Medco Health Solutions

New drug-spending leader: Diabetes

Thu, 15 May 2008 06:59:58 -0400

New data on pharma sales details some big shifts in spending. Diabetes meds have displaced cholesterol drugs as the leading drivers of spending growth, for one thing; generic competition is reining in cholesterol costs even as usage of the meds is increasing. Meanwhile, there's been growth in overall diabetes-drug use, and a shift toward pricier treatments, boosting 2007 spending by 12 percent. Overall drug spending grew by only 2 percent last year as patients used more generics.

Plus, safety concerns affected spending on antidepressants, hormone replacement therapy, and anemia drugs, Medco Health Solutions reports. Safety warnings on Procrit, Epogen, and Aranesp depressed sales by 15 percent, while hormone replacement therapy usage dropped by 9.2 percent. Suicide-risk warnings (and generic competition) hampered growth in the antidepressant market.

A separate report from IMS Health showed that the global market for cancer meds is advancing by leaps and bounds, twice as fast as the growth in all other pharmaceuticals. As emerging countries spend more on healthcare, they're investing more in cancer treatments; they're expected to power up spending on these meds by 12 to 15 percent a year through 2012. The overall global drug market, by contrast, is expected to grow by 6.4 percent.

- find the news at the Wall Street Journal Health Blog
- see the Pharmalot item
- check out the story from the Associated Press
- read the article at CNN Money

ALSO NOTED: FDA lifts ban on Watson plant in FL; Sanofi bolstered profits but lost in drug trial;

Wed, 30 Apr 2008 06:59:50 -0400

> Watson Pharmaceuticals finally saw the FDA lift its ban on new products from a Florida manufacturing plant, allowing drugs made there to be eligible for agency approval; the facility had been under a new-product hold since 2005. Report

> Sanofi-Aventis kept sales and profits higher than analysts expected--$10.81 billion and $3.92 billion respectively--but said its experimental antidepressant saredutant failed a clinical trial. Report

> Novo Nordisk beat market estimates with a 22 percent hike in first-quarter profits to $589 million on $2.21 billion in sales. Report

> Takeda Pharmaceutical and Millennium Pharmaceuticals announced that the FTC granted an early end to the waiting period for their merger. Report

> Federal legislation calling for nationwide pharma-tracking would pre-empt the statewide pedigree systems under development in California and Florida. Report

> Canada's Nova Scotia province will cover Avastin treatment for colorectal cancer patients after a long delay over questions about the med's cost-effectiveness. Report

> AstraZeneca asked the FDA to expand the use of its Symbicort asthma drug to cover chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, or COPD. Report

> The FDA has approved Amitiza for women 18 years old and older with IBS-C. The drug is co-marketed in the U.S. by Sucampo Pharmaceuticals and Takeda Pharmaceutical Co. Report

> Compliance with schizophrenia treatment is higher when patients have lower copays and unrestricted access to their meds, according to a new study. Report

> Medco Health Solutions saw its first-quarter profits drop by 1.7 percent to $270 million on higher costs as volume continued to grow. Report

> Pfizer is providing $14.4 million to fund a research consortium involving four universities and Entelos, a company that does computer modeling for drug research work, in a drive to create a new class of diabetes drugs. Report

> Management consultant Dr. David A. Shaywitz has joined with Dr. Dennis A. Ausiello, the physician-in-chief of Massachusetts General Hospital and a director at Pfizer, to deliver a rebuttal to a small group of research scientists who have sworn off any industry-financed drug research work. Report

> An international consortium of researchers has launched a billion-dollar effort to map every way that changes in DNA contributes to the development of tumors. Report

> Mark Levin earned a reputation for a colorful personality with an incredible knack for raising cash as co-founder of Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Now Levin has sealed his reputation for raising cash with a $32 million Series A to get Constellation Pharmaceuticals up and running. Report

> With three significant development programs at work on a tamper-free alternative to the blockbuster OxyContin franchise, Purdue Pharma is bracing for an upcoming FDA panel review of its new pain therapy formulation. Report

> Unigene is racing to complete construction of new facilities in China that will house its joint venture with a Chinese pharma company. Report

And Finally ... Two new human trials of a gene therapy for inherited blindness have demonstrated that injecting replacement genes under the retinas of the blind can spur at least partial sight in some volunteers. Report

ALSO NOTED: High-dose Celebrex triples heart risk; Actos slows plaque buildup in arteries;

Tue, 01 Apr 2008 07:59:50 -0400

> Patients taking the largest dose of Pfizer's painkiller Celebrex, 400 mg twice a day, tripled their chance of heart attack or stroke compared with placebo, according to a new study presented at the American College of Cardiology meeting. Report

