2024-10-05

CVS is considering a break up. Here’s why that could be risky

A sign outside of a CVS pharmacy store on February 07, 2024 in Miami, Florida.  Joe Raedle | Getty Images It’s time for a wellness check at CVS Health. Shares of the company are down more than 20% this year as it grapples with higher-than-expected medical costs in its insurance unit and pharmacy reimbursement pressure, among other issues. As…

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2024-09-28

FDA approves Bristol Myers Squibb’s schizophrenia drug

Bristol Myers Squibb’s Cobenfy drug Courtesy: Bristol Myers Squibb The Food and Drug Administration on Thursday approved Bristol Myers Squibb‘s highly anticipated schizophrenia drug Cobenfy, the first novel type of treatment for the debilitating, chronic mental disorder in more than seven decades.  Schizophrenia affects how a person thinks, feels and behaves, and can cause paranoia, delusions, hallucinations, and changes…

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2024-09-25

Novo Nordisk CEO testifies at Senate over weight loss drug prices

Novo Nordisk‘s top executive faced a Senate grilling on Tuesday over the high prices of the company’s weight loss drug Wegovy and diabetes treatment Ozempic, as demand for both injections soars in the U.S.  Novo Nordisk CEO Lars Fruergaard Jørgensen did not explicitly promise lawmakers at a Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee hearing in Washington, D.C., that he would…

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2024-09-17

Pfizer’s cancer cachexia drug shows positive midstage trial results

Pfizer‘s experimental drug for a common, life-threatening condition that causes cancer patients to lose their appetite and weight showed positive results in a midstage trial, the drugmaker said Saturday.  Patients with the condition, called cancer cachexia, who took Pfizer’s treatment saw improvements in body weight, muscle mass, quality of life and physical function, according to the drugmaker. The results…

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2024-09-13

$1 billion in cost cuts, 10 product launches planned

Moderna headquarters, exterior view, Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA.  Plexi Images | GHI | UCG | Universal Images Group | Getty Images Moderna on Thursday said it plans to cut around $1.1 billion in expenses by 2027 and win approvals for several new products as it charts a path forward after the rapid decline of its Covid business.  The biotech company said…

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2024-09-12

Eli Lilly to boost output of weight loss, diabetes, Alzheimer’s drugs

A sign with the company logo sits outside of the headquarters of Eli Lilly in Indianapolis, Indiana, on March 17, 2024. Scott Olson | Getty Images Eli Lilly on Thursday said it will invest $1.8 billion to boost manufacturing for its newly approved Alzheimer’s drug and highly popular weight loss and diabetes treatments, among other medicines, in Ireland.  The pharmaceutical…

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2024-09-09

Leqembi could give Alzheimer’s patients more time, but road to treatment is long

Hannah Yoon | The Washington Post | Getty Images Leqembi, an Alzheimer’s drug from Biogen and Eisai, isn’t a cure for the mind-damaging disease.  But the treatment promises to give patients such as Missie Meeks more time to live their daily lives normally and independently of others. Meeks, an English professor based in Ellisville, Mississippi, was diagnosed with an…

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2024-09-06

AstraZeneca staff detained in China amid reported drug-import probe

The office building of biopharmaceutical company AstraZeneca is being seen in Shanghai, China, on May 23, 2024.  Nurphoto | Getty Images Some employees of British pharmaceutical giant AstraZeneca have been detained by police in China as part of an investigation, the company confirmed Thursday. “We are aware a small number of our employees in China are under investigation and…

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2024-08-28

Eli Lilly releases new, cheaper form of weight loss drug

Eli Lilly on Tuesday released a new form of its weight loss drug Zepbound for roughly half its usual monthly list price to reach millions of patients without insurance coverage for the popular injection, such as those with Medicare.  The move also aims to expand the supply of Zepbound in the U.S. as demand skyrockets, and to ensure eligible…

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2024-08-19

Why Walgreens, CVS retail pharmacies are struggling

The abundance of Walgreens and CVS Health stores makes them convenient for whenever Shriya Raghavan, a research associate based in Philadelphia, needs to pick up necessities like gum, deodorant and soap.  But she said she often has to wait for employees to unlock cabinets or stand in lengthy lines to pick up prescriptions as pharmacists juggle tasks. Those are…

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