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☆ Bristol Myers Squibb results top estimates as new drugs post strong sales growth
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-02 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Bristol Myers Squibb reported quarterly earnings and revenue that topped expectations on Friday as its portfolio of new drugs posted strong sales growth. That group raked in $1.07 billion in sales for the quarter, up 66% from the $645 million for the year-earlier period. While its revenue outlook was in line with Wall Street estimates, it anticipates higher than expected earnings for the year. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expect full-year adjusted earnings of $7 per share and sales growth of 1.9%. Bristol Myers said Eliquis and Opdivo also contributed to the slight sales growth in the fourth quarter.

Persons: Bristol Myers, Revlimid, Eliquis, Opdivo, FactSet Organizations: Bristol Myers Squibb, LSEG, Bristol Myers, Wall, Bristol, Pfizer, Medicare

☆ Merck results beat expectations as top drugs Keytruda, Gardasil post strong sales
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-01 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Merck on Thursday reported fourth-quarter revenue and adjusted earnings that topped estimates as it saw strong demand for its blockbuster cancer drug Keytruda and HPV vaccine Gardasil. Excluding acquisition and restructuring costs, Merck earned 3 cents per share for the fourth quarter. Merck raked in $14.63 billion in revenue for the quarter, up 6% from the same period a year ago. Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected Merck to forecast full-year sales of $63.52 billion and adjusted earnings of $8.42 per share. Merck recorded charges of $190 million related to the program in the fourth quarter, which is excluded from its adjusted results.

Persons: Merck Organizations: Merck & Co, New York Stock Exchange, Merck, LSEG, Harpoon Therapeutics Locations: New York City , New York, U.S

☆ Biogen drops controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm to focus on Leqembi, experimental treatments
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Biogen on Wednesday said it will discontinue the sale and development of its older and highly controversial Alzheimer's drug Aduhelm to refocus the company's efforts to treat the memory-robbing disease. The biotech company will focus on rolling out Leqembi, a newly approved Alzheimer's drug it developed with Japanese drugmaker Eisai . The U.S. Food and Drug Administration greenlit Aduhelm in 2021 under a program that fast-tracks promising treatments. The company said it will redistribute a large portion of the resources associated with Aduhelm to the rest of its Alzheimer's drug portfolio. Among the other Alzheimer's drugs Biogen has in development is BIIB080, which targets a toxic protein called tau in the brain.

Persons: Biogen, Aduhelm Organizations: U.S . Food, Drug Administration, CNBC PRO Locations: U.S, Swiss

☆ GSK posts blowout RSV vaccine sales, raises outlook as shots give big pharma a boost
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-31 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

GlaxoSmithKline on Wednesday lifted its long-term outlook following the smash-hit launch of its new RSV vaccine. GSK in November had forecast 2023 sales for the shot Arexvy between £900 million, or $1.1 billion, and £1 billion, or $1.26 billion, following its strong launch in the U.S. The company's RSV shot in part drove the higher forecast. The vaccine has about 70% market share for RSV, Walmsley added on Wednesday. Meanwhile, biotech company Moderna hopes to launch its own RSV vaccine this year.

Persons: Emma Walmsley, Walmsley, Arexvy, That's, Pfizer's, Albert Bourla, Bourla Organizations: GlaxoSmithKline, Stevenage, GSK, U.S, Pfizer, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, Moderna Locations: Britain, British, U.S, Canada, Japan

☆ Vertex non-opioid painkiller shows positive results in critical late-stage trial on acute pain
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Acute pain is usually caused by injury, surgery, illness, trauma or painful medical procedures and is likely to ease with time. Around 80 million patients are prescribed a medicine for their moderate-to-severe acute pain every year in the U.S., Vertex said in a release. Last year, the company's painkiller produced positive results in a mid-stage trial in diabetes patients suffering from a chronic nerve condition. Those two procedures are commonly used in studies of people with acute pain. Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said the drug's failure to meet that goal is in line with expectations and that overall, the late-stage trial results released Tuesday are positive.

