1. The battle for HCV market share is far from over, according to a Bloomberg opinion, which says there are plenty of patients who still need treatment. Gilead Sciences, AbbVie, and Merck — despite having drugs available on the market — are all developing new therapies aimed at cutting treatment time and working in a broader range of genotypes of the virus. (Bloomberg)
2. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals CEO Leonard Schleifer said The Institute for Clinical and Economic Review’s critique of the price of its PCSK9 inhibitor Praluent “wasn’t scientific” and that there was “no intellectual honesty” in the analysis. ICER reviewed both Praluent and competing treatment Repatha, manufactured by Amgen, and concluded that they should each cost 67% less than their current list prices. (Reuters)
3. A ProPublica database designed to monitor physician prescribing habits is being used by some patients to find doctors who are more likely to prescribe addictive pain medicines. (ProPublica)
4. Aegerion will pay $40 million and plead guilty to two misdemeanor charges related to allegations of improperly marketing its cholesterol-lowering drug Juxtapid. The settlement said the drugmaker failed to comply with its mandatory risk management program. (STAT)
5. Joseph Papa — the new CEO of Valeant Pharmaceuticals — was criticized by John Hendrickson, his successor at Perrigo. Hendrickson blasted Perrigo’s performance under Papa, saying that “recent track record of performance against our own expectations is unacceptable.” (Bloomberg)
