1. Biogen will pay Forward Pharma about $1.25 billion for the patents to several multiple-sclerosis drugs, including Tecfidera. Tecfidera brought in about $1 billion in sales for Biogen in the third quarter of 2016. (Reuters)
2. The Supreme Court will hear an appeal by Novartis over a decision that prevented the drugmaker from selling Zarxio, the first biosimilar version of Amgen’s Neupogen, for six months after approval. Novartis is arguing that the delay, prompted by Amgen’s patent claims, improperly gave Amgen six additional months of exclusivity. (Reuters)
3. Merck KGaA inked a deal with Palantir Technologies to analyze its data in a bid to make its drug-delivery process more efficient. Palantir gets a cut of Merck’s resulting profits. (Bloomberg)
4. A news investigation found that drugmakers that develop drugs for orphan diseases have received millions of dollars in government incentives for therapies that eventually were approved for mass market indications. (Kaiser Health News)
5. The implementation of Pennsylvania’s prescription drug monitoring program led to a drop in the number of prescriptions written for painkillers like Vicodin and OxyContin. (WaPo)
