A.M. Vitals: Novartis Aims to Accelerate Vaccine Production

Novartis’s Need for Speed: Novartis is partnering with Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomic Vaccines in an effort to reduce the production cycle for flu vaccines from its current five to six months, the WSJ reports. Analysts say the Swiss drug maker could charge more for more speedily produced vaccines and could also grab a bigger piece of the global vaccine market, the paper says.

Sector Shrinkage: A full quarter of U.S. biotech companies were purchased or went out of business since the end of 2007, according to an industry official, Bloomberg News reports. An official from BIO, the trade group for biotechs, said 25% of the estimated 294 companies that remain have enough cash to fund operations for less than a year, compared to 45% at the end of 2008, BN reports.

Drug Combo Study: A new study finds that combining Plavix — the blood-thinner co-marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb — with heartburn pills such as AstraZeneca’s Nexium and Procter & Gamble’s Prilosec doesn’t increase the risk of heart problems, the WSJ reports. Researchers behind the 3,800-person study, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, say there’s little reason for patients or doctors to worry about a drug interaction; the FDA, which warned about the issue on the basis of observational studies, says the study was too small to give a conclusive answer.

Boosting Protection: California will next year require secondary school students to get a booster shot of the whooping cough vaccine, the Los Angeles Times reports. The state hasn’t mandated a booster before, in part out of cost concerns — but that was before a whooping cough epidemic infected more than 5,000 people, killing nine babies, the paper says.

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A.M. Vitals: Novartis Aims to Accelerate Vaccine Production

Novartis’s Need for Speed: Novartis is partnering with Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomic Vaccines in an effort to reduce the production cycle for flu vaccines from its current five to six months, the WSJ reports. Analysts say the Swiss drug maker could charge more for more speedily produced vaccines and could also grab a bigger piece of the global vaccine market, the paper says.

Sector Shrinkage: A full quarter of U.S. biotech companies were purchased or went out of business since the end of 2007, according to an industry official, Bloomberg News reports. An official from BIO, the trade group for biotechs, said 25% of the estimated 294 companies that remain have enough cash to fund operations for less than a year, compared to 45% at the end of 2008, BN reports.

Drug Combo Study: A new study finds that combining Plavix — the blood-thinner co-marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb — with heartburn pills such as AstraZeneca’s Nexium and Procter & Gamble’s Prilosec doesn’t increase the risk of heart problems, the WSJ reports. Researchers behind the 3,800-person study, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, say there’s little reason for patients or doctors to worry about a drug interaction; the FDA, which warned about the issue on the basis of observational studies, says the study was too small to give a conclusive answer.

Boosting Protection: California will next year require secondary school students to get a booster shot of the whooping cough vaccine, the Los Angeles Times reports. The state hasn’t mandated a booster before, in part out of cost concerns — but that was before a whooping cough epidemic infected more than 5,000 people, killing nine babies, the paper says.

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here

A.M. Vitals: Novartis Aims to Accelerate Vaccine Production

Novartis’s Need for Speed: Novartis is partnering with Craig Venter’s Synthetic Genomic Vaccines in an effort to reduce the production cycle for flu vaccines from its current five to six months, the WSJ reports. Analysts say the Swiss drug maker could charge more for more speedily produced vaccines and could also grab a bigger piece of the global vaccine market, the paper says.

Sector Shrinkage: A full quarter of U.S. biotech companies were purchased or went out of business since the end of 2007, according to an industry official, Bloomberg News reports. An official from BIO, the trade group for biotechs, said 25% of the estimated 294 companies that remain have enough cash to fund operations for less than a year, compared to 45% at the end of 2008, BN reports.

Drug Combo Study: A new study finds that combining Plavix — the blood-thinner co-marketed by Sanofi-Aventis and Bristol-Myers Squibb — with heartburn pills such as AstraZeneca’s Nexium and Procter & Gamble’s Prilosec doesn’t increase the risk of heart problems, the WSJ reports. Researchers behind the 3,800-person study, published online in the New England Journal of Medicine, say there’s little reason for patients or doctors to worry about a drug interaction; the FDA, which warned about the issue on the basis of observational studies, says the study was too small to give a conclusive answer.

Boosting Protection: California will next year require secondary school students to get a booster shot of the whooping cough vaccine, the Los Angeles Times reports. The state hasn’t mandated a booster before, in part out of cost concerns — but that was before a whooping cough epidemic infected more than 5,000 people, killing nine babies, the paper says.

