Endo International agreed to buy Par Pharmaceutical for $8 billion. The deal will double its generic revenue and make it a top five global generic manufacturer, according to Reuters. Endo recently acquired specialty drugmaker Auxilium for $2.6 billion. The move bolstered the company’s branded portfolio by adding two testosterone drugs: Testim and Testopel.
A proposed New York Senate bill would require drugmakers to file a report detailing the total costs of producing any prescription drug with wholesale costs above $10,000 annually or per course of treatment. New York follows California, Oregon, Massachusetts, North Carolina and Pennsylvania, which have all proposed their own pharmaceutical cost transparency bills. The report would include total R&D, regulatory and promotion costs, according to policymed.com.
AstraZeneca will expand its biological manufacturing operations in Sweden. The $285-million investment reflects the British drugmaker’s growing commitment to biologics, which account for roughly half its pipeline, according to Reuters. AZ says the new facility in Sodertalje would create between 150 and 250 jobs by 2019.
The FDA will discuss whether the use of anti-opiate abuse drug Naloxone should be increased in an effort to reduce deaths from drug overdose. Patient advocates, academic experts and industry representatives plan to discuss which groups are at risk for overdose and how best to encourage use of Naloxone. The public meeting is scheduled for July 1.
ICYMI: FDA cautioned that the use of SGLT2 inhibitors like J&J’s Invokana, AstraZeneca’s Farxiga and Boehringer Ingelheim’s Jardiance may lead to ketoacidosis—a serious condition where the body produces high levels of blood acids known as ketones. The FDA’s adverse event reporting system identified 20 cases of the condition from March 2013 to June of last year in patients taking those medications.
