CVS Health is in a holding pattern with pricing negotiations for PCSK9 inhibitors until Amgen’s Repatha receives its approval decision from the FDA later this month. The FDA approved Sanofi’s and Regeneron’s Praluent for marketing in July. The drugmakers have said the drug will cost $14,600 a year before discounts. CVS also noted that no PCSK9 inhibitor will appear on its formulary until both drugs have been approved by regulators, according to Reuters.
The Society of Digital Agencies found that companies with in-house marketing teams—rather than agencies—grew 27% in 2014, up from 13% in 2013. The Harvard Business Review asked a number of advertising executives across industries, including the pharma sector, about the trend and found a number of common themes in the migration. “Agencies are slow” and employ too many people, agencies aren’t attracting the best digital talent and companies are looking to take more ownership of their data—to name a few.
AstraZeneca signed a drug-development agreement to work on experimental cancer treatments with Inovio Pharmaceuticals in a deal that could be worth as much as $700 million, with a $25 million payment up front. Inovio’s INO-3112 attacks cancer stemming from the human papillomavirus. The drug is in early-stage trials for cervical, head and neck cancers, according to Bloomberg Business.
Mallinckrodt said it will acquire Therakos for $1.3 billion. Mallinckrodt said in a release that the deal will help bolster its specialty drug business among hospitals. Therakos, a former Johnson & Johnson subsidiary, specializes in treatments that use a patient’s own immune system to fight cancer.
ICYMI: A federal judge ruled in a preliminary injunction on Friday that Amarin can share unapproved off-label information about its fish-oil pill, Vascepa, as long as it is truthful and is not misleading. The drugmaker sued the FDA in May, saying the agency violated its First Amendment rights by limiting its ability to legally communicate benefits of the drug.
