Pharmaceuticals

Nominee’s industry ties risk side effects for FDA

29 Mar 2017

President Trump pledged to close the revolving door, yet FDA nominee Scott Gottlieb is taking his second whirl. Experience in government and industry is valuable, but his potential conflicts with pharma firms may hamper the agency. Recusal isn’t a prescription for effectiveness.

Hadas: U.S. deaths are economic and social failure

29 Mar 2017

Americans are dying younger due to drugs, drink and suicide. The rise in such "deaths of despair" comes from the fatal interaction of a weak welfare system, inadequate healthcare and decaying communities. These national flaws also help explain the lack of a political response.

Glaxo boss pay cut is a false economy

15 Mar 2017

The pharmaceutical group will pay new Chief Executive Emma Walmsley a quarter less than predecessor Andrew Witty, on account of her inexperience. Laudably, GSK was responding to shareholder pressure. Yet the cost of inexperience could easily outweigh the salary savings.

Drugmakers pose Brexit Britain withdrawal risk

3 Mar 2017

Pharma groups aren’t publicly threatening to pull staff out of the UK. But they could. Britain is a laggard in healthcare investment, and Brexit gives them negotiating power - especially after Prime Minister Theresa May’s gushing endorsement of the industry.

Allergan adds ice and a slice to M&A cocktail

13 Feb 2017

The drug company is paying $2.5 bln for Zeltiq and its diet-avoiding, fat-freezing tech. It sounds a wackier play than the dozen deals Allergan struck last year. But vain customers pay cold cash for the treatment, making it less speculative than other deals, like gene therapy.

Bidding war over Stada will be far from generic

13 Feb 2017

The German pharma company has two takeover offers, including one from private equity firm Cinven. Cutting costs or breaking up the group could create value. However, a new management team has yet to tackle low growth. Potential bidders will be loath to pay too big a premium.

GSK CEO leaves successor with scope for encore

8 Feb 2017

Departing chief Andrew Witty's final results beat expectations. He steered the drug giant through scandal and patent losses, but did smart deals, and created value. His vision of a diversified group is still unfinished, though, leaving successor Emma Walmsley plenty to do.

Teva’s new boss has bitter medicine to administer

7 Feb 2017

The Israeli pharmaceuticals company has lost its second chief executive in four years. Its next CEO faces tough times in America, where drugmakers’ pricing is under attack. Homegrown problems include bad acquisitions, tricky governance and an over-reliance on one drug.

Outsiders get a way to sample China’s biotech boom

7 Feb 2017

WuXi Biologics is preparing for a Hong Kong flotation. Innovation friendly policies have boosted the mainland drug market. But foreign investors lack ways to bet on this big part of China's new economy. They should be keen to inject money into WuXi.

AstraZeneca can now focus on problems, not pay

2 Feb 2017

Pascal Soriot's incentive scheme hinges on earnings hitting $4.20 a share in 2017. The UK pharma now thinks it won't. The hope is investors now focus on Astra's need for its cancer drug to work - rather than the risk of big EPS-boosting M&A to meet a spurious pay target.

Revised Walgreens deal full of quiet desperation

30 Jan 2017

To salvage its trustbuster-challenged acquisition of Rite Aid, the two drugstore chains agreed to sell more shops and cut the price by some $2 bln. They're settling for much less, but may have good reason more than a year on. That's if competition problems can even be solved.

Even a pariah can poke holes in drug-lobby spin

24 Jan 2017

The industry wants the public to focus on good deeds rather than price hikes. "Less hoodie, more lab coats," it says. Discredited hoodie-wearing ex-CEO Martin Shkreli quickly noted publicly that most drugmakers bear a stain or two. He's right: Big Pharma hasn't helped itself.

Cox: Quest begins for immaculate M&A conception

17 Jan 2017

Dealmakers, many of them gathering in Davos this week, will be on the hunt for mergers that can keep the boom rolling while satisfying President-elect Donald Trump's obsession with jobs. That means synergies are out and "transformation" is in. Shareholders may pay the price.

Pharma pays for getting too comfy with Trump

11 Jan 2017

The president-elect accused the industry of "getting away with murder" on drug prices. Investors had dismissed his earlier pledge to renegotiate costs as campaign rhetoric easily outweighed by tax cuts. The stock drops caused by his latest stance should force a broader rethink.

Valeant’s failed idea had a grain of truth

10 Jan 2017

Drugmakers spend $50 bln a year on R&D, but the payoff keeps declining. The projected return for the dozen biggest-spending companies is now less than 4 pct, according to Deloitte. Valeant tried to slash outlays and jack up prices. But it went too far and made things worse.

Takeda exemplifies Japan’s expertise at overpaying

9 Jan 2017

The $34 bln drug maker is the latest to pay over the odds. It's shelling out a 75 pct premium for Ariad, a biotech with a middling cancer drug. Takeda needs to refill its pipeline as patents on existing treatments expire, but the $5.2 bln purchase price looks too generous.

Gene therapy is ready to become hereditary

3 Jan 2017

The prospect of treating diseases like hemophilia and cancer by tinkering with DNA has a long history of both promise and frustration. Steady progress means 2017 should be the year the technology finally hits the U.S. market. The problem may be figuring out how to pay for cures.

Pharma’s middlemen will feel the squeeze in 2017

30 Dec 2016

The U.S. healthcare system's opacity and complexity have stoked drug prices, fueling the flow of dollars to insurers, wholesalers and pharmacy benefit managers. The growth of high-deductible insurance will bring much-needed transparency - and unaccustomed pressure on these firms.

Psychedelic drugs enlighten $2.5 trillion problem

29 Dec 2016

That was the cost of mental illness in 2010, an expense set to double by 2030, says the World Economic Forum. Psilocybin, magic mushrooms' active ingredient, has alleviated suffering in clinical trials. Illicit stigma aside, high returns on investment could make it worth a trip.

Deals from latest M&A boom will disappoint in 2017

21 Dec 2016

With corporate matchmaking proceeding apace, but slowing from its recent peak, investors are starting to calculate whether one plus one actually made three. More than half of mergers don't live up to promises. Three from the 2014 crop offer a guide to the letdowns of the future.