Persons: Reshma Kewalramani, painkiller, Michael Yee Organizations: Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Food and Drug, Wall Street, CRISPR Therapeutics, Jefferies Locations: Boston, U.S

☆ Pfizer beats earnings estimates as declining Covid business loses less revenue than expected
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-30 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Pfizer on Tuesday posted a surprise adjusted fourth-quarter profit, as the company's declining Covid business performed better than expected. The company reversed roughly $3.5 billion in revenue related to the expected return of 6.5 million doses of its Covid drug, Paxlovid, from the U.S. government. That hit is less than the $4.2 billion Pfizer initially expected for the return of nearly 8 million doses of Paxlovid. Pfizer's Covid vaccine raked in $5.36 billion in revenue for the quarter, down 53% from the same period last year. For the fourth quarter, Pfizer booked a net loss of $3.37 billion, or 60 cents per share.

Persons: Paxlovid, That's Organizations: Pfizer, U.S ., Analysts, LSEG Locations: U.S

Three names in the industry – Johnson & Johnson , Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb – face a pivotal few weeks ahead. They join Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner, who agreed to the panel's initial invitation to appear. But why is the committee targeting Merck, J&J and Bristol Myers Squibb in the first place? J&J, Merck and Bristol Myers Squib are all suing to halt the talks, which will establish new prices that will go into effect in 2026. Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo is an immunotherapy used to treat cancers, including melanoma and lung cancer.

Persons: Annika Kim Constantino, – Johnson, Sen, Bernie Sanders, Joaquin Duato, Robert Davis, Chris Boerner, Sanders, Eli Lilly's, Januvia, Bristol Myers, He's, Biden, Merck's, Myers, Eliquis, Mike Perrone, it's Organizations: CNBC.com, Johnson, Merck, Bristol Myers Squibb, Bristol Myers, Medicare, Bristol, CNBC, pharma Locations: U.S, drugmakers

☆ Big pharma is at a crossroads, as J&J, Merck and others prepare to lose heaps of revenue from blockbuster drugs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-28 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +12 min

Bristol Myers Squibb's Eliquis is a blood thinner used to prevent clotting, to reduce the risk of stroke. Bristol Myers Squibb's Opdivo is an immunotherapy used to treat cancers, including melanoma and lung cancer. Investors will get updates on Merck and Bristol Myers Squibb's plans for the years ahead when they report earnings on Thursday and Friday, respectively. That's unlike generics, which are cheaper copycats of small-molecule drugs like Bristol Myers Squibb's Eliquis. Bristol Myers Squibb is also testing a new form of Opdivo, which is currently administered into a patient's veins.

Persons: Johnson, William Blair, Matt Phipps, Bristol Myers, Johnson's, Merck's Keytruda, J's Stelara, Opdivo, Phipps, biosimilars, Eliquis, Biosimilars, Humira, JB Reed, Samsung's, Piper Sandler, Christopher Raymond, AbbVie, Raymond, Chris Schott, Schott, Robert Davis, Keytruda, Davis, JPMorgan's Schott, Bristol Myers Squibb, George Frey, J, Amgen, J confidentially, Mike Perrone, It's, Anna Moneymaker Organizations: New York Stock Exchange, Johnson, NYSE Big, Bristol Myers Squibb, Merck, Biden, William Blair & Company, CNBC, Guggenheim, Bristol, Leerink Partners, Bloomberg, Getty, Bioepis, JPMorgan, JPMorgan Health Care, Moderna, Bristol Myers, Karuna Therapeutics, Hardy, Huntsman Cancer Institute, University of Utah, Reuters, Teva Pharmaceuticals, Pharma, U.S . Department of Health, Human Services Locations: drugmakers, EY, Europe, U.S, Cambridge , Massachusetts, Arda, EY's Americas, Bristol, Salt Lake City , Utah, Washington , DC

☆ Merck, Johnson & Johnson CEOs agree to testify in Senate hearing on high drug prices
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-26 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Sen. Bernie Sanders, I-Vt., holds his news conference with Sen. Ed Markey, D-Mass., in the Capitol on Thursday, January 25, 2024, on issuing subpoenas for pharmaceutical company CEOs to testify regarding drug prices. The CEOs of Merck and Johnson & Johnson have voluntarily agreed to testify at an upcoming Senate hearing on high drug prices in the U.S., Sen. Bernie Sanders announced Friday, as lawmakers ramp up efforts to rein in health-care costs for Americans. Meanwhile, Bristol Myers Squibb CEO Chris Boerner and another unnamed pharmaceutical CEO agreed to initial invitations to testify. The push to cut drug prices is one of the rare issues that has united both major political parties in recent years — though they have often backed different approaches to doing so. Last year, the Senate Health Committee similarly heard testimony from the CEOs of Moderna , Eli Lilly , Novo Nordisk and Sanofi on high drug prices.