> Takeda's Actos slowed the progression of arterial plaque buildup, becoming the first type 2 diabetes med to reduce progression of coronary atherosclerosis, a new study showed. Report

> Stunned by a report that doctors are needlessly prescribing brand-name drugs, France is considering setting up a force of 1,700 anti-drug reps to counteract sales pressure with "objective" information. A bill that would set up a similar force in the U.S. is pending in Congress. Report

> ING started its analyst coverage of GlaxoSmithKline with a 'buy' rating and a prediction that new CEO Andrew Witty would bring a fresh strategic approach to the company. Report

> Doctors called Merck's online promotions the best of their kind, with GlaxoSmithKline coming in second, a Verispan survey showed. Report

> Boston Scientific is selling off its endovascular aortic repair program for $30 million to a Santa Rosa, CA-based investor group. Report

> Dr Reddy's Laboratories has agreed to buy part of Dow Chemical's pharmaceuticals business in a bid to boost its custom manufacturing services. Report

> Pliva CFO Ivan Mijatovic has been appointed senior vice president for corporate development of parent company Barr Pharmaceuticals. Report

> Medco Health Solutions is partnering with the Swedish government on a prescription review program designed to prevent medication errors. Report

> Struggling to right itself after a long dry spell in new drug approvals, Eli Lilly is preparing to a launch a late-stage study of an experimental drug for Alzheimer's. Report

> In a head-to-head study, the new antiplatelet drug prasugrel (being developed by Lilly and Daiichi Sankyo) in combination with aspirin outperformed the standard therapy, clopidogrel (Plavix) with aspirin. Report

> In a possible boon to the biotech industry, the SBA is looking to hike research grants to small U.S. businesses. Report

And Finally... Scientists are studying whether fasting can protect healthy cells against chemotherapy, making cancer treatment more effective. Report

ALSO NOTED: Korea fines pharma firms for kickbacks; Medco boosts profits 16 percent;

Thu, 01 Nov 2007 07:59:50 -0400

> Ten Korean drug makers were fined $22 million for illegal rebates to hospitals and wholesalers. Report

> Pharmacy-benefits giant Medco Health Solutions posted a 16 percent hike in third-quarter profits and boosted its year-end earnings outlook again. Report

> Shire boasted a 41 percent increase in sales for the quarter, to $543 million, and raised its prediction for 2007 revenue growth to 30 percent from 25 percent. Release

> Shire also appointed MedImmune CEO David Mott as non-executive director; Mott also is executive vice president of AstraZeneca, which owns MedImmune. Report

> Drugs distributor Amerisource Bergen saw fourth-quarter profits fall 28 percent because of a big writedown on vaccine inventories. Report

> Smith & Nephew reported a 16 percent increase in adjusted earnings per share on a 24 percent increase in revenue to $845 million. Report

> A revolution in genomics and molecular biology has spurred a burst of new development activity in the vaccines business. Report

And Finally... Nematode worms treated with lithium live 46 percent longer. Would humans? Report

Younger patients pop more cardio meds

Wed, 31 Oct 2007 07:59:55 -0400

Whippersnappers are getting a jump on Grandpa. They're using cholesterol and blood pressure meds earlier and earlier--so much so that growth in sales to young folks is outpacing the growth of sales to seniors.

Cholesterol-lowering drugs among the 20- to 44-year-old crowd jumped by 68 percent over six years, according to new data from Medco Health Solutions. Roughly 4.2 million in that age group are taking cholesterol meds. At the same time, use of blood pressure remedies increased 21 percent. The reason? Doctors speculate that it's rising rates of obesity (the bad news) and more aggressive preventive treatment (the good).

- see the news release from Medco
- take a look at the report from the Washington Post

Medco buys Polymedica for $1.5B

Tue, 28 Aug 2007 06:59:54 -0400

Medco Health Solutions hopes that what's good for diabetes patients is also good for its bottom line. The company has agreed to pay $1.5 billion to acquire PolyMedica, the nation's largest supplier of blood-glucose testing supplies and other diabetes-related services.

The two companies already have been working together; Medco fills some 50,000 scrips a week for PolyMedica patients, and Polymedica has offered testing supplies and Medicare Part B management services to some Medco clients. The companies say the deal creates "the nation's most advanced large-scale practice focused on diabetes care."

Medco will pay $53 per share for PolyMedica, which closed Monday at $45.29. Together, the two companies will serve some 3.8 million diabetes patients.

- read the CNN report on the deal

Related Articles:
Diabetes epidemic triggers soaring drug market. Report
Medco reaches settlement with DOJ. Report
Medco to launch e-prescribing study with CMS. Report