Considering its Options: In an SEC filing, Genzyme said it will “probe and evaluate alternatives,” including “contacting third parties,” as it fends off a $18.5 billion, now-hostile bid from French drug maker Sanofi-Aventis, the WSJ reports. People familiar with the matter tell the paper the Boston biotech isn’t actively looking for a so-called white knight, but does want to “know what its options are.”
Going Up: Data from IMS Health show global prescription drug sales are expected to rise by as much as 7% to $880 billion next year, a faster rate of growth than seen this year, the Associated Press reports. Fueling the projected increase are new drugs with potentially large sales and greater demand in emerging economies, the AP says.
New Guidance: Draft guidance from the U.K.’s health-care costs arbiter, NICE, says it will now recommend the use of three Alzheimer’s drugs for mild forms of the disease, the WSJ reports. That’s a reversal of its previous stance on use of the drugs — Pfizer’s and Eisai’s Aricept, Shire’s Reminyl and Novartis’s Exelon — in that setting. NICE also recommended the use of another drug in more advanced cases of the disease.
No Guarantee: A survey conducted in Ohio finds that 13% of parents with health coverage say they still had to skip some care for their kids — such as seeing a specialist, filling a prescription or getting a lab test — because of the high cost, HealthDay reports. Families whose kids were covered by public insurance reported less difficulty in paying for recommended care, HealthDay says.
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