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here

A.M. Vitals: Novartis to Scrap Two Drugs, Take $590 Million Charge

End of the Line: Novartis is taking a $590 million to cover the cost of scrapping work on two experimental drugs — one for chronic hepatitis C, the other an antifungal agent, the WSJ reports. The Swiss drug maker was developing the hepatitis drug, albinterferon alfa-2b, with Human Genome Sciences.

Nearing an Agreement?: Final terms of the deal to sell Caritas Christi Health Care to the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and turn the hospital chain into a for-profit enterprise are close to being hammered out, the Boston Globe reports, citing people familiar with the talks. Likely conditions of the sale include a commitment to keep hospitals open for five years and increased funding of pension liability, the Globe says. (The parties involved wouldn’t comment on the details of the negotiations to the Globe.)

Big Pharma Probe: Many of the big names in pharma, including Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter and GlaxoSmithKline are being investigated by the federal government for overseas business practices, the WSJ reports. None of the companies have been accused of wrongdoing, the paper notes. Possible violations include payments to doctors, hospital committees and regulators to prompt the purchase or approval of drugs, the WSJ says. Representatives of the companies told the WSJ they were cooperating with the probe.

Raising Concern: Accountable care organizations — networks that bring together many different providers to better coordinate care — are praised by the health-care overhaul law, but providers worry they may violate antitrust laws and insurers say they’re no guarantee of lower costs, Kaiser Health News reports. Government and health-industry folks gather today in Baltimore to sort out some of these issues, KHN says.

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here

A.M. Vitals: Novartis to Scrap Two Drugs, Take $590 Million Charge

End of the Line: Novartis is taking a $590 million to cover the cost of scrapping work on two experimental drugs — one for chronic hepatitis C, the other an antifungal agent, the WSJ reports. The Swiss drug maker was developing the hepatitis drug, albinterferon alfa-2b, with Human Genome Sciences.

Nearing an Agreement?: Final terms of the deal to sell Caritas Christi Health Care to the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and turn the hospital chain into a for-profit enterprise are close to being hammered out, the Boston Globe reports, citing people familiar with the talks. Likely conditions of the sale include a commitment to keep hospitals open for five years and increased funding of pension liability, the Globe says. (The parties involved wouldn’t comment on the details of the negotiations to the Globe.)

Big Pharma Probe: Many of the big names in pharma, including Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter and GlaxoSmithKline are being investigated by the federal government for overseas business practices, the WSJ reports. None of the companies have been accused of wrongdoing, the paper notes. Possible violations include payments to doctors, hospital committees and regulators to prompt the purchase or approval of drugs, the WSJ says. Representatives of the companies told the WSJ they were cooperating with the probe.

Raising Concern: Accountable care organizations — networks that bring together many different providers to better coordinate care — are praised by the health-care overhaul law, but providers worry they may violate antitrust laws and insurers say they’re no guarantee of lower costs, Kaiser Health News reports. Government and health-industry folks gather today in Baltimore to sort out some of these issues, KHN says.

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here

A.M. Vitals: Novartis to Scrap Two Drugs, Take $590 Million Charge

End of the Line: Novartis is taking a $590 million to cover the cost of scrapping work on two experimental drugs — one for chronic hepatitis C, the other an antifungal agent, the WSJ reports. The Swiss drug maker was developing the hepatitis drug, albinterferon alfa-2b, with Human Genome Sciences.

Nearing an Agreement?: Final terms of the deal to sell Caritas Christi Health Care to the private equity firm Cerberus Capital Management and turn the hospital chain into a for-profit enterprise are close to being hammered out, the Boston Globe reports, citing people familiar with the talks. Likely conditions of the sale include a commitment to keep hospitals open for five years and increased funding of pension liability, the Globe says. (The parties involved wouldn’t comment on the details of the negotiations to the Globe.)

Big Pharma Probe: Many of the big names in pharma, including Merck, AstraZeneca, Bristol-Myers Squibb, Baxter and GlaxoSmithKline are being investigated by the federal government for overseas business practices, the WSJ reports. None of the companies have been accused of wrongdoing, the paper notes. Possible violations include payments to doctors, hospital committees and regulators to prompt the purchase or approval of drugs, the WSJ says. Representatives of the companies told the WSJ they were cooperating with the probe.

Raising Concern: Accountable care organizations — networks that bring together many different providers to better coordinate care — are praised by the health-care overhaul law, but providers worry they may violate antitrust laws and insurers say they’re no guarantee of lower costs, Kaiser Health News reports. Government and health-industry folks gather today in Baltimore to sort out some of these issues, KHN says.

Image: iStockphoto

View the original article here