Persons: Sen, Bernie Sanders, Ed Markey, Johnson, Joaquin Duato, Robert Davis, Chris Boerner, Sanders, Januvia, Bristol Myers, Joe Biden's, J, Eli Lilly Organizations: Merck, Johnson, Health, Education, Labor, Pensions, Bristol Myers, Bristol, J, Moderna, Novo Nordisk, Sanofi Locations: U.S

☆ Humana stock plunges on dismal 2024 forecast, as insurers face soaring medical costs
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-25 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Photographer: Luke Sharrett/Bloomberg via Getty ImagesShares of Humana plummeted on Thursday after the health insurer issued dismal full-year earnings guidance, citing soaring medical costs that are dogging the broader insurance industry. The guidance adds to Wall Street's concerns about health insurance company profits falling as medical costs jump. UnitedHealth on Friday also reported its own jump in medical costs, though it was less extreme than Humana's. Its forecast dragged down other health insurance stocks. But unlike Humana, the insurer forecast 2024 earnings above estimates on Wednesday, after higher premiums in its commercial business helped control medical costs in the fourth quarter.

Persons: Luke Sharrett, Cigna, Humana Organizations: Humana Inc, Bloomberg, Getty, Humana, CVS Health, Elevance, Medicare Locations: Louisville , Kentucky, U.S

☆ Johnson & Johnson to settle talc baby powder investigation, will reportedly pay $700 million
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

In this photo illustration, a container of Johnson and Johnson baby powder is displayed on April 05, 2023 in San Anselmo, California. Johnson & Johnson has reached a tentative settlement to resolve an investigation by more than 40 states into claims the company misled patients about the safety of its talc baby powder and other talc-based products, the company said in a statement to CNBC on Tuesday. Those cases have for decades caused financial and public relations trouble for J&J, which contends that its talc-based products and now-discontinued talc baby powder are safe for consumers. J&J said in an October securities filing that 42 states and Washington, D.C., had launched a joint investigation into its marketing of talc-based products. The company will pay $700 million to settle the probe, its CFO Joseph Wolk told The Wall Street Journal on Tuesday.

Persons: Johnson, J, Joseph Wolk Organizations: Johnson, CNBC, D.C, Wall Locations: San Anselmo , California, Washington

☆ Johnson & Johnson narrowly tops quarterly estimates as pharmaceutical, medtech sales jump
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-23 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The stock trading graph of Johnson & Johnson is seen on a smartphone screen. Johnson & Johnson on Tuesday reported fourth-quarter earnings and revenue that narrowly edged out Wall Street's expectations as sales in the company's pharmaceutical and medical devices businesses surged. J&J also provided full-year guidance for 2024, forecasting sales of $87.8 billion to $88.6 billion and adjusted earnings of $10.55 to $10.75 per share. The pharmaceutical giant reported net income of $4.13 billion, or $1.70 per share during the quarter. J&J is now zeroing in on its pharmaceutical and medical devices divisions to drive growth.

Persons: Johnson, J Organizations: LSEG

☆ Gilead stock falls after lung cancer study results disappoint
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-22 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The results are a blow to Gilead, which is working to become a power player in the cancer space. Patients with advanced or metastatic non-small cell lung cancer who took Trodelvy lived longer than those who got chemotherapy alone, according to Gilead. The drugmaker said it will discuss the results with regulators and identify whether certain lung cancer patients may still benefit from the drug. Jefferies analyst Michael Yee said Gilead's trial results are not "totally surprising" to the firm because data from early studies was mixed and data for competing drugs was "lackluster." Yee added that the trial results could "dent" investor confidence about whether Gilead will have significant sales in oncology.

