EuroPharma Today

German Health Minister Attacks Drug Prices With Forced Rebates

German health minister Philipp Roesler has opened fire against the branded drug industry with plans to break the sector's so-called "price monopoly" and force it to negotiate lower prices directly with the country's 200 or so health insurers.

If the industry doesn't, he says in a national press interview, it'll face fixed price ceilings.

The End of Free Drug Pricing in Germany?

According to local press, Germany's health minister Philipp Roesler is about to open fire against the branded drug industry with a proposal to break the sector's so-called 'price monopoly' and force them to negotiate lower prices directly with insurers.

NICE Rejects Vidaza, But Celgene Plans Comparator-Based Appeal

Celgene is preparing to appeal a decision by the UK's National Institute of Clinical Excellence that Vidaza (azacitidine) was too expensive for reimbursement by the UK National Health Service. The drug is approved and reimbursed for patients with a rare form of blood cancer known as higher-risk myelodysplastic syndrome (MDS) in over 30 countries.

NicOx finds new partner Bausch & Lomb for Phase II Glaucoma Candidate

French biotech NicOx has signed up leading U.S. eye health firm Bausch & Lomb to collaborate on its Phase II nitric oxide-donating glaucoma therapy, NCX116, six months after losing Pfizer as its development partner for the product.

Fireside Chat With Sanofi Aventis CSO Laurence Debroux

Laurence Debroux covers all Sanofi-Aventis’ business development and acquisition activities as well as corporate planning, financial and economic evaluation of internal and external projects, and strategic intelligence. 

UCB May Be Stagnating Today, But Promises There Will Be Growth Tomorrow

No one expected good 2009 results for Belgian mid-cap UCB. The company faces a perfect storm of earnings headwinds, led by ongoing generic competition to its top-selling epilepsy drug Keppra (levetiracetam).

Merck’s Cozaar Loses Patent Protection In Europe And Generics Quickly Arrive

LONDON--Generic competition started on March 2 in Europe for Merck & Co.'s blockbuster antihypertensive, Cozaar (losartan), heralding the expected precipitous decline in revenues from the widely used branded product.

Merck KGaA Boosts Diversification Effort With $7 Billion Acquisition Of Millipore

After disappointing investors on Feb. 23 with a lackluster set of 2009 financial results, Germany's Merck KGaA a week later turned sentiment around with a €5.3 billion ($7.2 billion) agreement to acquire Millipore, which is based in Billerica, Mass.

Millipore, a technology, tools and service provider to the biopharma industry, is expected to strengthen Merck's own laboratory and manufacturing services business and will add about $1.7 billion in sales to Merck KGaA's €1.2 billion chemicals arm. Before the deal, that division accounted for 25 percent of Merck's overall revenues; its share will now increase to 35 percent.

Lesson From A Deal Gone Bad: Basilea Ups Role In New Astellas Partnership

Even before Switzerland's Basilea started arbitration proceedings a year ago against its now former partner Johnson & Johnson on antibiotic ceftobiprole, the biotech would have been drawing lessons on what to avoid - and what to insist upon -in future license agreements.

Lack of Cladribine Answers And Dividend Cut Cloud Merck KGaA’s Outlook

Two questions dominated Merck KGaA's earnings call on Feb. 23 - how was the company addressing last December's refuse-to-file notice from the U.S. FDA for oral cladribine in multiple sclerosis? And why was the company cutting its dividend?

But neither question was answered completely to analysts' satisfaction. Meanwhile, the German company's stock fell by 10 percent on the day to €58, a six-month low.