion. Amazon.com IncAmazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) agreed to buy primary care provider One Medical for $3.49 billion in July to expand its virtual healthcare and add brick-and-mortar doctors' offices.

☆ The arms race for doctors is on. CVS is hoping a $10.6 billion deal will help it compete with Amazon and UnitedHealthcare.
▼ + stars: | 2023-02-08 | by ( ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +5 min

CVS Health just said it wants to buy primary-care company Oak Street Health for $10.6 billion. CVS Health is finally entering the arms race among health insurers and big retailers to employ doctors. Oak Street gets most of its revenue from relationships with CVS-owned Aetna rivals Humana, Centene, and UnitedHealthcare. And though Aetna is a big Medicare Advantage player, it also has millions of members who get insurance through their employers. Mike Pykosz, Oak Street Health CEO Oak Street HealthGuertin also noted that the improved health outcomes and better experience provided in Oak Street clinics would help Aetna hold onto its Medicare Advantage patients.

☆ UnitedHealth quarterly profit beats as medical costs stay low
▼ + stars: | 2023-01-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies UnitedHealth Group Inc FollowJan 13 (Reuters) - UnitedHealth Group Inc (UNH.N) on Friday reported a quarterly profit that beat Wall Street estimates, helped by lower medical costs and a boost from its Optum health services unit, which operates the company's pharmacy benefit management business. Health insurers' costs have been in flux during the pandemic, but have eased over the past year as COVID-related hospitalizations have fallen from their peak. Revenue from Optum rose 16.5% to $47.87 billion, aided by strong growth in its health service and pharmacy benefit management business. Optum includes the company's pharmacy benefit management business that helps negotiate the terms of coverage between health insurers, their clients and drug manufacturers. Reporting by Leroy Leo and Khushi Mandowara in Bengaluru; Editing by Shailesh KuberOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

The lawsuit, filed in California Superior Court in Los Angeles, targets Eli Lilly and Co , Novo Nordisk A/S (NOVOb.CO) and Sanofi SA (SASY.PA), which together make more than 90% of the insulin drugs sold globally. Insulin drugs are used to control blood sugar in patients with diabetes. Eli Lilly and Sanofi both previously announced that they would cap the cost of a 30-day supply of insulin at $35 for uninsured patients. California said that the companies' dominance in the market has allowed them to hike insulin prices at patients' expense, violating the state's Unfair Competition Law. Prices of top-selling insulin drugs have soared in recent years.

☆ Here are Monday's biggest analyst calls: Amazon, Nio, Disney, Carvana, Coinbase, Costco & more
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( Michael Bloom | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +8 min

JPMorgan reiterates Amazon as top idea JPMorgan said the e-commerce giant is well positioned heading into the holiday season. " Morgan Stanley initiates Las Vegas Sands as overweight and names DraftKings as a top pick Morgan Stanley said in its initiation of Las Vegas Sands that it sees an attractive risk/reward. Morgan Stanley downgrades MongoDB to equal weight from overweight Morgan Stanley said in its downgrade of the database platform company that it's concerned about slowing growth for MongoDB. JPMorgan reiterates Charles Schwab as overweight JPMorgan said Charles Schwab is well positioned as one of the biggest "distributors of third-party mutual funds." Morgan Stanley upgrades Restaurant Brands to equal weight from underweight Morgan Stanley said it likes that the owner of brands such as Burger King appointed the former Domino's CEO as executive chairman.

☆ UnitedHealth Boosts Earnings Forecast on Rising Revenue
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( Dean Seal | ) www.wsj.com time to read: 1 min

UnitedHealth Group Inc. again raised its profit outlook for the year after posting a 12% increase in third-quarter revenue on a growing number of members in its health-insurance network. The healthcare and insurance giant on Friday said quarterly revenue came in at $80.9 billion, with growth of 11% from its UnitedHealthcare business, which served an additional 850,000 people in the third quarter compared with last year, and 17% at Optum Health, its health-service arm.

Search resuls for: "Optum"

23 mentions found