A federal appeals court temporarily paused drugmaker MSN Pharmaceuticals' launch of a generic version of Novartis' blockbuster heart-failure drug Entresto late on Wednesday. The U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit halted the launch, which could have begun as early as Thursday, while it considers Novartis' emergency request for a longer pause. A separate ruling on Wednesday from U.S. District Judge Dabney Friedrich in Washington had cleared a hurdle for MSN to introduce the first U.S. generic of Switzerland-based Novartis' best-selling drug, which brought the company more than $6 billion in revenue in 2023.
President-elect Trump's threat to tariff Denmark if it resists his acquisition plans for the island territory of Greenland could disrupt one export that is wildly popular in America: Ozempic. ... Danish multinational pharmaceutical giant Novo Nordisk is the sole owner of semaglutide, the active ingredient in both Ozempic and Wegovy. A month's supply of Ozempic is close to $1,000 without insurance, though manufacturer coupons and patient assistance programs are available. Novo Nordisk was estimated to be responsible for half of Denmark's gross domestic product growth in 2024.
Eli Lilly & Co. said it and other drugmakers will ask the Trump administration to pause drug-price negotiations, even as Biden-appointed officials prepare a new list of medicines that should be targeted. "They need to fix it" before negotiating down the price of more drugs, Lilly CEO Dave Ricks said on the sidelines of the JPMorgan Healthcare Conference, referring to the Inflation Reduction Act.
The pharmaceutical industry's biggest investment conference drew protesters in San Francisco Monday with signs reading "delay, deny, depose," words prosecutors said were written on shell casings found at the scene of a health insurance executive's killing last month. Across the street from the entrance of the Westin St. Francis in San Francisco where the JPMorgan Healthcare conference was being held, some two dozen protesters chanted "healthcare is a human right" and said drugmakers share blame with insurers for high costs and lack of access to care.
Johnson & Johnson will spend more than $14 billion to delve further into the treatment of central nervous system disorders by purchasing Intra-Cellular Therapies. The healthcare giant said Monday that it will pay $132 in cash for each share of Intra-Cellular. That represents a 39% premium to Intra-Cellular's closing price of $94.87 on Friday. Shares of both companies climbed Monday after announcing the deal. Intra-Cellular Therapies Inc. makes Caplyta, a once-daily pill for treating adults with schizophrenia and depression tied to bipolar disorder. The drug brought in $175 million in last year's third quarter as total prescriptions increased 38%.
With adult obesity rates falling last year for the first time in more than a decade, drugs such as Ozempic and Zepbound are already reshaping Americans' waistlines. Now, they're poised to reshape the entire economy, too.