Ron Cohen, CEO of Acorda Therapeutics.
1. Biogen, UCB, and Asian drugmakers are reportedly interested in acquiring Acorda Therapeutics. CEO Ron Cohen said its levodopa drug CVT-301 for Parkinson’s disease has a market potential of up to $800 million. (Endpoints News)
2. Gilead subsidiary Kite Pharma is teaming up with Pfizer to develop a combo therapy for lymphoma, which includes Kite’s CAR-T therapy Yescarta and Pfizer’s experimental drug utomilumab. Gilead acquired Kite for $11.9 billion last year. (Endpoints News)
3. About 300 hospitals owned by Intermountain Healthcare, Ascension, and other large hospital systems plan to form a nonprofit generics company to combat drug shortages and high prices. (NYT)
4. The House Energy and Commerce Committee advanced a bill this week that would implement a new FDA user-fee program for over-the-counter drugs for the first time in more than 40 years. (Politico)
5. The FDA will issue stricter draft guidance in March on the substances that can be distributed at hospitals and physician’s clinics without prescriptions, said Commissioner Scott Gottlieb. (Reuters)