Persons: Trodelvy, Michael Yee, Yee, Gilead Organizations: Jefferies Locations: Gilead

☆ The weight loss drug market may soon get more crowded. Here are the companies trying to enter the booming space
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Michael Siluk | UCG | Getty ImagesBoehringer IngelheimBoehringer Ingelheim is developing a weight loss drug with Danish biotech firm Zealand Pharma. Some popular weight loss drugs such as Novo Nordisk's Wegovy only target GLP-1. Terns PharmaceuticalsSmaller drugmakers are developing their own weight loss drugs. Quirk acknowledged that it may be difficult for Terns to set its pill apart from other weight loss drugs. Viking Therapeutics expects to release mid-stage trial data on its weight loss injection in the first half of the year.

Persons: Michael Siluk, Boehringer Ingelheim, Erin Quirk, Quirk, it's, Eli Lilly's, Roger Song Organizations: UCG, Getty, Zealand Pharma, Nordisk's, Drug Administration, JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, Pharmaceuticals, Terns Pharmaceuticals, GLP, Viking Therapeutics, Therapeutics, Jefferies Locations: Viking

☆ Biotech and pharma companies are betting on a promising class of cancer drugs to drive growth
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-14 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

SAN FRANCISCO — An established but promising group of cancer drugs was a red-hot market in 2023, and more companies could look to the treatments to fuel growth in the year ahead. Interest in the drugs will only continue this year, as some analysts expect more dealmaking and advancements in ADCs currently in development. The drugs also have potential to draw huge profits: ADCs could account for $31 billion of the $375 billion worldwide cancer market in 2028, according to estimates from the drug market research firm Evaluate. The market for those drugs in 2023 was estimated to be worth around $9.7 billion, another report from research firm MarketsandMarkets said. Everyone wants to gain exposure to [ADCs] and basically make it a cornerstone of their entire corporate strategy," Hsieh told CNBC.

Persons: FRANCISCO —, Johnson, Andy Hsieh, William Blair, MarketsandMarkets, Hsieh Organizations: FRANCISCO, JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, ADC, Pfizer, Merck, William Blair & Company, CNBC Locations: San Francisco, ADCs, drugmakers, Asia

☆ CVS to close ‘select’ pharmacies in Target stores in the coming months
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-11 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

CVS Health plans to close select pharmacies inside Target stores early this year, a company spokesperson said Thursday, as retail pharmacy chains in the U.S. struggle to boost profits. She added that employees affected by the closures will be offered comparable roles within CVS, and prescriptions will be transferred to a nearby CVS pharmacy before a location closes. The spokesperson did not disclose how many stores would be shuttered, but a report from The Wall Street Journal on Thursday said CVS would close "dozens" of locations. The company has a pharmacy in about 1,800 of Target's 1,956 stores in the U.S., according to a Target spokesperson. The Target spokesperson declined to comment on the closures or share plans for the closed CVS locations.

Persons: Melissa Repko Organizations: CVS, Wall, Oak Street Health, CNBC, CNBC PRO Locations: U.S

☆ Walgreens stock plunges after drugstore chain slashes quarterly dividend nearly in half
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-04 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +5 min

Walgreens' dividend yield is now 3.9%, based on Wednesday's closing price. That's down significantly from its prior yield of more than 7%, which made the company the highest-paying dividend stock in the Dow Jones Industrial Average . Walgreens booked sales of $36.71 billion in the quarter, a roughly 10% jump from the same period a year ago. Walgreens is making significant investments to transform from a major drugstore chain to a large health-care company. Despite the quarterly beats, Walgreens reiterated its fiscal 2024 adjusted earnings guidance of $3.20 to $3.50 per share.

