1. As the industry shifts toward specialty drugs, so do its ads. Bristol-Myers Squibb and Vanda Pharmaceuticals have run ads in recent months promoting their specialty drugs, Opdivo for lung cancer, and Hetlioz for non-24 sleep-wake disorder, respectively. (WSJ)
2. The FDA expanded use of Gilead Sciences’ HCV treatment Harvoni to patients with advanced stages of liver damage, or cirrhosis, including those who have received a liver transplant. (Reuters)
3. Pfizer said in its restated fourth-quarter earnings that it has tentatively agreed to pay the US government $784.6 million to settle litigation for Wyeth’s Protonix. The case revolves around rebates of the heartburn drug from 2001 to 2006, before its patent had expired. (AP)
4. The Laura and John Arnold Foundation will pay $7.2 million to fund programs aimed at reining in rising drug costs. The sum will go towards funding pay-for-performance models between drugmakers, insurers, and government health programs. (WSJ)
5. Young adults using ADHD drugs, like Shire’s Adderall, have been linked to a rise in ER visits, according to a study published in the Journal of Clinical Psychiatry. The number of ER visits jumped from 862 in 2006 to 1,489 in 2011. ER visits linked to Ritalin increased only slightly among young adults, from 293 ER visits in 2006 to 310 in 2011. (NPR)
