TIFFANY

AbbVie Inc. (ABBV) has agreed to provide its breakthrough, $1,000-a-day hepatitis C treatment to state-based HIV drug programs at a substantial discount, according to a group that negotiates drug pricing for the programs. The ADAP Crisis Task Force negotiates for the 50-plus such programs and served about 150,000 patients in June 2013, said Britten Pund, associate director of health-care access for the National Alliance of State & Territorial AIDS Directors. The group doesn’t have any deal with Gilead Sciences Inc. (GILD), which sells the competing medicines Sovaldi and Harvoni. AbbVie’s drug, Viekira Pak, requires patients to take more pills a day than Gilead’s treatment. “The task force had previously tried to negotiate with Gilead on the price of Sovaldi, and Gilead had declined to negotiate,” Pund said in a telephone interview. “We did not have a specific conversations about Harvoni, but we hope to reignite those conversations.” Cara Miller, a Gilead spokeswoman, declined to comment. About 30 percent of people with HIV are also estimated to be infected with hepatitis C, according to the group. AbbVie and Gilead have been negotiating with insurers and pharmacy benefit managers to gain traction on lists of drugs covered by health insurers and state programs. Aetna Inc., for example, announced a deal Friday with Gilead giving preference to its drugs. mehr anzeigen

Novartis announced Monday that the European Commission approved Cosentyx (secukinumab) as a first-line systemic treatment for moderate-to-severe plaque psoriasis in adults who are candidates for systemic therapy. The company noted that the drug "is the first and only interleukin-17A inhibitor to be approved in Europe," adding that Cosentyx provides an "important first-line biologic treatment option." mehr anzeigen

Roche to pay more than $1 billion for stake in genomics company Foundation Medicine Daniel O’Day, chief operating officer of Roche's pharma unit, said "by combining [Foundation Medicine's] pioneering approach to genomics and molecular information with Roche’s expertise in the field of oncology, we can bring personalised healthcare in oncology to the next level." (Ref: Forbes, NASDAQ, Business Wire, Bloomberg, CNBC, The Wall Street Journal, Morningstar, Roche) mehr anzeigen

Celgene announced Monday preliminary earnings for 2014 and said that it expects its revenue to double to $20 billion by 2020. Meanwhile, the company estimated that its haematology business will grow to $14.8 billion by the same time, while earnings are expected to total $12.50 per share. Analysts had forecast earnings of $11.42 per share on $17.9 billion in revenue. mehr anzeigen