Persons: Tim Wentworth, Wentworth, Walgreens, Mario Tama Organizations: Walgreens, Dow Jones, CNBC, LSEG, Pharmacy, Getty Locations: U.S, Los Angeles , California

☆ Eli Lilly weight loss drug Zepbound now available at pharmacies as rival Wegovy faces shortages
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

Eli Lilly on Tuesday said its recently approved weight loss treatment Zepbound is now available at pharmacies across the U.S., serving as an alternative to rival obesity drugs such as Wegovy that are facing supply issues. High demand for the treatments has resulted in widespread shortages of Novo Nordisk 's Wegovy and diabetes drug Ozempic as well as Eli Lilly's diabetes treatment Mounjaro, pushing companies to ramp up production. Eli Lilly also said in a release that its commercial savings card program, which aims to expand access to Zepbound, is now available to patients with a prescription. Also on Tuesday, Eli Lilly said Zepbound was added to the preferred formulary, or list of covered drugs, of a major drug benefits company, Cigna . Zepbound will be added to the commercial formularies of Cigna's health-care business on Dec. 15, according to Eli Lilly.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Eli, Zepbound, Rhonda Pacheco, Eli Lilly's Organizations: Novo Nordisk, CNBC PRO Locations: U.S, Novo

☆ Free ChatGPT may incorrectly answer drug questions, study says
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

The free version of ChatGPT may provide inaccurate or incomplete responses — or no answer at all — to questions related to medications, which could potentially endanger patients who use OpenAI's viral chatbot, a new study released Tuesday suggests. Pharmacists at Long Island University who posed 39 questions to the free ChatGPT in May deemed that only 10 of the chatbot's responses were "satisfactory" based on criteria they established. Notably, the free version of ChatGPT is limited to using data sets through September 2021 — meaning it could lack significant information in the rapidly changing medical landscape. Grossman acknowledged there's a chance that a paid version of ChatGPT would have produced better study results. It's possible that the free version of ChatGPT has improved and may produce better results if the researchers conducted a similar study now, she added.

Persons: Sara Grossman, LIU, National Institutes of Health's MedlinePlus, Grossman, ChatGPT, there's Organizations: Pharmacists, Long Island University, National Institutes of Health's, Federal Trade Commission

☆ CVS to change how it prices prescription drugs with new pharmacy reimbursement model
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-05 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

CVS Health on Tuesday said it will revamp how it prices prescription drugs and scrap a complex model that typically sets how much pharmacies get reimbursed and what patients pay for those medications. CVS' new model could change the cost of prescription drugs for some patients, but it will not necessarily make all medicine cost less, company executives said. Lynch told CNBC: "It's a cost plus markup, plus a fee. Billionaire Mark Cuban last year launched an online pharmacy that takes a similar approach to CVS' new reimbursement model. The company, called Cost Plus Drugs, aims to drive down the price of medicines broadly by selling them at a set 15% markup over their cost, plus pharmacy fees.

Persons: Karen Lynch, Lynch, Prem Shah, markups, Billionaire Mark Cuban, Cuban Organizations: CVS Health, CVS, CNBC, Billionaire

☆ Pfizer's twice-daily weight loss pill joins a long list of obesity drug flops
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-02 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

That includes Novo Nordisk 's Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic as well as Eli Lilly 's diabetes drug Mounjaro. They have all skyrocketed in popularity — and slipped into shortages — over the last year for safely and successfully causing significant weight loss. But before the current weight loss industry gold rush, the path to treating obesity was strewn with failures dating back decades. In its full-year 2019 earnings, Eisai reported that Lorcaserin had sales of $28.1 million in the U.S. for the year. Sanofi's rimonabantAn obesity drug called rimonabant from Sanofi and Aventis was withdrawn from all markets in 2008 due to the risk of serious psychiatric problems, including suicide.

Persons: Eli Lilly, drugmakers, lorcaserin, Eisai, Lorcaserin Organizations: Getty, Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, U.S, Drug Administration, FDA, Aventis, Abbott Laboratories Locations: U.S, Sanofi

☆ Pfizer to discontinue twice-daily weight loss pill due to high rates of adverse side effects
▼ + stars: | 2023-12-01 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +3 min

Pfizer on Friday said it would stop developing the twice-daily version of its experimental weight loss pill after obese patients taking the drug lost weight but had trouble tolerating the drug in a mid-stage clinical study. The company is betting on a successful weight loss pill to help it rebound from plummeting demand for its Covid products and a roughly 40% share price drop this year. Pfizer's phase two trial on its twice-daily pill followed around 600 obese adults who did not have Type 2 diabetes. Meanwhile, placebo-adjusted weight loss was 8% to 13% at 32 weeks and 5% to 9.5% at 26 weeks, Pfizer said. No new safety issues were observed, and danuglipron was not associated with increased liver enzymes like Pfizer's other discontinued weight loss pill.

