1. Sanofi said it will limit its drug price increases to the National Health Expenditure growth rate, projected to be 5.4% in 2017. The drugmaker said in instances where the pricing goes over that benchmark, it will provide the public with its rationale. (Endpoints News)
2. Regeneron Pharmaceuticals’ launch for eczema drug Dupixent will target dermatologists, allergists, and immunologists in the U.S. Robert Terifay, the drugmaker’s SVP of commercial, said during the company’s earnings call that its salesforce was currently engaged with and educating roughly 7,000 U.S. doctors now that the drug is commercially available.
3. The head of the National Institutes of Health as well as CEOs of Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, and Celgene met with Vice President Mike Pence, Ivanka Trump, and Health and Human Services Secretary Tom Price to discuss government-backed biomedical research after Congress increased NIH’s budget by $2 billion for this fiscal year. President Trump had proposed cutting $1.23 billion of the agency’s budget this year. (Bloomberg)
4. The U.S. Justice Department is investigating Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen over its management and advisory services for arthritis drugs Remicade and Simponi Aria, the drugmaker said. (Reuters)
5. Mylan’s EpiPen auto-injectors retained 84% of epinephrine concentrations — a sufficient amount to prevent anaphylactic shock — more than four years after their stamped expiration dates, a new study found. (Reuters)