Persons: Albert Bourla, Eli Lilly, danuglipron Organizations: Pfizer, Novo Nordisk, Nordisk's Wegovy

☆ Covid vaccine rates in the U.S. are slumping — and it will be a challenge to boost them
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +10 min

In this article PFEMRNANVAX Follow your favorite stocks CREATE FREE ACCOUNTA sign advertises Covid vaccine shots at a Walgreens Pharmacy in Somerville, Massachusetts, on Aug. 14, 2023. Brian Snyder | ReutersThree years into the Covid-19 pandemic, few Americans are rolling up their sleeves to get a Covid vaccine. Experts and vaccine makers can agree that low Covid vaccination rates are concerning, even as cases of the virus dwindle from their pandemic highs. However, Iovine of the University of Florida doesn't believe combination shots will have a significant effect on Covid vaccination rates. If combination shots don't do the trick, it's unclear what else could boost Covid vaccination rates down the line.

Persons: Brian Snyder, Ali Mokdad, Mokdad, Irfan Khan, Jennifer Kates, Brad Pollock, Nicole Iovine, epidemiologist, Iovine, Michael Yee, Albert Bourla, Arpa Garay, Garay, John Trizzino, Trizzino, Jamey Mock, Andrew Pekosz, Jefferies, Yee, doesn't Organizations: Walgreens, Reuters, Pfizer, Moderna, Centers for Disease Control, CDC, University of Washington, CVS Pharmacy, Los Angeles Times, KFF, UC Davis Health's, University of Florida, Jefferies, Arpa, CNBC, Istock, Getty, Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health Locations: Somerville , Massachusetts, U.S, Novavax, Covid, Eagle Rock , California

☆ Biotech stocks jump on AbbVie deal to buy cancer drugmaker ImmunoGen for $10 billion
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

Biotech stocks rose Thursday as AbbVie announced plans to buy cancer drug developer ImmunoGen for $10.1 billion. ImmunoGen develops cancer drugs called antibody-drug conjugates, or ADCs, which are designed to directly kill cancer cells and spare healthy ones. Shares of other biotech companies developing ADCs, which are among the hottest areas in the pharmaceutical industry, jumped on the news of the buyout. The SPDR S&P Biotech ETF , which focuses on small and midsize biotech companies, rose 3% Thursday. Under the terms of the deal, AbbVie will pay $31.26 a share in cash for ImmunoGen, a roughly 95% premium to Wednesday's closing price.

Persons: AbbVie, ImmunoGen, Michael Schmidt Organizations: Biotech, Mersana Therapeutics, ADC Therapeutics, P Biotech ETF, Nasdaq Biotechnology, ImmunoGen, Pfizer, Merck, CNBC PRO Locations: ADCs

☆ Novo Nordisk sues two pharmacies for allegedly selling tainted Wegovy, Ozempic knockoffs
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-30 | by ( Annika Kim Constantino | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

Compounding pharmacies prepare custom-made versions of commercially available treatments to meet the specific needs of a patient. Novo Nordisk first sued Brooksville Pharmaceuticals over copycat versions of Wegovy and Ozempic in July. Including the newest lawsuits, Novo Nordisk has filed 12 legal actions against compounding pharmacies, medical spas and weight loss clinics allegedly selling dupes of Wegovy and Ozempic. That puts patients "at risk of taking drug products that are less effective than expected based on their labeling," according to Novo Nordisk. Several states have also threatened to take legal action against compounding pharmacies that make or distribute unapproved variations of Novo Nordisk's weight loss treatments.

Persons: Eli Lilly, Jason Brett, Novo Organizations: Novo Nordisk, Wells Pharmacy Network, Brooksville Pharmaceuticals, Nordisk, Wells Pharmacy, Novo, U.S . Food, Drug Administration, FDA, CNBC PRO Locations: Oslo, Norway, Florida, U.S, Danish, Ozempic

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